Tangle Step-Outs – A Tangler's Mind

Tree of Life Labyrinth

Recently I wanted to draw a freehand labyrinth. I like the quality of a simple freehand labyrinth and had used the “connect the dot” method in the past starting with a cross in the center. I tried to recreate that version but found that I couldn’t remember exactly how I had done it before. As I was trying to figure it out I stumbled on to this variation that turns out to be very similar, but starts out a little differently. To me it resembles a tree, so I have decided to call it the Tree of Life Labyrinth.

Following is the step-out to create this labyrinth on a 3½ inch tile. As you will see, I have used a numbering system to indicate how to draw the lines. It may seem complicated at first but once you understand the process and draw the labyrinth you will see how naturally it flows from one step to the next until the labyrinth is completed.

STEP 1

Place a dot approximately 1/8 inch to the left of the center of the tile.
Note: placement of this dot will determine where and how your finished labyrinth is placed on the tile.

STEP 2

Place a dot horizontally approximately 3/8 inch to the left and right of the first dot.

STEP 3

Using the same 3/8 inch spacing, add five more dots below the first three dots to create a square.

As a reference for the remaining instructions I am assigning a number, 1 through 8, to each of these dots.

STEP 4

Connect dots 2 and 4 with an inward curved line. Do the same for dots 2 and 5, 4 and 7, and 5 and 7. This will form a curved diamond shape in the center of the square of dots.

STEP 5

You will draw the labyrinth from the center out. Start by drawing an upward curved line connecting dots 2 and 3.

STEP 6

Continue with an upward curved line connecting dot 1 to dot 5. This line should aura the first line keeping the distance between the lines roughly equal. Turning the tile as you draw will help you keep the spacing consistent.

STEP 7

Connect dots 4 and 8 in the same manner.

STEP 8

Continue by connecting dot 6 to dot 7.

STEP 9

Finish by starting at dot 7 and adding a final line around the outside of the labyrinth. Stop at the bottom and add a slight downward curve to create the entrance.

STEP 10

The completed labyrinth is now ready for you to travel to the center and back by adding tangles along the path.

This labyrinth suggests a tree to me so I called it the Tree Of Life Labyrinth and filled it in with tangles accordingly. It was a lovely meditation for me.

Here is another drawing I made using this labyrinth. Masking fluid was used for the labyrinth with water color marker added over that. When you remove the masking you end up with a white line.

I feel that drawing a labyrinth freehand adds another level to the meditative experience. I hope you give it a try and don’t worry if it is not centered on the paper, that just makes it more interesting.

As usual I encourage you to try anything you see in this blog post in your own work.

Blessings,

Lynn

Threezee – New tangle developed by the CZT crowd

Something interesting happened to me recently. I was busy drawing when an image suddenly popped into my head. It had nothing to do with what I was drawing but it demanded to be put down on paper. This is what it was…

It is a simple motif that is made up of three Zs. This little guy gave me such happy feelings that I did a quick step-out and called it ThreeZee. I didn’t have time to play with ThreeZee right then so I posted it to a CZT page to ask if anyone had seen anything like it or had used the name before.

It was then that a wonderful thing happened. ThreeZee inspired several CZTs to do some explorations and use ThreeZee in some very interesting ways.

First, Marguerite Samama used it as a string on a 3Z tile (how appropriate!)

Of course, I had to give that a try too!

I used some of the introductory tangles in honor of the “Z string”.

That made me want to see what kind of meta pattern would be created if I drew it as a fragment in a hexagonal grid. The result was very quilt-like and I had fun adding the tangle Maryhill (by Betsy Wilson, CZT) which gave it real dimension.

Then Jane MacKugler posted a wonderful, colorful, freeform version of ThreeZee. Adding to the basic motif resulted in a meta pattern of stars.

