Easy art Zentangle patterns are abundant. In addition to the many original patterns taught by Zentangle Inc., CZTs and enthusiasts all over the world have created and named their own easy-to-draw Tangles.
Zentangle is easy to learn
Zentangle patterns are repetitive. You can fill a defined space on a page—or an entire page—with a single design if you want. And every time you recreate a pattern, you committ it to memory. It bears your signature style and is identifiably yours even before you sign it.
Learning to Zentangle is empowering
In Zentangle, as in all art, you decide what you want to make. The patterns start and stop wherever you want them too. You can plan your composition, randomly select your patterns, or draw whatever flows from your pen.
With no right way to draw, no wrong way to draw, and no mistakes, you create what brings you the most enjoyment. The power to create is yours.
Zentangle Inc. Pattern MsstZentangle Inc. Pattern Printemps Zentangle Inc. Pattern Crescent Moon
Start with the simplest patterns
I always recommend starting with a few of the original patterns from HQ. If you’re looking to make some easy art, Zentangle patterns like Msst, Printemps, and Crescent Moon are fun to draw and shade.
You’ll find tutorials for these and other patterns in my 9 Easy Zentangle Patterns for Beginners video featuring Zentangle originals.
It’s easy to draw Zentangles. And there are so many patterns to try. In addition to HQ’s original patterns, CZTs around the world have created beautiful patterns too.
Zentangles are easy to draw
Zentangle patterns are repetitive and meditative, meaning it doesn’t take years of practice to start reaping the benefits. Each time you draw a pattern, you add it to your repertoire. Like making words from letters, you can make gorgeous art one pen stroke at a time.
Zentangling is empowering
With Zentangle, you decide what to draw. The patterns start and stop wherever you want them too or wherever your string takes you. You decide whether to plan a composition, randomly draw patterns from a hat, or let your hand draw intuitively.
There’s no right way to draw, and no wrong way to draw. And because there are no mistakes, you have the opportunity to create what brings you joy. The power is all yours.
Floral Waves by Svetlana KrasnobayPineple by Mei Hua Teng, CZTHeartlock by Candace Mok
Start with the patterns you like
Sometimes hobbies just come more naturally when you enjoy them. Like sports and exercise, you probably won’t keep at anything long if you don’t like it. Some of my early favorites—like Floral Waves, Pineple, and Heartlock—felt easy to draw because they were created with simplicity in mind, but they have an intricate aesthetic when they’re complete. You might think they’re too difficult to learn at first glance.
You’ll find tutorials for these three Zentangles and more than 50 others in my 9 Easy Zentangle Patterns for Beginners playlist. (Patterns are curated by theme into groups of 9 tangles for each video.)
One of the ways I can tell I’m feeling better is that I am getting things done again. That includes posting a new Zentangle video that went live this morning. Also I’m already thinking about new ones to create. Signs of life.
My hands are unsteady and my grip feels weird, but I did it. Taking a few minutes to watch this helps my channel, especially after a long hiatus like I took following my dad’s death and then doing more chemo a few months later. So, if you like Zentangles or just want to help a girl out, here you go:
These are actually the first nine patterns in the Project Pack 10, L5 spread. Sometimes what I need to do is go back to the basics. Anyway, if you’d like to take a look at the original videos from Zentangle HQ, you can find them here: Zentangle YouTube Channel.
I plan to film Part 2 soon, but I have to make sure I take some time off to take care of me and ordinary life things, and that requires being very intentional about how I spend my time. So check back here or subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to know when the next video drops.
There’s a new video up on my channel: 9 Easy Zentangle Patterns for Beginners – Freeform Curves. I ran a poll asking my channel subscribers what interested them most, and an overwhelming majority said they wanted to learn how to draw more Zentangle patterns. (I’m not abandoning other video styles, just prioritizing accordingly.)
