Zen and Ink

I love to draw Zentangles. They relax me and send me off to a peaceful state of mind. They can look very complicated but are, in fact, simple and easy to learn. "Zentangle" reached the Number One spot on Squidoo, was awarded a Purple Star and Lens of the Day.

It shows you a quick and very easy way to begin Zentangling.

Zentangle Examples, Ideas and Materials gives another tutorial on how to create more advanced tangles. It also recommends some products to use for your drawings. Luckily, you don't need much for Zentangling - it's a very cheap hobby!

Zentangle Patterns shows you how to see Zentangles everywhere! Indoors, outdoors, all over. I grab a few random patterns from around my house and show you how to incorporate them into your work.

The Doodle is yet another step-by-step, this time focused on creating patterns within a framework of grids. More a Zendoodle than a Zentangle!

Often new Zentangle artists are unsure about adding shadow to their drawings. Where do you put it? Should it be very dark? How to blend shading to look natural? This page is a basic tutorial on adding shading to your Zendoodles.

I am always looking for more Zentangle inspiration so decided to gather a few of my favourite links and resources together on one page, Zentangle Links. They are truly inspirational. I hope you think so too. If you know of any good ones, then please do add them to the list.

Thought some of my designs might work well on Zazzle products so gave it a go. I have lots more to add. I listed them as 'Xen Tangles' as didn't want to get into copyright trouble by using the Zentangle trademark! Zentangle Zazzle.

There are some wonderful Zentangle Blogs out there. I really enjoy the ones who take part in weekly challenges and then post the results. It's fascinating to see how people interpret the challenge and come up with their own perspective in Zentangle form. There will be more and more blogs linked here as I discover them. Do you know how long it takes me to add the links? All that reading and Zendoodle gazing on your behalf. Oh well, someone has to do it :-)

The Zentangle® art form and method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

I love to write. I'm always creating lenses like these, writing articles or simply pounding a few thoughts into pulp in a personal journal. However, one day I discovered art journals - the combining of words, collage, crayons, paint, pastels, ink stamps and buttons. Buttons? Yep, anything that will go into an art journal CAN go into an art journal. Tickets, receipts, cuttings, embellishments, fabric, sequins... and buttons.

There is such freedom in this art. It doesn't have to be art at all. It is your own private place to express yourself... and sometimes a picture can take the place of a whole lot of words. Sometimes one word is all it takes.

It can be quite difficult to start art journaling, especially when faced with a pristine blank page. It's inviting but what if you go wrong? You have to start somewhere so this page "Create a Journal Page" is a step-by-step to those new to journaling in words and images.

It is so easy to accumulate a huge selection of journal supplies - and that's lovely, there's nothing I like more than playing with new stuff. However, the beginning art journaler needs to know where to begin... and, really, the things you need are fairly basic and can give you an excellent start in your journal journey.

You can create an art journal at any age. "Art Journals for Children" looks at the benefits and fun of encouraging children to play in a journal. I also get my children to contribute to my own journals - see the cute mermaid above, created by my, then, 7 year-old daughter. I am always seizing on their drawings, scanning them and collaging them into my books!

"Create a Mini Me" explains how to make a mini 'you' from photos and collage. Kids have great fun with this and my two certainly got the idea pretty quickly. Use your 'mini-me' as an avatar who appears in your journals and even as your online persona.

I have also included here three extra pages - two are collections of blank journals, both leather bound and... er... not leather bound. The third is about a book by an inspirational journaler, Violette.

You don't have to have an artistic bone in your body to create a great big, fat, scrumptious, arty looking journal that you can carry around with you and use for months, nay, years. Make a junk journal from a simple spiral bound notebook, complete with secret flaps and places to keep your preciouseseses.