One thing I love about zentangling is it’s a very forgiving form of art expression. You can make a mistake and draw over it, or like I do, paste over it and then start work on that portion again. I think it takes more patience than skill, so forget that my right hand is crampy now from too much detailing. (Have I told you how addicting this can be? It has a hypnotic effect once you get drawing!) I am more than halfway through.
So as you can see in the two pieces I photographed side by side, I had started out with solid circle patterns on the left, then changed my mind altogether, seeing that the linear drawings (minus the darkened centers) worked better. So I reprinted the portion of the graphic and proceeded to do the pattern I had chosen. I had also changed the shading on the rightmost side where I had started doing concave lines, replacing it instead with a mosaic of tiny circles which I am repeating in other parts of the piece.
Voila!
You don’t even know where the lines meet. I simply cut the concave portion from the original and pasted it over, filling in the spaces with more ink.
Meanwhile, before cutting up anything, I had made 2 copies of all the pieces of this artwork using the same material which is midweight paper as a precaution. For bigger, more elaborate pieces, I’ve found that photocopying my work as I make progress helps me to go back or rewind to a cleaner canvas if I decide I don’t like the pattern I had drawn, or if something goes terribly awry.
I am so tempted to try and put together the first two pieces making up the first two tiers, but I want to finish the bottom portion which might turn out to be the most daunting of all. Someone walked over while I was doing one of the pieces during lunchbreak and she paid me a compliment for the drawing — telling me she didn’t know I could draw. I told her, no I really can’t — this is art for those of us who actually cannot draw — and I think I confused her with that remark. =) But that, to me, is what zentangling is about: organized doodling.
Zentangling helps me to remain focused and calm, and allows me to think while I go and scribble. It’s focusing without overly concentrating, and I like the byproduct of the effort once the piece is done. It helps me keep my mind off the asthma which is just about gone — and I know it’s exercising at least the left hemisphere of my brain. =)
Almost there!
Pinay New Yorker 