Then Diana Schreur, CZT posted another version of this freeform style. She used ThreeZee with her tangle, Connesses, which, similar to ThreeZee, is made up of three Ss. (Step Outs for Conesses can be found on TanglePatterns.com )

Of course these two tiles inspired me to give this free form style a try too. Also, this question arose, “What do you call a group of ThreeZee? a Cozy of course ; )”

TIP: I did find that it is easier for me to keep track of things when grouping ThreeZee, if I draw the second Z of the motif all the way around to form the star first, and then go back and add the third Z (see illustration below). Also, be mindful that you are drawing a Z and NOT a mirror image.

Use the same method when adding additional ThreeZee to create a grouping.

OR use another form at the intersections of ThreeZee, such as the orbs in this example, and create an even more random grouping.

I call this one “The Soccer/Football Game”

I also played with putting ThreeZee in a circle Reticulum using a curvy Z and some auras. Here is a work in progress drawing so you can see the progression.

Or ThreeZee as a border.

And finally, connecting the “legs” of a ThreeZee motif for an Origami Threezee.

I just love the way this tangle introduced itself to me and created an environment that inspired others to help develop its potential. Kind of Crowd Sourcing for tangle development or as Rohini Singh, CZT put it recently, I may be ThreeZee’s Mother but Marguerite, Jane, and Diana are the midwives that helped give it birth.

I hope you give ThreeZee a try. As you can see it’s very versatile and I think you will find it will make you happy too. What can be better than that?

Blessings,
Lynn

Inktober in review

Inktober was started in 2009 by Jake Robinson as a way to improve inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. The idea is to make a commitment to do an ink drawing every day in the month of October and then post it online. For the last couple of years the tangling community has embraced Inktober and this year I participated using the prompts by Stephanie Jennifer on the Square One Purely Zentangle Facebook page. Inktober is over but was a great fun. I found it a good exercise to go back and look at what I accomplished during the month and I’ve made a video of my Inktober tiles to share with you.

A couple of these tiles were variations of the original tangle step outs and there was some interest to see how I drew them. It turned out that both the tiles started with 6 lines either crossed or as a hexagon. Here are the 2 tiles and some step outs I created after the fact to re-create how they were drawn. Please feel free to give these a try yourself.

The focus tangle on the first tile I want to share is Hamadox by CZT Diana Schreur. It is a combination of the Tangles Hamail by Tina Hunziker and Paradox by Rick Roberts.

Here’s how Diana combines the two tangles into Hamadox.

Step 1 is to draw the square
Step 2 is to draw shapes in Hamail fashion around the outer edges of the square
Step 3 is to draw Paradox in the interior of the square and add rounding so it matches up with the curve of the outer shapes
Step 4 is to add rounding around the perimeter to blend it all together

I wondered what it would look like if I started with a hexagon instead of a square? The result intensified the spiraling and overlap effect of the tangle. I find it very pleasing.

Following are the steps for my version.

Start by drawing a hexagon shape. Next, begin adding the shapes around the outer perimeter.

Continue adding shapes along each side, gradually reducing the size in Hamail fashion.

Now start adding the paradox to the interior of the hexagon using the same steps as if you were drawing in a triangle or square, starting from the outside and working toward the center. Hint: adding the rounding to each row as you finish it will help you keep track of where you are.

Continue to the center. Note: on my Inktober tile I added an orb in the center instead of continuing the Paradox to the very center. I would recommend this because it is much harder to keep track of where you are the closer you get to the center. The orb allows you to finish off the Paradox before things get too small.

Finish by adding rounding to the outer perimeter. This combines the outer and inner sections together into the completed shape. Add shading as desired.

The other tile I want to share uses Cross-Ur-Heart by Jenna Black as the focus tangle. Here’s how Jenna draws her tangle.

Step 1 – draw crossed lines
Step 2 – connect the ends to form 4 heart shapes
Step 3 – add “petal” shapes around the outside
Step 4 – add contour lines to the hearts and petals

I wondered what if I added another line and made all the lines curved instead of straight? The result gave the drawing a sense of movement and life.

