My Newbie Zentangle, Zendala, and ZIA Recovery Tags

ZIA stands for Zentangle (copyright)  Inspired Art, as Zentangles are done on 3.5" squares or circles.  My computer isn't letting me do the copyright symbol . . .

So, here's my first Zentangle. 

This wasn't with an 01/.25mm Sakura Micron-type pen. Also I need to learn which patterns work better at different scaling. I think this is cool, though. One isn't supposed to worry how it's supposed to look, and there are no mistakes, since life doesn't have an eraser. ZIA, on the other hand, you can make it look how you want, or do it with the Zentangle rules if you like to. 

One pattern was . . well, I didn't get it.

This is fun, though, and creates mindfulness, although it takes longer than the 15 minutes they say, for this size.

I then did some recovery tags as I've mentioned before, like AA recovery tokens with the day, month, or whatever milestone you're on, on them.

The first one I did multiple patterns on; it turned out with a kind of 60's feel.  The others have just one pattern. 

There are no mistakes in Zentangling.  Often you adapt what you're doing if you make a mis-stroke.  In ZIA, you can fix whatever, however you want.  Me, I'm applying the rules to everything at the moment; it's very liberating.  

However, I really struggled with the Me Three pattern, so I tried again and stopped partway through; I think there comes a time when you know you need more practice, so trying again another time will work better.

I really like the optical illusion ones, though.

Also, my husband has started doodling some of these for me.  He's not into the Zen thing, but he likes doodling.  So, for him, it's doodling.  For me, it's Zentangling.

We picked a letter of the alphabet today to challenge the other to pick a pattern starting with that letter, and show each other when done.  I'll post those sometime.

I also chose, although I'm very new at this, to participate in a challenge that Bright Owl,  a Zentangle blogger, puts out weekly.  I'm not sure how to use her linky machine thingy, but here's my Zendala Challenge #8.

We were to use this template, and use only tangles that started with L-O-V-E.  We could use more than four, but they had to start with those letters, with at least one tangle from each letter.

I used Eye-Wa, Vortex, Organza, LoopLopp, and Ojo.

I'm doing my best to not judge mine as not as good as others', because when you Zentangle you don't worry about how it's going to look.  If it's approached as a ZIA, which some may, then they may artfully arrange things.

For me, though, it just IS, and that's part of the beauty of Zentangling, for me.

Although I must admit, those tiny woven tangles on two ends of the "spokes"?  They were way too tiny and a bit of a pain.  I'm still learning about how to use scale better.

Comments

[Judi]

Welcome to the challenge! Your work is great and your zendala is spectacular!! I think you chose a very coordinated bunch of tangles. Super!

[Lorraine (isleofskyelorry on Flickr)]

Hi, I'm a newbie too and I'll be posting my first zendala dare entry tomorrow. Your zendala is fabulous! I look forward to seeing a lot more of your tangles.

[ledenzer]

You are a newbie wonder! Very beautiful!

[Karen Lynn]

Welcome to the world of zentangle! You've got it right--it's all about the wonderful, relaxing, focused process.