Zentangle MatchMaking: Wartz and Opus

Yesterday Art Clubbers and I had a super important class which I’m hoping will be part of a series. This class, which I named “Zentangle Matchmaking” addresses the issues of how to select and combine tangles and string during a classic Zentangle session.

I’ve heard it so many times: “I can take a class, I can draw step-outs, but when it comes time to combine the tangles together, I’m at a loss”. I’m hoping that this series will address some of those pain points.

I think that one of the issues is that Classic Zentangle has a level of spontaneity and intuitiveness that is lost when working with a very planned out project.

To me, it means that this requires a level of randomness to truly inspire the muse to come up with that intuitive result. There are several Zentangle games that promote randomness such as the spinner from Project Pack 04, the dice game in the Zentangle Apprentice kit, there are online randomizers, also the bijou raffle and my own digital randomizer app called Art Raffle.

I also like participating in online challenges where a set of tangles and string is selected by the challenge organizer. My favorite one is Sandy Kelley-Jones’ Today’s Tangles: Keeping it Classic facebook group.

For this session, we used the Art Raffle app.

I showed clubbers how to select a string from the random pull and combine it with the first tangle using an approach I call Zentangle MatchMaking. We use Wartz (Genevieve Crabe) and Opus (Zentangle as our main tangles over a Walk Near Pond String.

We also discussed the important concept of connection and partnership which is fundamental to reach a cohesive composition.

We did not complete the entire shading during class, but advanced enough to find direction.

After class I completed the shading. Here’s the before and after:

What I love about this type of class is that each person’s work is completely different and unique!

Feel free to pin or share these images. Copyright 2023 Eni Oken