I've read one book recently about writing, and I've got a few more to go, thinking maybe this will be the year I actually participate in NaNoWriMo in November. ( I modified that to ShoStoWriMo a couple of years ago, and actually got some stuff down on paper, but couldn't come up with much of a story.)
Drawing? Hopeless. Them somehow, I ran across something about Zentangles. (Here's a reminder I am an attorney: "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc.) This is supposed to be art that anyone can create, based on very small, repetitive strokes creating patterns (each pattern in the piece is called a "tangle"), and the process is suppose to help relieve stress. (Believe me when I tell you that stress relief is something I can use.) Zentangle, Inc.'s trademark expression is "Anything is possible one stroke at a time."
Oh, yeah? They never met me.
Anyway, I bought a book on "tangling," the recommended Sakura Pigma Micron pen (oops, wrong tip size), and went to town this afternoon on a blank #12 R by Rhodia premium notepad.
This is what I ended up with after about an hour and a quarter:
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| That patio chair backdrop makes for its own nice tangle pattern, It's a shame I didn't draw it. |
Maybe it looks better on an oblique?
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| Leave it to me to put the worst tangle in the foreground! |
If you want to go the whole tangling route, I suppose, you buy these Zentangle tiles, which I might get around to eventually, but I figured it would be better to start on notepads for awhile to see if I stick with it before spending money on the tiles, which run about $0.50 each. The No. 12 Rhodia pad, at 3.3 in. x 4.7 in., is about 25% larger than the tiles, which are squares 3.5 in. on a side.
After just one tangling session, I'm not convinced yet this will become a common way for me to relax. But the concentration required in drawing all those little lines sure shuts out the rest of the world, which is exactly what I was looking for.