This past week, in an effort to distract myself from cancer thoughts (they’re like shower thoughts, but more disturbing) I decided to get out the Prismacolor Premier pencils again. My goal was to complete Tangled Yogi’s Ladybug Love Zentangle tutorial. She uses colored pencil in almost—if not all—of her video tutorials. I posted these process pics on Instagram and Twitter already, but I like looking at them, and, you know, this is my blog.
I never thought I’d be so enamored with colored pencils, but then I got good ones. And I started learning how to use them. Look at the intensity of that color, baby! I’ve also learned that quality paper helps. This tile is one I cut from some larger sheets of the same bristol vellum I used for the Riptide class.
***
I’m not sure what, if anything, we’ll get done around the house this week. We ordered new exterior shutters, but in addition to Dan and I both managing disabling health conditions (Oh yeah, insurance denied coverage of the medicine Dan’s doctor prescribed and then also denied the appeal. Good times.) removing the old shutters and attaching new ones just seems, like, hard?
We need a handyman. I hate that word, by the way, but am too tired to think of a better one right this second. I know there are all kinds of them around, but I am also too tired to do that level of vetting. I just want to automagically know this singular person who is like, “I will fix everything that needs fixing.” For me, vetting service people is an activity that ranks right up there with talking to customer service representatives and cleaning the litter box.
However, I am occasionally capable of small projects if I have help. For example, Dan and I recently installed new porch lights on the house. Here’s the front one. That’s a new mailbox too.
There’s still a ton of stuff to do though. The ultimate goal is to get the house in shape to sell while also making it more livable until we move. The timeline for all of this is virtually non-existent though. Sick people don’t make plans. Our bodies won’t let us do things most of the time. Plus the money thing is always a problem. If you know, you know.
I feel a not insignificant amount of pressure to get the house in good shape to list, despite everything being uncertain and knowing it’s not in our immediate future, just because houses are selling like toilet paper in a pandemic right now. One two doors down from us sold in about 48 hours for a decent price, and I can’t help but be terrified that the SELL NOW bubble is going to pop before we’re ready. I still have nightmares about dumping that shithole condo in Indianapolis. It. took. forEVER.
*shudders*
One really major thing that would be awesome to do is update our main bathroom. It’s all original fixtures, in terrible shape, and far from accessible. I manage, but not with any peace of mind. (Please don’t suggest grants for the disabled unless you have actually applied for one, been awarded the grant, and you are not a veteran of the armed forces. I have a better chance of finding an actual unicorn for sale at Walmart than having anything I need actually covered and I can tell you how I know.)
I’m starting to get grouchy now, so I’ll stop here and go message another oncologist about when chemo is supposed to happen.
In case you haven’t seen me mention it on Twitter or otherwise heard me talking about it already, I got to speak with my oncologist (finally!) on Friday evening regarding the results of my most recent MRI. The radiologist’s report noted a “slight concern for progression” which had me a little freaked out for a bit. Well, the tumor board has recommended more “waiting and watching” of my brainstem tumor for now. So my next MRI will take place sometime in April.
The January MRI showed some change in the tumor that looked like a section of recurrence in my medulla (I talked about this briefly in my last Tangled Talk video), but because the change is so small, there is no treatment recommended at this time, especially considering I am not experiencing any new or more disabling neurological symptoms.
My doctor did say that because the recurrence is in a part of my brain that was previously treated with radiation, more radiation in that location is not an option down the road. Other treatment options, including clinical trials, would be considered if needed at some point in the future. But there’s no point in putting the treatment cart in front of the cancer horse, if you will.
So if you’re reading this update like, “What should I feel about all of this information, Emily?” I’d say feel what I feel—relieved. This thing is still slow growing, and knowing that makes it much easier to do more living and less worrying.
