I'm a doodler. No scrap of paper is safe. I doodle when I'm on the phone. When I'm thinking. When I'm not. Mostly I just doodle wherever there's a blank spot on a piece of paper and I have a moment and a pen..I have been doodling as long as I can remember.
Arrows, circles, dots, daisy shaped flowers and sometime even hearts all seem to play heavily in doodles. I draw them everywhere. Long, skinny ones. Short, squat ones. Loopy, curling ones.
The whole Zentangle craze was something that I totally missed until recently. I downloaded the book "Tangled Doodles" by Jeanne Paglio, a free book from the Kindle Buffet and available on Amazon. And found myself completely entertained. Imagine, which once I thought was a complete waste of time, is actually a thing. Who knew? The book reffered to Zentangles which is trademarked and I did a bit of research and realized that a Zentangle wasn't all that far from the stuff I'd been doodling. A bit less haphazard than my stuff perhaps, but as it turns out, I was Zentangling and had no idea!
At the risk of being laughed at, I'm going to share some of my doodles from my first works to more recent doodles. I do see some improvement, but not an expert by any means. But quite frankly, who cares?.....its just fun!
Perhaps the nicest thing about Zentangles, aside from the pure fun to be had while creating them, is that you need very little to begin. I use a journal rather than the little precut squares. Why? Not because I'm advant garde and decided to create a new way, but because I had a blank journal at hand that was ready for my pen and the stuff that was emerging looked suspiciously like Zentangles! Of course, this is one more distraction. but a distraction that I can see a benefit. Its turning into a condoit of styling my random thoughts into pen and ink. There are several that strike me as potential interesting knitted lace patterns. Hmmm.....it always turns into something about knitting....
Now I know many of you are going to bemoan the fact that you believe you can't draw. I prefer to think of it as a lack of practice. Compared to my architect arty family, I can't draw either....but I can doodle. So perhaps, I can draw somewhat - I've done it in the past when I've really had the time to devote to practicing. If you saw the stuff I try to draw when I'm out of practice you'd be convinced that I have no drawing ability. Which is utter baloney by the way. I'm simply waaay out of practice.
The even better part is, that I believe that most people can draw (doodle) too. What they lack is the patience and perseverance to keep at it until they experience some success. What does that have to do with Zentangles? A lot... and nothing at all. It's both because I don't believe anyone needs a "gift" to create Zentangles, though I know many people will view them as complex and something they're unable to achieve. Nonsense. I also believe that some people will require more practice before seeing a Zentangle that they're pleased with. If you stick with it I really believe that you can succeed.
At heart, Zentangles are nothing more than a stylized doodle. My opinion only. Some may disagree and that's ok.
So... how does one doodle? Pick up a pen, grab a piece of paper, and start. It really is that easy. I doodle circles, curvy lines (I love organic shapes), dots, lines with points on both ends and all manner of goofy stuff. I draw what flows out of the pen. Vines with little leaves, checkerboard borders, circles within circles. And triangles. Despite they fact that they're neither curvy or organic, I love triangles. You get the picture - there is basically no limit to what can be doodled.
Ok, so you're hesitant to try. I get it. That blank page can be an intimidating thing. Start small and doodle something you're comfortable with and find easy. A straight line. A circle or oval. Add arrows to the ends of the line. Add dots to the circle or oval. Once you get started it becomes simpler and you get into a flow. Spirals are easy but stop trying to make them perfectly symmetrical for heaven's sake!
I'm not trying to sell anything here.....and clearly I'm not an artist or an expert......BUT ......TRY IT YOU'LL LIKE IT! Its fun and relaxing.
Happy Tangeling! Happy Doodling!
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