Once upon a time, I zen-ed out...chapter three.
Marvelous Reader, we have reached chapter three!
A decidedly spiraled tangle:
With this latest tile, I think I’m juuuuuuuust starting to find a groove. I’m not sure if it’s my grove...but it’s a start on a grove nonetheless. Before I started this week’s work I spent time looking at inspirational doodles and tangle patterns and I find that really helped me focus on the minutia of the stroke work because I wasn’t scrambling to plan as I went.
I’m not sure this method is on-brand for official Zentangling, but it is on brand for Amy Jackson! While this exercise should help me to stretch and grow, I’m rather proud of my ability to take in data and assess the best way forward, so I don’t want to let that go completely. I believe the time spent reviewing various patterns and grouping them into categories in my mind helped me to develop a patterning solution that was cohesive and interesting.
As I have with every tile so far, I look back on the finished piece and wish I could change some things but I am learning that is part of the Zentangle process and one of the reasons they emphasize the need to focus on each stroke, each line, each moment. They eschew pencils except for the initial thread and end-shading because you can’t erase life...so you shouldn’t erase your tangle work.
I’d like to erase that messy feather in the lower half of this tangle. But I can’t. Instead I’ll own it and keep honing my zen(tangling).