YouTube Channel
While I was waiting to finally speak with my doctor, I filmed and edited a couple of YouTube videos for my channel. Though I can push myself too far if I’m not careful, digging into those things keeps me distracted from anxiety and tires me out that it’s a little bit easier to sleep at night. Both videos I post are heart-themed for Valentine’s Day. (I’m trying to post some timely content to feed the masses and grow my channel.)
Zentangle Class and CZT Scholarship
In other news, I have signed up to take an online class in March from certified Zentangle teacher Holly Atwater. I already have my supplied, and I am really looking forward to it. (I’m doing the Monet 3D workshop on March 6 if you’re curious, and it looks like there are still some openings.) Since my birthday is in March, the class is a present to myself.
Another thing I did this past week was apply for a scholarship to participate in Zentangle’s upcoming CZT training. It was a little scary even just filling out the application, because committing to a multi-day anything with chronic illness can be pretty stressful. But it’s something I really want to do. I might not get a scholarship, and that’s fine, but if I do it would be nice. The one bizarre upside to Covid is that they are doing virtual training again. If travel were required, becoming a CZT would basically be out of the question.
Anyway, I’d appreciate some good luck vibes from everybody out there.
I’d like to invite you to draw Zentangle doodle art with me today. But first, an update for everyone who’s morbidly curious about the woman with the brain tumor: I’m still here. 🙂
It’s 46 °F in Urbana right now, and it’s supposed to be cloudy and rainy for the next couple of days. I checked the weather app on my phone just to be sure I wasn’t lying to you all about the forecast, but just know that my body already told me yesterday we were in for some crappy weather.
I took my last dose of edibles (a chocolate peanut butter indica candy bar) last night to quiet the loudest of the aches and pains, and my pain level is still tolerable this morning. But I know that will be wearing off shortly. I can already feel the future settling in.
I have some oils and a couple of loose joints, but they are just not as effective as edibles for me. I really wish the dispensary would go back to curbside service right now. I can’t describe how badly I do not want to be inside the dispensary. Not only do I not want to brush my pandemic hair, put on actual pants, and increase my chances of being exposed to Covid-19. I just don’t want to do people-ing today.
Might they bring my order to my car if I call and ask nicely and explain that I’m a med patient? Yeah, maybe. But I hate the phone, too. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m going to be using up my vape and tincture remnants because I’m having trouble shaking off this depressive mood.
So let’s talk about something else instead. Like my YouTube channel. I didn’t post anything for the entire month of November because my creative resources were entirely drained after the Inktober doodle art videos , but I’ve posted twice so far in December. Go me!
One thing that motivated me to start drawing and recording again was buying the first-ever Archer & Olive subscription box. (They gave me a referral link. Use it to get 15% off if you’re in the market for some premium bujo goodies: http://archerandolive.refr.cc/emilysuess)
The subscription box is a limited-supply quarterly thing (you can watch me unbox the contents here) that cost about $70. I would normally feel guilty about spending that much money on notebook and stationery supplies, but 1.) I just deserve to be happy sometimes, and 2.) I am confident it’ll help me grow my YouTube channel.
So anyway, the unboxing video didn’t perform so well. I actually had a net loss of subscribers the day I posted it. And that bummed me out. It’s not that I need every video I make to do well, but because the video was outside of my usual it took me longer than usual to edit it. Plus there was a voiceover with it, and that adds about 4 extra hours of work. There’s definitely something deflating about putting all your very limited effort into something that you’re super geeked about only to have the world be like, “meh.”
I plan to keep doing the bullet journal videos, though, because bullet journaling is what’s going to help me organize the rest of the content I produce. I figure I might as well have to camera rolling while I’m doing it. The #bujo community on YouTube is huge, and it seems like such a great fit with Zentangling. Anyway, I’m excited about it, even if no one else is at the moment.
Anyway, there’s a new Zentangle-only video up today for Patrons (tomorrow for everyone else). If you could use some simple, cheerful art to brighten your day, you will probably really enjoy this one featuring the pattern Alcatraz by Diana E. Marshall. In it I draw the Zentangle art at the top of this page. It’s not an overly intricate tile, so it’s a good Zentangle to try if you don’t consider yourself artsy but still want to Zentangle with me.
