Back to the basics

I had not touched pen to paper in a long time.  I became an avid pen and ink illustrator while in grad school.  It was the means to create a master's project.  But, with no real outlet for continuing to create detail drawings of ferns, I simply let time slip by until it was only a distant memory.  Nearly 10 years later, I began to draw once more as I created note cards of the flora and birds of my locality.  It was fun and fairly lucrative, but after a while, I tired of it as well.  Again, a long period of non-drawing.  My interest had moved to many other areas.  But, a dear friend knew that deep at heart I loved pen and ink.  When they happened, in one of their late-night web surfing, upon a zendoodle site, well, they said they had no choice but to forward.

I was intrigued.  I went into my buried treasure box of unused art supplies and dug out my microns.  I even found I still had a couple of sketch pads.  After blowing off the dust, I sat down and began to doodle.
   

At first, I kept myself sequestered to circles. I experimented in shapes and patterns.  I drew so many circles that my dreams were framed in the same shape.  Ugh!  After months of running round in circles (I can't help myself) I tired and put the doodles down.  Months went by and it appeared that my fascination with zentangles would follow the same fate as my earlier endeavors with drawing - down the dim memory of something once enjoyed.  I became intrigued with other creative outlets and the doodling completely ceased.  That is until a desire to help a friend while going through a difficult time caused my doodling to resurface.

Of all my artistic interest, zentangle is the least expensive and the easiest to transport.  I promised a friend I would go with them to another state and keep them company while they supported a spouse about to have cancer surgery.  I knew there would be long hours of waiting and I would be mostly living in a motel room.  I cannot sit around and have nothing to keep my hands busy.  So, in a moment of inspiration, I remembered how soothing and interesting doodling can be.  I grabbed my supplies and packed them.  Again the circles.  Again the quick sense of boredom as one circle followed another.  I decided I needed a new outlet for my doodling.  An idea began to fester.  What about doodling in something besides a circle!

Surprisingly, I was not expecting to become as passionate doodling outside of the circles as I had been when I first doodled.  This was not an evolving thing.  I jumped from circles to creating recognizable shapes filled with doodles.  I began to draw and draw and draw.  Unexpectedly, I was not prepared for what was to follow next.  The desire to draw doodles has reawakened my creative itch to draw botany and other art images once again.  In college, I had collaborated with one of my professors in creating note cards imaging aboriginal art.  Long forgotten, it resurfaced and I began to play with these designs as well.  So, while not zendoodles or tangles, they still bring the same peace that doodling has taught me.  Plus, they were the original zendoodlers.  Just look up their art.  Dots, circles, lines, etc.  They have a lot to offer.  And, believe me, when I stipple a drawing with thousands of dots to make it look like granite, it is the same as zendoodling.  My mind goes into another dimension and I relax as much as I did when I used to find the zone while running long distances.

 

I had never read a blog, (at least not aware if I was in one) let along thought to create one.  That is until today.  But, the desire to connect with others that use zentangles to release their creative inner artist is a strong one.  I'll continue to post new drawings and thoughts.  I have no idea what to expect. 

 

 

 

 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.