Here are the steps I took to create this tile.

Step 1 – I added an additional line to the crossed lines creating 6 sections instead of just 4. I also added a curve instead of making them straight.
Step 2 – Same as in original step out, connect the lines to create hearts. I ended up with 6.
Step 3 – I added orbs with petals around them only to the intersections of the hearts. I added a looped shape from the center point of each heart up to the outer point to add a little interest and to create a reference for adding the contour lines.
Step 4 – To finish I added the contour lines, embellished the outer petals and added shading.

I love the way making a minor change to the basic step outs on both of these tiles created a whole new look for each of these tangles. Please feel free to try out my “What If” ideas or better yet try out some “What If” ideas of your own.

Blessings,

Lynn

Showgirl and a new Tangle – Fluxecho

It’s been a while since I’ve posted to this blog. First I was getting ready to teach a class at Tangle U (a continuing education conference for CZTs) and then on the way back from that I caught that horrible cold that was going around and was out of it for around 6 weeks. Since then I’ve been trying to get caught up on things. I’m glad to be able to post again.

This week I’m getting back to posting my Square One: Purely Zentangle focus tile. This week’s focus is Showgirl by Vicki Bassett. Step-outs for this tangle can be found here.

I actually drew three tiles for this focus, each one with something to share with you. In the first tile I used Showgirl along with a Tangle called Fluxecho that I introduced at Tangle U.

Fluxecho got it’s name from the fact that it looks a bit like Flux with additional lines that echo the original shape. It starts out with an orb and two opposing “S” curves so that it looks like an exclamation point! It grows very organically and tucks together nicely to form a grouping. Here are the step-outs and some variations.

The next tile I did I decided to make some of Showgirl’s “feathers” have transparent centers by drawing an inner aura so the feather behind showed through. This came out looking a lot like Lupe by CZT Christina Vandervlist. While the end result looks very similar to Lupe the process for drawing is slightly different. Step Outs for Lupe can be found here if you’d like to compare the two methods.

Here’s how I created this look. First start out with a completed Showgirl figure.

Then Draw an inner aura around the central “feather”. This is the top layer.

Then, draw an inner aura around the “feather” that is the next layer behind,
making sure to continue it’s lines behind the first layer so that it shows through.

Continue this process of drawing inner auras, continuing the lines of each petal
behind the lines of the “feather” that is on top of it.

The final result will look like this.

Finally, I wanted to draw a tile using Showgirl and last weeks Square One focus tangle, Puffin.

It turned out looking like Puffin had been appliqued on top of Showgirl out of some translucent material so that Showgirl partly showed through. To achieve this effect I just continued the lines of showgirl and filled them in with pencil, then continued the lines in pen when they emerged from behind Puffin. The perf lines around the edges of Puffin added to the applique effect.

I didn’t start out to draw three tiles that demonstrated different things but I like them all so I’m glad I could share them with you. You just never know where Zentangle is going to take you. As always if you see something in this post that you would like to try in your own work, please feel free to do so.

Blessings,

Lynn

Introducing Abeko

I’ve taken a little vacation from posting for most of July but it’s now time to get back into the swing of things. I’m going to share my Square One tile for the week of July 22-28 and introduce you to a tangle called Abeko.

The Square One focus tangle was Echoism, one of the tangles introduced by Zentangle HQ. (Margaret Bremner has an excellent post on her blog called Echoism, and then some). As usual I started out just playing with this tangle in my sketchbok. Here are a couple of ideas I tried.

I liked the way the loops on the left image snuggled up together with the adjacent rows so for my first tile I incorporated that. I added a twist by adding a border and then filling in some of the spaces with black.

I’ve also been playing with a tangle that came to me a while ago that is started by drawing either Eke or Echoism and then adding on to that. With Echoism as the focus that gave me the opportunity to play with this tangle as well. Here is my second tile which blends a version of this tangle with Echoism.

