You can only read this post if you promise not to laugh: My first Zentangle

It's tough having a fetish for pens and paper yet lacking any artistic talent at all. Seriously. I look at the other pen and paper blogs, and so many of them include nice sketches as part of their pen or ink reviews, or at least nice handwriting. Others write fiction. I can't do any of that.

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:

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?

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.

You can only read this post if you promise not to laugh: My first Zentangle

While we're on the subject of giveaways . . .

There's a huge one going on at I am the diva - Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT®). The Diva is giving away three different packages of art supplies in celebration of her 200,000th hit. Congrats, Diva!

Zentangles appeal to me because, as I've mentioned before, I'm no artist, and zentangles are supposed to be achievable even for those without any real artistic talent. That's not a knock on zentangle artists, I'm merely repeating one of the selling features I've seen touted, such as this one from Zentangle, Inc.:

With Zentangle, anyone can create beautiful images from repetitive patterns. This method is easy to learn and easy to do. And even though it is a specified series of steps, it results in a creative expression that transcends its own rules.

They even use the trademark phrase, "Anything is possible ... one stroke at a time."

Like 99% of lawyers, I deal with a lot of stressful situations in my work. Creating zentangles is supposed to be a good activity for relieving stress. So, zentangles seem like the perfect pastime for someone like me: a pen-and-paper enthusiast whose profession doesn't allow me to use my pens and papers that much (so much of my work being done on the computer), who has no idea how to start writing prose, and who can't draw much beyond stick figures. About the only workout my stationery gets is letter-writing, notes in church, notes during the occasional meeting at work, and quick notes to my assistant.

I need a creative outlet! Since winning one of these packages might be a good way to get started as a zentangler zentanglist zentanglerator at creating zentangles, you can bet I am entering. (Update: I browsed around on The Diva's blog a little more, and it appears the correct term for a zentangle artist is "tangler.")

While we're on the subject of giveaways . . .