Today's Tangle - B-Leaf

"B-Leaf" is by Tomàs Padrós and his step-outs are posted HERE at TanglePatterns.com. The basic motif can be drawn individually, as a ribbon or as a filler drawn on an ogee-grid. The step-out suggests starting with a wavy line and then drawing the leaves along the line. I had better success simply drawing the first leaf separately as a complete leaf. After that I drew the second and subsequent leaves attached to each other. I found that I could control the direction of my ribbon by either adding the next leaf on the left or on the right of the previous leaf. 

Although I didn't follow the directions on the step-out, I think mine have almost the same look as on the pattern. However, I haven't gotten the knack yet for drawing the leaves so that they look as if they are twisted like in Tomàs' examples.

Classic Zentangle® - Eke, Emingle, Finery, Msst, Nipa, Onamato & Rixty

The prompt for this tile was to draw some "Hollibaugh" pencil strings with bands that overlap across the tile. These are the tangles that I used:

Eke - I blogged about "Eke" before HERE.

Emingle - I blogged about "Emingle" HERE.

Finery - I blogged about "Finery" in THIS post which is the same one as "Eke".

Msst - I blogged about "Msst" HERE.

Nipa - I blogged about "Nipa" HERE.

Onamato - Read my post about "Onamato" HERE.

Rixty - I blogged about "Rixty" in THIS post.

Today's Tangles - Lex & Mack

"Mack" is by by Adele Bruno CZT and you'll find her step-out HERE on her blog.

"Lex" is by Angie Gittles CZT and her step-out is posted HERE at TanglePatterns.com. I also found a YouTube video HERE on Tangle Dream.

Classic Zentangle® - Noom Repus, 'Nzeppel & Crazy 'Nzeppel

I followed the same prompt as the tile that I blogged about HERE on Monday. This time I used only two tangles on my tile. I drew the tile below first and then decided to draw it one more time but with "Crazy 'Nzeppel" in the background as you can see on the tile above.

You'll find info about these tangles below:

Noom Repus - I blogged about it HERE.

'Nzeppel - I blogged about it HERE.

Crazy 'Nzeppel - There is no published step-out for the "crazy" version of 'Nzeppel but Molly shows how to draw it in THIS video.

Today's Tangles - Kelp, Lada & YEX

"Kelp" is a simple and cute pattern that can be used as a filler or as an embellishment. I don't recommend drawing an aura around "Kelp". I tried that and it changes the delicate look of it too much. You probably can't tell but I filled the leaves on my tile with a clear glitter pen just for fun. The step-out is by Nancy Domnauer and you'll find it HERE at TanglePatterns.com.

"Lada" is by Irina Sedova and the pattern is HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Dawn Collins has a video about this pattern HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

When I saw the step-out for Jenny Perruzzi's "YEX" in a closed Facebook group that I belong to, I thought it was kind of cute. However, I was a little disappointed when I realized that the first step is to draw a hexagon and there are no instructions for how to do that. How many people can draw a hexagon freehand? I certainly can't. Through trial-and-error, I came up with a way to use a box grid as a guide to draw mine but it was more work than fun. As you can see, I tried a few different ways of filling the shapes after I filled a few of them as directed by the step-out. As far as I know, the step-out for this tangle hasn't been published anywhere except on Facebook.

Today's Tangle - Plop

"Plop" is by Beth Snoderly and you'll find her step-out HERE at TanglePatterns.com. As you can see, I had some fun with this pattern. I used a largish grid to keep the elements from being too tiny and delicate. I also aura'd the spaces between the petals and filled them with black ink. I blended the colored pencil on the petals with odorless mineral spirits and added highlights with white charcoal pencil.

Today's Tangle - Rose Window

 Merry Christmas Everyone!

This isn't really a Christmas design but I think these have a festive holiday look. This is a fun pattern to draw which is why I drew so many of them. "Rose Window" is by Rosemary Turpin and her step-out is posted HERE on Melinda Barlow's blog. You can watch Melinda's video about this pattern HERE. Melinda shows that this can also be drawn in a square instead of a circle but I haven't tried that.

UPDATE 9/12/2019: The step-out is no longer on Melinda's blog but Rosemary gave me permission to post her step-out here.

I tried something different with the tile below but I don't like it as well as the original way.

Below is another one that I didn't color:

Below are some other variations that I tried:

Classic Zentangle® - Arukas, Bales, Hibred, Ixorus & Jetties

I drew today's tile  according to one of the weekly prompts in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group. We were instructed to draw a string that looked like a big loopy cursive letter "e" that stretches across from one side of the border to the other. We had a choice of quite a few official tangles and I chose the following:

Arukas - I blogged about "Arukas" HERE.

Bales - I blogged about "Bales" HERE.

Hibred - I blogged about "Hibred" HERE.

Ixorus - I blogged about "Ixorus" HERE.

Jetties - You'll find a step-out for "Jetties" HERE on Sandy Steen Bartholomew's blog.

