Tangle Tuesday

My latest Zentangle:

I wanted to use a central tangle of some sort, and then have different tangles radiating outward from it. I'm still experimenting with different tangles, so trying to find ways to incorporate lots of different ones into my creations.

I decided to go with a central flower, and started with a cabbage rose center - I labored over what size to make the center, because I didn't want my completed flower to end up dominating the page (oops!) - I thought I settled on a perfectly sized center (any smaller, and the pattern wouldn't have shown) but by the time I added a couple of layers of petals around it, my flower was huge. Then I decided to add some leaves and tendrils. Then I got fancy and added some color.

Once the flower was finished, I added some dividing lines (strings) for the tangles, and ended up with 13 spaces to fill - this was a lot of fun. There are so many tangles I still haven't tried, and yet I ended up using a few of my favorites from previous efforts (over and under, W2, and river).

W2 is one I really struggle with - no matter how careful I am, I screw up and get the little black squares out of alignment (every time!) AND manage to get some of the other lines in the wrong place, too. In the interest of full disclosure:

The section indicated with the red arrow started out to be W2. I drew the little black squares, and they were sort of aligned. Sort of - there was a bit of a deviation where the arrowhead points. But then, I started adding (what I call) the innies and outies - the lines that alternate on the inside and outside of the little squares. And right where the arrowhead is, I screwed up (as usual) and put an innie where an outie belonged. With my sakura felt tip marker - so it was permanent. No way to fix it, so I improvised and made the weird, warped plaid-ish grid you see there now.

I don't get very zen when I tangle - I want to be precise and perfect!

Tangles I used in this doodle (not including my weird warped plaidish grid):

• paradox
• tutus and tiaras
• spearls
• tendrils
• chainging
• W2
• river
• kloonz
• tentacles
• amoeboid
• seasick
• strircles
• over and under
• slalom
• ballot
• stoic

Are you a Zen doodler, or an anal doodler? (ooh - that sounds bad)