Adventuring with Zentangle-Inspired Doodles

I looked up the definition of “Zentangle” and there are some fairly stringent requirements necessary to label your work as such. One of the requirements is that you start with no preconceived design or pattern. Another is that it can only be black ink on white paper. And you have to let your mind roam free. I’m really glad other people have found this method effective but I find the rules stressful. I don’t like people telling me what to do😉 So my stuff is Zentangle-inspired.

My starfish. I found a guide on Pinterest with a similar style. It’s hard for me to stick to repetitive, simple patterns. I always think I should be doing something harder.

My flower. Again, I’m practicing repetition, building my tolerance for incorporating details. I love love love sticking to black and white. It’s quite striking.

My rose. This one was a concept drawing; we just painted our kitchen an off-white (covering up wallpaper from the 80s. I’ll write about it soon) and I want to paint some sort of flower on the prominent wall using this type of pattern. I’m not sure if it’ll work out, none of my flowers are very big and I’m thinking it’ll need to be at least a foot in diameter.

So while I don’t find this style relaxing I do enjoy drawing this way. I like seeing how little things like dots or diamonds can really make a design amazing and I think it’ll help my overall style improve.

So what do you think, are Zentangles  relaxing or stressful?