Three Grid Patterns - Busy C, Spril'em and Warre

This adorable tangle called "Busy C" is by Staub Korn. Her step-out is posted HERE on her Facebook page. I couldn't resist adding the little bobbles on the ends.

"Spril'em" is by Mary D’Angelo and her step-out is found HERE at TangelPatterns.com. I drew my tile according to the pattern except for the addition of the metallic gold dots in the intersections. Melinda Barlow CZT has a video about this tangle HERE.

"Warre" is by Helen Williams and the pattern is HERE on her A Little Lime blog. In case you're wondering about the stray squiggly lines near the bottom row, I fell asleep while drawing this tile and my pen kept on drawing.

Official Zentangle® Pattern - Dingsplatz

This was my first try drawing a "Dingsplatz". The folks at Zentangle just came out with this pattern in October and there is no published step-out. They do have a YouTube video showing how to draw it HERE and Melinda Barlow CZT has one HERE. I incorporated some of the designs shown in the video but I went my own way with some of the embellishments.

Today's Tangle - Streuchel

"Streuchel" is by Kathrin Güssow and you'll find the pattern HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. First I did a test-run of the pattern just to try it out. I liked it well enough but then I decided to draw the "leaves" in a slightly more whimsical style that you see here and now I love this pattern. I like it so well that I also drew the tile below and added some extra embellishment and a hint of color. What makes this pattern special are the aura lines behind the leaves. I think they give this an Art Nouveau style that I love.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Today's Tangles - Dinoflor, Eiffel, Pezember & Versakey Double

"Dinoflor" is by Suzanne Fluhr CZT and her step-out is posted HERE on her blog. Melinda Barlow CZT has a video about this tangle HERE. I enjoyed drawing and coloring this tile.

"Eiffel" is by Linda Rea and her pattern is found HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Dawn Collins has a video HERE. I also enjoyed drawing this pattern.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

"Pezember" is by Peter Fruehwirt CZT and his pattern is HERE at TanglePatterns.com. I had a hard time drawing this pattern as neatly as I wanted to.

Lindy Clarkson's "Versakey Double" is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. I stopped after step 4 on the step-out because I wasn't keen on the next part that is added. I probably could have embellished this a little more but I wasn't feeling inspired at the moment.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Official Zentangle® Patterns - Amaze, Avreal, Gneiss, Kule, Sampson, Schway, Scoodle & SeZ

Scoodle - "Scoodle" is an S-shaped tangle with spirals on each end. I found a few examples of this pattern HERE on tandika.com and it's also featured on a tile on THIS blog.

Kule - "Kule" is an elusive tangle but I managed to find several example images on Pinterest and Ellen Wolters has a video HERE.

Amaze - "Amaze" is also known as "Stiritup". There is no published step-out for this tangle. It is featured in the book "One Zentangle A Day" and I found example images online HERE and HERE.

SeZ - There is a step-out for "SeZ" HERE in a Zentangle newsletter. I found videos HERE, HERE and HERE.

Gneiss - While there is no published step-out for "Gneiss", Margaret Bremner has an article about this tangle HERE on her blog. She gives lots of ideas for drawing this pattern and I'm not sure which is the "official" version. I drew mine similar to the way that Melinda Barlow CZT draws it in THIS video. It's also featured in videos HERE, HERE and HERE.

Avreal - "Avreal" doesn't have a published step-out but I found one HERE on Pinterest. It is featured in videos HERE, HERE and HERE. This tangle was also featured in the recent 12 Days of Zentangle project on Day 7. Watch THIS official Zentangle video to see how to draw it.

Schway - "Schway" has an official step-out HERE. Ellen Wolters has a video HERE and Tiffany Lovering has one HERE.

Sampson - There is no published step-out for "Sampson" but I found examples of it HERE and HERE. THIS Zentangle blog post tells how the tangle got its name. This tangle was also featured in the 12 Days of Zentangle project on Day 10. Watch THIS video to see how to draw it.

Today's Tangle - Octofun

This lovely Art Deco style pattern is called "Octofun" and it is fun to draw and color. It's by Theresa Beebe and her step-out is HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Ellen Wolters has a video about this pattern HERE but she draws it on a grid. I drew the basic design as a ribbon on my tile using a slightly different method than shown on the step-out. I drew circles in pencil along a pencil line then added the short lines between them with a pen. I later erased the pencil marks.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Classic Zentangle® - Florz, Huggins, Mooka, 'Nzeppel, Shattuck & Tipple

I drew the tile above according to one of the weekly prompts in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group. We were to draw a border and a string made up of the letters R and M for Rick and Maria, the founders of Zentangle. We were given a choice of several official Zentangle patterns. These are the tangles that I used...

Florz - There is no official step-out online for "Florz" but it was mentioned in THIS Zentangle blog post. They also show some examples and variations in THIS post. I found five videos about this tangle HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Huggins - I blogged about "Huggins" in THIS post where you'll find a link to the step-out and some video links.

Mooka - "Mooka" is one of my favorite tangles and the official step-out is posted HERE in a Zentangle newsletter. Click HERE to watch Maria draw "Mooka".