Because it’s usually the first thing tanglers want to know, here are some of the supplies I used for my InktoberZentangle tutorials. More detailed lists can be found on YouTube under individual video descriptions.
Zentangle Tutorials
Day 1: Easy Zentangle Patterns for Beginners – Inspired by Project Pack No. 11 The wonderful people at Zentangle HQ create project packs a few times a year with accompanying Zentangle tutorials. If you want to learn more about the Inspiration for this Zentangle using phi proportions, be sure to see the official instructional videos for Project Pack 11.
Day 2: How to Draw Zentangle Pattern Khala This pattern is a stunning variation on Celtic knots created by Zen Linea. I’m still learning to draw it confidently and find that starting with a pencil sketch is a good idea. I would recommend this Zentangle pattern for intermediate to advanced Zentangle fans.
Day 3: Easy Zentangle Patterns for Beginners: Huggins Huggins is a fun tangle pattern drawn by constructing a grid out of dots. It’s an easy pattern that can be embellished as much or as little as you like. The variation of Huggins follows the same steps, but the dots are placed more randomly instead of on an evenly spaced grid.
Day 4: How to Draw a Zentangle Gem Incorporating colorful gems into Zentangle patterns is so much fun and adds a lot of dimension to your art. The gem in the video was colored using a basic set of colored pencils. Higher-quality pencils, however, are typically easier to blend and would allow for an even smoother result.
Day 5: Easy Zentangle Art Inspired by Home Patterns are everywhere from wallpaper and pottery to fabric and ferns. But this prompt could inspire so much more than trying to recreate an existing pattern. I decided to use the design on a piece of heirloom furniture as the string for this meditative Zentangle art.
Day 6: Subversive Cross-Stich Inspired Zentangle If you’re just getting to know me, I should probably tell you that I am a HUGE fan of subversive cross-stitch sayings. I borrowed the saying “Maybe Swearing Will Help” from a picture I found on Pinterest. What can I say? Swearing speaks to me.
Day 7: How to Draw a Zentangle Heart Switched up my materials today and grabbed an alcohol marker, a purple Micron, and a purple Gelly Roll pen from the Moonlight set for this super easy to draw Zentangle Heart. Of course, I couldn’t draw anything until my cat Izzy rolled around on my desk for a few minutes first.
Day 8: Zentangle Art Illuminated Letter When I chose this prompt for myself, I had illuminated letters in mind, like the ones Zentangle founder Maria Thomas creates. I didn’t have any metallic media to use at the time I created this Zentangle, so it’s colored with alcohol markers instead.
Day 9: Zentangle Art Inspired by Delftware The first time I saw someone working with the blue inks in Project Pack 7, I immediately thought of Delftware. But you don’t necessarily have to try to copy a Delft pattern for today’s prompt or even use blue ink. Just a friendly reminder to use these prompts as inspiration, not necessarily as rules or specific assignments. You do you, baby!
Day 10: How to Draw Zentangle Border Pattern Coil Around a Circle Lots of Zentangle patterns lend themselves to being used as a border and many of those border patterns are excellent for using as circle borders specifically. Or they could also be used as the edge of a Zendala or drawn within inside rows too..
Day 11: More Easy Zentangle Patterns for Beginners In this video, I fill an entire page in my sketchbook from edge-to-edge with some basic Zentangles. I drew in a pencil string first to divide the page into smaller sections, but there was no pre-planned composition. I just drew whatever I felt like.
Day 12: How to Draw Organic Zentangle Patterns Organic Zentangle patterns tend to be my favorites. In this Zentangle tutorial video you can see step by step how I created this mosaic-style tangle by outlining a Bijou tile and using flower pattern Henna Drum.
