Playing with Zentangle

Hello Everyone.  We have got tradesmen in remodelling the bathroom so there is lots of comings and goings and noise at the moment.  They are very pleasant young men but life is a bit hectic just now.  So try some Zentangle I thought.  It is supposed to calm the mind and relieve bodily tensions.  I have to say it has been very pleasant sitting in the dining room drawing these patterns 'One stroke at a time'  which is the mantra of the Zentangle originators.  It is absolutely fascinating how the optical illusions appear (and dissappear again) as you work along.  The first picture is a single tile with a Z motive on it.  Then I joined three Zds together and got a kinda neat looking rope. The other two tiles incorporated a stamped leaf image which was my starting point in each case.  I then drew my frame around the leaf, divided it up into sections and was then ready to Zentangle. As I am only a beginner I need to look to others for pattern inspiration.  I have a couple of little booklets with different sample patterns in and the web of course.  It takes a while to decide which pattern to try in the sections.  I didn't want my leaf image to be overwhelmed by the Zentangle patterns, which after all are supposed to be the background.  I think I have succeeded by and large.  They did take a good while to do but I really enjoyed doing them. The pattern on the right side of the first leaf tile was my own idea and the swirly pattern at the bottom of the second leaf tile was my own idea too so I feel pleased with myself for coming up with those.  Such amazing patterns and designs on the web.  Maybe one day I'll measure up to some of those.  See you next time and thanks for looking today.