'Nzeppel - Read my post about "'Nzeppel" HERE for links to the step-out and some videos.

Shattuck - I blogged about "Shattuck" HERE.

Tipple - Read THIS post for information about "Tipple".

Kimmie - A Tangleation of Tessie

While trying out "Tessie", which is a cute pattern by Kim Aarts, I decided to try something a little different with it. I really like her idea of layering the flower shapes but I came up with a different way of drawing the petals. You'll find Kim's pattern HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. I named my version "Kimmie" in honor of the designer of the original pattern.

Below is the step-out for my variation. The key to my version is that I don't actually connect the petals of the flowers in the top layer. This makes the top layer of flowers sort of flow into the flowers in the layer below. There are endless ways that you can embellish this pattern as you can see in my examples.

Above is a simple version without much in the way of embellishment.

I went a little crazy embellishing the example above. It's not my favorite of the bunch but it will give you some ideas for ways to change it up.

On the tile above, I added some dots and lines on the petals.

The petals on the red flowers on the tile above are a slightly different shape than in my other examples.

On this tile I filled the background with brown instead of black and added some white charcoal pencil to the petals on the top layer of flowers.

Official Zentangle® Patterns - Cadent, Crazy Huggins & Ravel

The official step-out for "Crazy Huggins" is posted HERE on the Zentangle blog. Melinda Barlow CZT has two videos about this tangle HERE and HERE.

There is also an official step-out for "Cadent" HERE in the Zentangle newsletter. Margaret Bremner has lots of ideas for variations of this tangle HERE on her blog. There are also some variations in THIS Zentangle newsletter.

I found a bunch of videos about "Cadent" HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

"Ravel" took me the longest to find of all of the official Zentangle patterns because there is no published step-out and it isn't widely used from what I can tell. Although I haven't found a step-out anywhere, I did find some examples of tiles that feature this tangle. Based on those examples, it looks a lot like a pattern called "Garlic Cloves" (step-out is HERE) except that instead of drawing the shapes randomly, with "Ravel" they form flower-like shapes with five or six petals. Also, each petal is shared with an adjacent flower. You can see two example tiles that feature this pattern HERE and HERE at tandika.com.

On Thursday, I mentioned in THIS post that I had come up with a way to draw the Zentangle pattern called "Scena" that was much easier for me. Yesterday I made a step-out that shows the way that I draw it. The tile above was for practice to make sure that my method would work to fill different shapes. Below is my step-out.

Twelve Days of Zentangle - Day 12

It's the last day of the 12 Days of Zentangle as far as filling the spinner with tangles but there will be one more video tomorrow. Rick and Maria will show us what we can do with our finished spinners. Today Martha and Molly draw "Tipple", "Zinger", "Vega", "Verdigogh" and "Rixty".

Below are links to the step-outs for the tangles used on Day 12:

Rixty - The official step-out with several variations is HERE. If you'd like to read the story of how this tangle got its name, read THIS article.

Tipple - I haven't found an official step-out but Adele Bruno has some tips for tangling "Tipple" HERE and Margaret Bremner has an article called "Tipple, and then some..." HERE.

Vega - There is no published step-out for this tangle.

Verdigogh - The official step-out is found HERE.

Zinger - The official step-out is posted HERE.

Click HERE to watch the Day 12 video.

Click HERE to watch the final "Assemble & Play Day" video.

Official Zentangle® Patterns - Cyme, Dex & Frondous

You will find the step-out for "Cyme" HERE at TanglePatterns.com. I found four videos HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

"Dex" has an official step-out HERE in the Zentangle newsletter. I found six videos for this tangle HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

I was unable to find a step-out for "Frondous" but I found two videos HERE and HERE. If you search Pinterest for "Zentangle pattern Frondous", you will see quite a few examples of this tangle.

Twelve Days of Zentangle - Day 11

It's Day 11 and today Maria drew "Knightsbridge", "Scena", "Purk" and "Betweed". This wedge gave me a little bit of trouble. I wasn't able to properly draw Purk because my band wasn't wide enough to fit them in.

I also had trouble drawing "Scena". Whenever I try to draw it the way that Maria does, it comes out looking a horrible mess. So, I came up with my own method that seems to work quite well. Instead of starting with an "S" line, I started with a single dot in the center of the spinner segment. I drew a somewhat wavy line from the dot to the edge of the segment and then aura the line all the way around. I find it easiest to draw my aura lines from the edge to the dot rather than from the dot to the edge. The end result looks similar to Maria's but is much easier for me to draw neatly. Below you can see my not very successful attempt to draw "Scena" on my practice spinner on the left and my successful "Scena" on the right.

Below are links to the step-outs for the tangles used on Day 11:

Betweed - The official step-out is found HERE.

Knightsbridge - Sandy Steen Bartholomew has a step-out HERE.

Purk - There is no published step-out for this tangle.

Scena - There is no step-out for this tangle.

Click HERE to watch the Day 11 video.