Day 13: How to Draw Zentangle Patterns Cubine and Zonked When I’m drawing geometric Zentangle patterns it’s easy to get into a rhythm and zone out for some relaxing tangle practice. These two grid-based patterns aren’t difficult to draw, but they do take a little time and help me settle into drawing when I need pleasant distraction.
Day 14: Zentangle Pattern Crescent Moon with Louise Belcher Fan Art Today’s Inktober Zentangle prompt was “fan art”. I today’s tangle is a little light on the Zentangle, but once I finished learning how to draw Louise from Bob’s Burgers, I almost didn’t want to add a single thing to the page!
Day 15: How to Draw Zentangle “Holes” For the prompt “holes” I used an alcohol marker plus a graphite pencil and tortillon for shading to make circles that look like three-dimensional holes in the sketchbook paper.
Day 16: Combining Easy Zentangle Patterns with Stickers I don’t know about you, but I have a ton of fun stickers. I plan to use them directly in my art for today’s prompt but you could also make Zentangle stickers.
Day 17: Easy Zentangle Inspired Art Zentangle art can be used to fill larger objects and scenes. Although basic shapes make up most of the composition here, you will find the Zentangle patterns Printemps and Yincut easily.
Day 18: How to Draw Zentangle Pattern B’tweed A monotangle makes use of a single pattern. I have divided a circle into eight parts and used B’tweed in all of them and created a Zentangle that looks spherical after it’s shaded.
Day 19: How to Draw an Offset Zentangle Zendala For today’s prompt, which is “Zendala” I wanted to draw a Zentangle that was different from what I usuallly do. So instead of using concentric circles that share the same center point for my string, I decided to do an offset Zendala.
Day 20: Easy Zentangle Art with Metallic Watercolors I drew and painted some basic fall leaves and added couple of Zentangle patterns to create a simple drawing with an autumn feel.
Day 21: Easy Zentangle Patterns from the Zentangle Legend The L5 spread of the Zentangle Legend booklet features 20 of Zentangle’s original patterns. I used the 20-sided die that comes in the project pack to randomly choose patterns Xircus, Poke Root, Keeko, and Hollibaugh.
Day 22: Zentangle Inspired Meditative Art Today’s prompt was “Grid” but I wasn’t really feeling like drawing the same exact square a dozen times. I decided to explore changing the grid size in different sections, which turned out to be a lot of fun.
Day 23: Black and White Zentangle with India Ink I painted on a flat wash of India Ink to create a contrasting background in the Zentangle tutorial.
Day 24: How to Draw Zentangle Pattern Bronx Cheer in Minimalist Style In keeping with the minimalist theme, I’ve used a single Micron and graphite for shading a beginner Zentangle pattern.
Day 25: How to Draw Solar System Inspired Zentangle Art I attempted to create a Zentangle art solar system. Disclaimer: my solar system is not to scale and I’m missing a couple of planets.
Day 26: How to Draw Easy Zentangle Flowers from Inkblots I decided to put down some random black india ink blobs and turn them into abstract Zentangle flowers.
Day 27: How to Draw and Shade an Embossed Zentangle A faux embossed look can be given to Zentangle art when shading and highlights are used to create the effect.
Day 28: How to Add Contrast to Zentangles with Masking The prompt for today was “masking”. I used regular blue painter’s tape to mask the areas of the paper I wanted to preserve.
Day 29: 7 Easy Zentangle Patterns in 1 Zentangle In all, there are seven Zentangle patterns in this piece: Xander and Printemps are used within the pattern Aquafleur and the larger composition is accented with Flux, Flooish, Fescue, and Springkle.
Day 30: Zentangle Zendala Step by Step I pulled out my sepia colored Micron pens to create this Zentangle Zendala — or Zentangle inspired mandala. I coordinated with brown Micron pen to add a little bit of contrast to the tangle.
