Katie Baxter, a sophomore from Missouri majoring in TESOL, said she has been Zentangling since she was in high school and said this method helps her de-stress and unwind after a long day.
The Zentangle Method is a combination of artistic skill and enthusiasm for meditation. It is an art method created in the early 2000s by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, a couple from Massachusetts. By drawing simple, repetitive patterns that consist of lines, dots, and curves, or “tangles,” people can create intricate designs and find peace of mind.
Baxter said, “It’s very calming for me because it doesn’t take much thought. I don’t ever look online or in Zentangle books [for patterns] because I have too many good ideas in my own head.” She said she likes to look for patterns around her to incorporate into cool designs for her Zentangles. “They can take me between 10 and 25 hours each [to finish,] depending on how colorful, how detailed, and how small I make the designs.”
Baxter said she was first introduced to Zentangle in high school by a teacher. “I really enjoyed it. Now she has me hooked. It makes me feel stress free. Some people do adult coloring books, but I’d rather draw my own. I feel very relaxed and creative … and I like to give them as gifts to my friends.
“Sometimes I just start drawing with one color, or sometimes I’ll see a color combination that looks good, or sometimes I just do all different colors. Usually I just put the pen down and let my hand be free.”
Baxter said in high school her Zentangle art won several awards in different art shows. She said she never thought her art was amazing, but winning awards helped her realize she was had talent. “People look at them and they say, ‘Oh, I could never do that.’ But I think anyone can do it because it’s literally just lines, circles, and dots … leaves or flowers. It’s not anything super hard. I definitely think anyone can Zentangle.”
Baxter’s former roommate and good friend Hannah Hahn, a sophomore from Maryland majoring in applied mathematics, said of Baxter’s Zentangles, “They’re awesome. I told her she should sell them because they’re so good. They’re really intricate, and I don’t know how she does it. They [definitely help destress] her because she’s good at them. It’s personalized for her.”
Baxter said she has no interest in keeping or selling her art. “I would rather give them as gifts to people who will appreciate them more than me. It’s not like I’m going to hang it up on my wall, like, ‘Cool I drew that!’ I’d just rather give it to someone as a gift to make them happy.
“I think it’s more fulfilling for me to give them away than sell them.” She said she’s thought about drawing patterns for other people to color, like making her own adult coloring book.
Arilla Utley, a senior from Oregon majoring in psychology, is also Baxter’s friend. She said she thinks it is impressive Baxter doesn’t look at designs beforehand. “It’s not something you plan. It just comes directly from your mind and I think that’s really cool.”
Utley said she thinks Zentangle is good from a psychological standpoint. “A lot of therapy can be done without words. Art can show what’s going on in the mind of a person… You can learn something about them from the pictures they draw. And it can be a stress reliever because it’s something you sit down and focus on and can get a sense of accomplishment from, even if it’s something as simple as a little drawing.
“If people who do Zentangle, if it helps them, I think that’s great. And it’s pretty. It’s beautiful artwork. It definitely takes a lot of self-discipline to not judge your drawings and yourself … especially in the world we live in today. I definitely admire [Katie] and people who [use the Zentangle Method] because they don’t judge their art.”
On the Zentangle website it says, “Zentangle art is non-representational and unplanned so you can focus on each stroke and not worry about the result. There is no up or down to Zentangle art … You don't need to know what a tangle is going to look like to draw it. You just need to know the steps. The result is a delightful surprise. As you use the Zentangle Method to create beautiful images, you likely will enjoy increased focus, creativity, self-confidence and an increased sense of well-being…
“For this reason, we deliberately do not include an eraser in our Zentangle Kit or use it as part of a Zentangle practice. We have no eraser in life, so why in a Zentangle Kit? … Even if those pen marks aren't initially what you might have intended, we never call them ‘mistakes’ in the Zentangle Method ... Instead of looking at them as mistakes, we reframe them as ‘opportunities.’" The Zentangle Method, according to the website, involves eight steps:
1. Gratitude and appreciation
“Get comfortable, take a few deep breaths and feel gratitude and appreciation – for this beautiful paper, for these wonderful tools, for this opportunity to create something beautiful.”
2. Corner dots
“Place a light pencil dot in each corner, about a pen's width from the edges. Now it’s no longer a blank piece of paper.”
3. Border
“Connect those dots with a light pencil line, straight or curvy, to create a square. This is your border.”
4. String
“Inside the border, draw a light pencil line or lines to make what we call a ‘string.’ The string separates your tile into sections, in which you draw your tangles. A string can be any shape. It may be a curvy line that touches the edge of the border now and then, or series of straight lines that go from one side of the border to the next.”
5. Tangle
“A tangle is a … sequence of simple strokes that make up a pattern. Draw your tangles in pen inside the pencil strings and borders … Draw your tangles with deliberate strokes. Don't worry about what it's going to look like. Just focus on each stroke of the pen as you make it. Trust that you'll know what to do next when the time to do it comes.
“There is no up or down to Zentangle art so feel free to rotate your tile in any direction that is most comfortable for your hand as you draw.”
6. Shade
The website continues, “Add shades of gray with a graphite pencil to bring contrast and dimension to your tile. The black and white two-dimensional tangles transform through shading and appear three-dimensional.”
7. Initial and sign
“This is art you created. You should sign it. Put your initials on the front … On the back, place your name, date, comments and observations.”
8. Appreciate
“Hold your tile at arm’s length. Turn it this way and that. Appreciate what you just created.”
Writer: Emi Wainwright