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Working in my sketchbook in early 2012, I wrote the following cranky sentence across the page as a starting point: Thought I was buying a set of black markers presumably of different stroke sizes. Clearly, this is working out differently than planned. I had recently seen a magazine article that exposed me to the basics of Zentangle drawing, where one divides space into sections and then fills each space with a repeating pattern. That curvy line was the first divider on the page, then I divided the space as I went, with no overall plan. I had not yet taken a Zentangle class, and didn ..read more

Feels good to pick up my pens again…it’s been awhile. I need a “Welcome Baby” card for a baby shower. Initial or monogram drawings are a good starting place, so “H” it is. I learned the technique for this tangled initial from Joanne Fink‘s book, “Zenspirations: Letters and Patterning”. From the “No Mistakes” department: I misspelled “Welcome” in the upper right corner. At first, I was really disappointed. Then, I got over it. I intentionally misspelled it again just for balance ..read more

Last night, I didn’t like this drawing very much. This morning, I am not as critical. Sometimes you need to walk away and let things sit. Hold off judging as long as you can. #zentangle #learntodraw Zentangle tile drawn by Christine Turner Gardner, using the tangles N’Zeppel, Striping, Tipple, and Hollibaugh ..read more

First piece drawn in a while, in the post-holiday quiet. I finally took the plunge with a Skillshare trial in order to learn more about using Procreate on the iPad. After just a few hours last night, I’m sold. I’m only half-way through a short class and have already picked up enough new tips to keep me drawing and exploring for a while. The class is Intro to iPad Lettering. The lessons for Subtractive Lettering and Additive Lettering showed good ways to set transparency layers that allow text to fill with background textures instead of flat color. I couldn’t wait to try that idea with Zent ..read more

A new piece, hand-drawn and digitally manipulated…both old-school and new-fangled. This is where I started…a Zentangle-style drawing from last year. (I’m trying to mine my own materials as a starting point more often. Anything to avoid the scary blank page!) Zentangle-style drawing, created with color markers instead of black ink After selecting a square section of the scan, I pasted it several times into Photoshop, flipping the image across from itself to create symmetry. After I had a larger symmetrical image, I “cut out” some shapes and placed another version of the image behind (the cut-ou ..read more

Drawn in Procreate with a stylus – Studio Pen setting, Quadrant symmetry Last night’s iPad drawing, just black and white this time. Everything is on one layer. It was easily vectorized in Illustrator, so now on to the next step…which direction? Color Ribbon border White tangles in the black border? Scarf design? The time-lapse video of this drawing is extra fun when all those little stripes come in ..read more

Since Zentangle appeared on the scene, there has been a heathy debate around the practice of doodling. Lots of people aimlessly make pencil marks on paper while otherwise occupied – in a meeting, on the phone, etc. Many of us call that doodling. Some people do considerably more with their pen in the margins. If one makes a detailed drawing on the side of their page, is it still a doodle, or is it a drawing?  What about an elaborate, planned pattern, drawn one stroke at a time – still a doodle? All of those styles and more are covered in this neat 8″ x 8″ book, Presidential Doodles: Two Centuri ..read more

Here’s a mandala drawn with Procreate, using the software’s Quadrant Symmetry drawing assist enabled. The shading learned through Zentangle really brings it alive – and Zentangle people will recognize the Mookah tangle. I think I’d like to see a variation with a tighter crop so the detail in the middle is more visible. This time-lapse video shows my steps (and mis-steps) along the way: Learn more ..read more