Digital Tangling? Really??

YES, really!! I have been tangling for 7 years at this point. In October, 2014 went to the Zentangle training  #16, and became a Certified Zentangle Teacher. I absolutely love teaching the Zentangle method and process, and it is important to me to share it with integrity, emphasizing the meditative process as the goal. 

I also talk about Zentangle-inspired-art, which (while it, hopefully, gives the artist relaxation and joy) may also have the creation of a beautiful piece of art as a result.

Black ink on a white tile, with some pencil shading is "pure" or "traditional" Zentangle®. Anything else (ANYTHING) is Zentangle-Inspired-Art ("ZIA")! 
ZIA's include Zentangle tiles with color added, Renaissance tiles with brown pen and highlighting, black tiles with white ink, large Zentangle pieces, and (YES) digital Zentangle art. 

Some people "find the zen" while tangling with black ink on white tiles. Others achieve that relaxation creating ZIA's: landscapes with color, adding watercolor, tangling on fabric, adding "ZenGems" etc. etc. 

So, where does digital tangling come in? It's just another medium to use for tangling! That's all! Of course, you need to learn how to use the tool. . . . Any artist needs to learn their medium, whether it's watercolors, acrylics, or pixels! 

Isn't digital tangling "cheating"?  No -  I learned to tangle just as all other tanglers did. We tangled on Zentangle tiles, then (possibly) experimented with other papers, textures, and surfaces. (One of the many things that I love about Zentangle is that Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the founders of the Zentangle® method, are constantly coming up with various shapes, sizes, and colors of tiles, as well as techniques!)  Just remember that using a stylus or iPad will NOT make you a better tangler!! It will not teach you tangles, or how to tangelate  or how to morph one tangle into another. The digital medium is just that: a medium with which you can tangle. When I work on a digital ZIA, it takes me just as long (sometimes longer) as it would on a larger paper ZIA. I create a background (just like watercolors on a paper background), then usually make a string, possibly a border, then I tangle with "one stroke at a time". I shade, highlight, and smudge each area. There is no magic or shortcut. 

Does Digital tangling exclude traditional art or Zentangle processes? Not at all! I love to incorporate photos of watercolor backgrounds, Gelli-plate prints, AND "traditional" Zentangle tiles in my digital ZIA's. I take the images, and use them as layers. 

Some people say that digital tangling isn't "real Zentangle". That's a simplistic dismissal of digital tangling. It's like saying, "using colored markers defeats the purpose of doing Zentangle". An iPad and stylus can be tools to create ZIA's. 

Here are some criteria that may help define true digital tangling:

1. Tangles are used. The definition of a tangle is a pattern that has been deconstructed 
or broken down into 1- 4 steps, using the 5 'elemental strokes' that the Zentangle method is based on. Tangles have names, so they can be referred to, shared, and replicated. 

2. It is hand-drawn. The creators of Zentangle, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas have the motto: "Anything Is Posible, One Stroke At a Time".  One of the meditational aspects of the Zentangle process is that you focus on the stroke that you are doing in the present moment. You don't think about the stroke you just did, or what you will do next. This can only be done with a single hand-drawn stroke. (Digital apps such as iOrnament and Amaziograph do not incorporate the Zentangle method. They create computer-generated patterns which are digitally repeated.)

3. The digital media (iPad, stylus, art app) allows for tangles to be hand-drawn. There are numerous apps that are created for hand-drawn art. Some examples are Procreate, Art Rage, Brushes, and Sketch Club, among others.



I absolutely love the Zentangle method, and am grateful for the "happy zen place" that I often achieve when tangling digitally or otherwise. Digital tangling is not for everyone. . . . just as adding color to a ZIA is not everyone's 'cup of tea'. Find what method speaks to you, and enjoy the zen!

Why "Tangle Your Bliss"?

I have been asked about the name of my blog. It comes from the interviews that Bill Moyers did with Joseph Campbell. Out of these interviews came the book, The Power of Myth.
The following quote sums up the idea of following your bliss:

“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn't know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.”

― Joseph Campbell

Zentangle can be a way to connect with that bliss, or calm center where you don't have a sense of time or stress. Tangling can give us a taste of bliss, if only for the 15 minutes it takes to complete a tile!

Soooo, this week, my  Zentangle journey has continued with the birth of my new business named (surprisingly enough!) "Tangle Your Bliss". I feel as though I'm being somewhat swept along with the whole process, and discovering as I go along. I had no idea what was involved with establishing a business, registering with the state, etc! All of this in preparation for my first class on Saturday! "If you tangle they will come!" At any rate, I'm having fun with the whole process . . . . and teaching my first class will, I think, be a blast!

. . . . and some samples:
Normally, my ZIA's are abstract pieces, but I wanted to try a whimsical fairy-type house. Below is a ZIA I did a few months back, first in black and white, and then in color ~ Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting ~~ I would love to hear your comments, ideas, etc! 

New class, new business, new ZIA, oh,my!

     Since I returned from Providence, RI for the CZT training, I've started my 'official' Zentangle business, registering with the state, filling out forms, etc. I've also scheduled a class on introduction to Zentangle, which I'm very excited about! It will be held at the High Plains Environmental Center on Saturday, Nov 22 from 1:00 - 3:00. I know that as the time draws nearer I'll be nervous, but for now I'm just excited to share Zentangle with people who haven't done it yet.
    For the past month or so, I've been tangling on the original Zentangle tiles, which are 3.5" x 3.5".  This has been inspired by the Facebook group, "Square One: Purely Zentangle". It's been great to get back to the basic traditional tile, using only the black Micron pen. As someone commented, "having the boundaries makes us push the creativity a bit more".
    That being said, I felt the need to go back to my larger paper and do a ZIA (Zentangle-inspired-art) piece. I've worked on this for the past 3 days, and am pretty happy with the result. I love the process of transitioning one tangle into another, and balancing the composition. (At least, it's a good brain challenge!)

A glimpse back. . .

Thanks for visiting!! We are currently making our first loooong RV trip, from Colorado to Florida~ getting a chance to see my Mom! Our two kitties are traveling with us, and doing very well. Here is a photo of Jasmine "helping" me tangle before we left, back in February.

. . . And here is the finished ZIA ("Zentangle-inspired art) piece that I used for an ATC exchange: 

Happy tangling, everyone!!