Day 31: Zentangle Tranzending Tranzending is drawing on top of an already completed tile. The layered effect can add extra depth to your tangles and help hide parts of a tile you don’t like.
For more Zentangle patterns and tutorials, see my One Zentangle a Day video series.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you.
This video shows you the relaxing Zentangle art for beginners that I created using materials from Project Pack 08. The two-tile setup was taught in the official Day 2 video. I changed up the pattern, as usual, because for whatever reason I am always drawn to spirals. I think it’s the simplicity of spiral patterns that makes them so relaxing to draw—I just draw without having to think too much. Some days that’s exactly what I need.
There’s no voiceover for this video, but there will be in the future! I am excited to record again soon because I got a microphone for my birthday from my sister-in-law and brother. (In addition to using it for Zentangle videos, I am also preparing to offer audio versions of Who You Gonna Believe read by yours truly—I just need to reach my Patreon goal, but I am past the halfway mark!)
Anyway, it was a rainy, dreary day in Urbana today, which made lighting the video a little trickier than usual and resulted in harsher shadows. I also struggled gripping the pens today—the tips of my fingers kept going numb because I was holding them so tightly. I attribute a lot of that to being absolutely strung out on stress the last couple of days, but crazy Spring temperature changes always play a part too. (It warmed up to almost 70 °F, but is now dropping again, which means the aches and pains are going to settle in 5, 4, 3….
Still, my mood was much better after completing my tangle practice than it was before I started. I hope this beginner Zentangle video gives you a little inspiration to create your own doodle art today. As always, tag me on Twitter or Instagram if you share your Zentangles so I can follow you!
It may (or may not) go without saying, but when you have brain cancer, sometimes finishing something small is a great big deal. And so I’m writing this post–the final lesson in the One Zentangle a Day series–with a great big smile on face. Day 42 begins with learning the Zentangle pattern Bronx Cherry and concludes with a notebook flip-through of all the tangles I created for the video series.
It was supposed to be a 42-day course in learning how to Zentangle. It ended up being a 380-day long struggle to finish a thing in the face of serious illness, financial setback, and the inevitable associated depressions that come along for the ride.
The author said the Zentangle pattern Bronx Cherry is a good one for covering mistakes, and because of that she saved it for last, as she didn’t want everyone using the book One Zentangle a Day to overuse the pattern. If I’m just being completely honest, I don’t like the pattern as it’s taught. While it might cover up a mistake, it just looks like scribbles to me in its most basic form.
That’s why I kept fiddling around with the pattern until I found something I could live with. The result is pulling way back on the weight of the lines and suggesting roundness within the overall shape rather than forcing in down the viewer’s throat. What I used in the practice piece has a slightly cartoonish look to it. But I like it, and that’s what matters.
This is not the end of my Zentangle videos, it’s just the end of this particular course. I now have a very solid foundation for continuing my Zentangle art and am eager to improve my tangles AND my videos in the future. Thanks for following along with me!
The penultimate lesson for One Zentangle a Day is now complete! The lesson for Day 41 was to create Zentangle folk art using folk patterns. You can see those patterns in the art I created for the video. It includes wolf’s tooth, primrose, and pussy willow patterns plus a couple of others. All of them have symbolic meaning in traditional folk art.
I finally got my hands on a Helix circle and angle maker this week. My intent was to use them on Zendala art, but I was so excited to see how it worked that I just had to use it on this video. I can tell it is going to be my go-to tool for making Zendala (Zentangle mandala) tangles, and it only cost $5.
I also tried using my artist’s pencils for shading instead of the stubby little pencil that came with my original Zentangle kit. In the interest of time, I didn’t go all-out trying to make gradients for the Zentangle folk art piece, but I did enjoy working with a full-sized pencil. The brain tumor has impaired my fine motor skills enough that I really do benefit from have something substantial to hold on to. My hand cramps less and doesn’t fatigue as quickly — both good things for video making!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this tangle. Let me know what you’re creating these days.
