grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Z is for Zentangle

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As a child I loved to color and draw and doodle. Was there anything better than a new box of Crayons, the one with the sharpener in the back? Filled with a rainbow of possibilities, I could spend hours studying the various shades and memorizing the color names—Brick Red, Cornflower, Green Yellow (not to be confused with Yellow Green)…
I recently began drawing zentangles as part of my regular writing practice. (Thank you Crescent Dragonwagon and Fearless Writing!) Zentangling is like a Spirograph without the plastic frame. A small piece of artwork, the results are often surprising, sometimes reflecting my mood or surroundings, often an image of my writing. 
Doodling for adults.

With each stroke of the pen, I zone out and juice up the right side of the brain, the expressive and intuitive side.  Anything that awakens the right-brain helps with creative writing.

Skeptical? I’m not surprised. That’s your critical, analytical left-brain preaching…

A – Z Blogging Zentangle

talya

“Drawing makes you look at the world more closely. It helps you see what you’re looking at more clearly.” 
― David Almond, Skellig

Musical Pairing:

Drawing, Barenaked Ladies

I did it! I blogged through the alphabet. Thank you to everyone who played along. If you are a new follower, I hope you will continue reading Grace Grits & Gardening long after Z…

Z is for Zentangle.
Til next year…
A to Z April Blog Challenge.
Happy May!

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Comments

  3. Never heard of zentangles. I will definitely use this for my writing too. Thanks. Congrats on making it through A to Z. 🙂

  4. Love your zentangles, Talya. Must try that. I’m a great doodler from way back. So relaxing.

    And I was exactly the same way with crayons. I almost didn’t want to use them for fear of breaking them. I would read over all the fun names and write out every colour name with the crayon. Must be a fun job getting to name crayon colours.

  8. haha…Very cool, and I don’t want to be skeptical, so Zentangling here I come. Your Zentangles are Zensational! Congrats on conquering the A-to-Z challenge. You passed it, and ended it, with flying colors!=) Awesome job!

  12. That’s a new word I learned today. I love your zentangles. What an awesome way to end the challenge. Thank you so much for supporting me in that journey.

  13. I’m fascinated, Talya. The drawings are amazing. Did you attend a workshop or is there a book too. Am going to the link you so kindly provided. Thanks for introducing me to something wonderful.

    • Corinne I had a quick lesson at a writer seminar and then did a little online research. There are books too. I found a Zentangle teacher and plan to take a lesson. It’s fun!!

  15. Talya, I have enjoyed of late doing zentangles I agree they can really work the creative right side of the brain and clear out the fog. Well done for getting to the end of the challenge, looking forward to coming back to your blog!

  16. I always tell people giving talks to watch out for the doodlers.. They’ll often have the hardest questions for you and will have taken in more than you can imagine. It’s amazing how your brain changes when you doodle. Never heard of this word but love it and your sketches. Mine don’t normally look like much so I might try to direct them a bit more.
    Well done on all your AtoZ’s and I’ve loved the music as we went along too. Zentangle theme for AtoZ from you next year maybe?
    Glad to have *met* you and thanks for comments along the way. xx

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