I word about new tangles… I never feel like a tangle is something I created, never felt like it was mine. It’s more like the tangle comes to me and we partner so that it can be introduced to the world. I call this tangle Abeko, because to me it’s like a combination of Abundies and either Eke or Echoism. I think you can see what I mean in this series of step-outs…

Here are a couple more tiles using Abeko. This first one is kind of a mono tangle sampler.

This second tile uses the flower variation of Abeko in a cross shape with an aura around it. I really liked the way it turned out here.

UPDATE: Some people wanted to see in more detail how this was drawn so here is a short stepout:

I know this tangle is similar to other tangles that are out there but I’ve not seen one exactly like this one that is based on Eke or Echoism. It’s what came to me so it’s what I’m passing along.

As always if you see anything in this post that you would like to use in your own work please feel free to do so.

Blessings,

Lynn

Whirlee – Step Outs

One day a little over a year ago my husband called me outdoors to see and experience something wonderful. It was a windy day and the maple tree in our back yard was sending out clouds of seeds which were whirling gracefully all over the place. This magical experience inspired me to commemorate the event by creating a tangle that I call Whirlee. Instructions for this tangle are on TanglePatterns,com but I have updated them and wanted to share them here:

If you are unfamiliar with maple trees, here is what the seeds look like. They are shaped in such a way that when they are blown from the tree they whirl like a helicopter blade and this lets them “fly” away from the tree.

I broke them down to their simplest shape and stylized it a bit. Then found that I could combine the shape in a lot of different ways.

Here are some additional drawings that I did using Whirlee.

Hope you give this one a try and enjoy it’s versatility.

Lynn

Fassettoo – a tangleation of Fassett? or a new tangle?

In April I was fortunate enough to attend Tangle U in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Tangle U is a continuing education conference for Certified Zentangle Teachers.) While we were there we had time to check out the local museums and shops and saw all kinds of wonderful patterns from the southwest. On one of these outings I saw a pot on the cover of a magazine and it was covered in what I thought was Fassett.

photo of clay pot from the southwest US — Fassett variation on a pot.

As I looked closer though, I realized that it was constructed in a different manner from the step-outs I came up with for Fassett. While this method results in the same look and feel of pointed flower/star shapes found in Fassett, I would categorize it as a woven tangle using the drawing method similar to that used in tangles such as Hurry and Auraknot. I’ve decided to give it a name all its own while still giving a nod to Fassett, so I’m calling it Fassettoo. Following are the step outs for both so you can see the difference.

Both Fassettoo and Fassett start with a triangle.

From that point on the step outs are different.
Fassettoo is on the left and Fassett is on the right.

Put a bunch of them together and here is the
final result showing similarities and differences.

As you can see, the woven edge of Fassettoo provides a softer more subtle image while the lines in Fassett provide a harder more distinct edge. It’s a good reminder that simple changes to tangles can have a big impact on the look of a drawing.

I haven’t really answered the question about whether Fassettoo is a tangleation or a new tangle, I’ll leave that up to you because I really don’t think it matters much, but I do hope you have fun with Fassettoo.

Zendau – seed of life tangle

I recently returned form Tangle U, a continuing education conference for Certified Zentangle Teachers held in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was a very rich pattern environment in which to learn new tangling techniques. Here are just a couple of the wonderful patterns that are everywhere in Santa Fe.

These images reminded me of a tangle I developed a while back based on a Native American basket. The inspiration for the tangle came from a photo of a blanket in a Pendleton Catalog.

The striking pattern at the center of this blanket caught my eye immediately. Then I read the description that was the inspiration for this blanket.

“Pomo Dau
To the Pomo, a basket can be a tool, an honor, a gift or an art. It comes to you in a dream and stays with you in death, a thing with a spirit and a story all its own. In every basket the weaver leaves a small break in the pattern, anything from a single stitch to a new design. This is the Dau, the ‘door’ a basket’s spirit passes through to inspect completed baskets and fill them with energy.”

