Zentangle

For the past few days, I had this inner voice urging me to sketch.  I enjoy painting more than sketching perhaps because I am not very good at it. Regardless when you have the itch, you got to take care of it.

Zentangle is great for folks who enjoy freehand sketching. Its an abstract sketch that aids meditation. I scorched the internet for some ideas, practiced a few tangles and then got so entangled that it almost left me overwhelmed and confused. An art that is meant to infuse calmness, detangle stress points and restore the positive flow of thoughts was not working on me. A little introspection hinted the possibility of trying to perfectly recreate tangles available on the net was probably the cause. It made me think - about the purpose, the intent and the desire outcome of forming zentangles. I had the idea of what it involved, and so it was time to try on my own.

My first attempt at creating my very own and original sketch - my first Zentangle. The images depict a step by step process. Zentangle approach does not recommend using any tools or aids to sketch but being a rookie, I let myself use a couple; I used lids of vicks vaporub, plastic containers to draw the circles. Instead of the recommended micro tip pen, I used a regular black ball point pen. It helped to start off a new form of art with something familiar and I started filling in the circles with some Mehendi designs and transitioned to other designs that flowed in.

It took me approximately two hours to complete the entire sketch and fifteen minutes to color it. Simple items around the house helped complete this sketch and this will not have an exact match with any tangle on the internet. I loved the black and white look with light color and the overall design, though I feel it could have been a little neat.

There is beauty in imperfection. There is a reason this form of art is called "zen" + "tangle" - you get tangled in the zen and once you have reached that point, there is no looking back.