My First Zentangle

In March 2019 I looked up a local watercolor instructor I'd studied with years ago.  My hope was to get a refresh on the painting techniques that are her own unique style.  But I found that she was only offering classes in Zentangle drawing at the time.  This was something I'd never heard of before but I figured it would be good to learn whatever it was that Linda was teaching now.

What a relaxing treat it was to learn how to draw in this way.  We sat at her dining room table with a Zentangle "Opus" tile in front of each of us.  This is a 10.5" square piece of cotton Italian paper that feels much like watercolor paper.  We use Sakura ink pens and put down predefined patterns within "strings" we lightly drew with pencils.  These strings formed segments that would be filled with different patterns.  We focused on each stroke or squiggle or curve one at a time.  Within an hour or so I had produced my first Zentangle shown here and was just so pleased!