I was hooked. It seemed like the perfect pattern to turn into a tangle as a tangled drawing is indeed “a thing with a spirit and a story all its own” and for me tangling is the door to the calm, focused and creative state of mind I achieve while using the Zentangle method. Thus I have named this tangle Zendau, meaning doorway to zen. Zendau is really a variation of what is known as the seed of life, I’ve just broken it down into repeatable steps to create a tangle.

Although it seems like there are a lot of steps to this tangle, there are really only 4 basic steps which are repeated with each successive ring and it is constructed of just a simple curve line in each step. I enjoy how the basic petal form grows with each progressive ring and encompasses the petal forms of the previous rings creating a design that has a fractal quality. It’s organic and geometric at the same time and reminds me of artichokes, the bottom of pine cones and flowers.

How to draw Zendau

First select what I call the “seed” shape. This will determine how many “petals” your tangle will have on each ring. Below are three seed shape examples for 5, 6 or 8 petals.The following step out drawings use the 6 petal seed shape.

To start, draw the seed shape
Fill in the petals, then round the angles in the center so that it forms a circle. Note: you can adjust the shape as you fill it in. This will help to keep the figure fairly even as you draw each ring.
Draw a curved line from petal point to petal point to form a circle around the petals. Rotate the tile as you draw the curves so that your hand remains in approximately the same position for each curve. This will help keep your curves more consistent.
Put a dot midway between each petal and a distance out from the circle. The distance from the circle will determine the size of the petals on this ring. It helps to sight an imaginary line across the figure when positioning the dots.
Draw a curved line from the tip of each petal point up to the dots in between. This forms the new petals for this ring.
Fill in the petals.

Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each ring as you draw from the center out.

I frequently add a different pattern to the final ring to honor the original inspiration and create a door for the tangle’s spirit to enter.

Tips for drawing Zendau.

Don’t worry about getting things perfect, it will look beautiful when completed. Also, know that you can make minor adjustments to size and shape as you fill in the petals.
You can fill in the petals with solid color and use it like a medallion or use it as a string and fill the petals with other patterns.

Following are some examples of Zendau:

In the following Zendala, Zendau is used as the string and filled with other tangles.

Fassett and her sister Phroze – Tangle Step-outs

About a year ago I had my first tangle accepted and posted to TanglePatterns.com. You may have seen it there, it is called Fassett. Recently while starting to draw Fassett it morphed into a related but NEW tangle. I decided to call this new tangle Phroz because it looks a little like ice crystals and was born in winter. Here they are together.

I thought I’d take the opportunity to post the stepouts here and discuss the similarities and differences of these two tangles.

Step 1. Fassett and Phroze are both based on triangles and start out the same way. Note that the points of all the triangles only touch the points of other triangles. Here, for Phroz, the center of each triangle is marked with a red dot.

Step 2. This is where the two tangles diverge. For Fassett you draw inner auras in each of the triangles, while in Phroze you divide each triangle into 3 more triangles by drawing a line from the center dot to each of the corners.

Step 3. In this step for Fassett you draw a line through the corners of the inner auras to connect to the corners of the original triangles while for Phroz you draw an inner aura for each triangle.

Step 4. Fassett is now complete while Phroz has an additional step which is to draw a line connecting the corners of the triangles with the auras.

Step 5. Phroz is now complete.

As you can see the steps are very similar but because Phroz has an additional step it looks quite different from Fassett.

Both Fassett and Phroz can be drawn on either an irregular layout or a grid layout as is illustrated in the following graphic.

This is a tile I did for Adele Bruno’s “It’s a String Thing” challenge #81 at tickledtotangle .
Tangle Patterns String 082 using Phroz in the center transitioning into Fassett on the outside.

Hope you give Fassett and Phroz a try. Let me know what you think.