Sunday Funday Post: Zentangle

Two things I have been getting right lately are that I’ve been meditating each morning and I’ve started Zentangling.

Whatsy-tangling, you ask?

Zentangling. I first heard about it sometime last year, when my friend Kristina posted some of her drawings online and mentioned that she had been doing it to relieve stress. I was immediately jealous that she was posting cool artistic pictures and I wasn’t, because hello, *I* am an artist!

I continued to doodle all over my meeting notes at work, and on scraps of paper during phone calls, but I rarely broke out my sketchbook at home. I wanted to know more about this Zentangle business, but it was just one thing too much. So for Christmas, I asked Kris (my brother) to get me a book about Zentangle.

et voila:

As you can see by the book cover, this is a six-week course in the art of Zentangling. I am so into it right now, that I’ve actually done it more than once a day on a couple of days because I just couldn’t wait to do another one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been like rediscovering a part of myself that I lost. Drawing has always been such a part of me, but sometimes I neglect it. I get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, and I don’t give myself the time to sit down and do what I really love. When I was in high school, my art teacher made us do weekly sketches. We’d turn them in on Friday and then over the weekend he would hang them up on a bulletin board for everyone to see on Monday. He would rank them, so there’d be first, second and third place, and then a bunch of honorable mentions. If I remember correctly, the really bad ones didn’t even make it on the board. This brought out my competitive streak in a major way, and my goal was always to get first place. It usually meant that I would stay up ridiculously late on Thursday nights to complete my submission, but it also meant that by the end of senior year, I had a ton of great drawings in my portfolio.

So anyway, I think getting myself to stick to this six-weeks of Zentangle, will be a great help in getting myself back on the wagon. It’s amazing how it’s already ignited the fire in my belly. What I like about Zentangle is that you only need 30 minutes a day to do it. It is a form of meditation, because as you’re drawing, you’re only thinking about the pen and the paper, and everything else is irrelevant in that moment. At least, that’s how it is for me, and that is why I have always loved to draw.

I’m sure it’s not something that everyone would be interested in, but if you’re like me – an artistic soul trapped in the routines and demands of a non-artistic work life, I highly recommend that you check this out. If you’re one of those people who thinks they can’t draw, don’t let that stop you from trying this. I mean, look at the drawings I posted – they are all just variations of lines. Just let your hand do the walking.