Exploring Triangular Zentangle Fragments

Click on this link to watch the accompanying YouTube drawing tutorial.

This morning I just wanted to mess around with some fragments, and triangular ones seemed the way to go! ‘Fragments’ is the Zentangle term for the cells that make up a repeating pattern.

I started with a simple fragment of a circle (orb in Zentangle-speak) inside a triangle. All of these fragments have orbs as part of them, and I’m not sure if I’ve done many of them before.

I’ve written it before, and no doubt will again, that exploring both fragments and tangle patterns is an absorbing activity. No matter how often I look at one particular fragment, there are endless variations that can result. Some may be of use in a ‘reticulum’ (Zentangle-ese for the grid upon which a pattern is formed), others may just be for the experience of being curious and seeing what happens if I do x, y or z…

This is also a great warm-up activity. It gets my hand-eye coordination and fine motor control working well. My creative brain gets flexed and exercised too. It is also an opportunity to try out new drawing tools and media.

Another big benefit of this practice is that there is no pressure to complete a finished artwork. There’s the implied permission to make mistakes, for things to not work out. Indeed, I learn more from those that don’t work out or where a mistake is made than anything that works out well.

I’m always amazed by how many fragments can be made from a simple start. In this case a circle within a triangle.

#DrawWithMe – exploration of some triangular Zentangle fragments

Although I didn’t tackle all of the triangular fragments in today’s video, I enjoyed sharing some explorations, along with the little bit of an overall pattern that came about almost accidentally!

I’d almost forgotten how much fun it is to use a basic shape and see how it can be turned into a fragment of a larger pattern. Then, create variations on this theme. Some of the fragments are from the Zentangle Primer Vol. 1, others are variations that resulted.

Fragment Friday – “D5”

In today’s video, I explore fragment D5 from the Zentangle Primer. Some interesting variations appeared, which were more interesting when put into either a regular or a crazy grid (or reticulum).

I decided to use Graphitint pencils to add both shadow and colour to some of the drawings.