ZENTANGLE IGUANA

When we began the Iguana project in the online drawing course, Phil, our teacher, encouraged us not to feel intimidated by the amount of detail in the drawing, saying that it was rather like Zentangle, a method of drawing consisting of repetitive small marks. I have done Zentangle drawing for many years so I am familiar with the technique, and agreed with Phil that this is very relaxing and therapeutic.

What he said sparked an idea. This iguana is so rich in texture that I thought it might translate well to a Zentangle project. Rather than repeat the drawing of the head, I selected Phil’s original colour reference photo which showed more of the animal, as this would provide more opportunities for different patterns, and would also be more interesting to do, instead of a straight repeat of my original drawing.

This is the finished iguana drawing, following Phil’s instructions on the course.

This is my Zentangle version.

I did not want to disturb the patterns by drawing hatching for shading, so I added a black watercolour wash afterwards, to add dimension and to provide a suggestion of background. I deliberately did not add any detail to the background as I did not want to detract from the focus of the picture, which was the iguana itself.

Here are a couple of detail shots to show the patterns more clearly.

At the top of the piece I wrote down the various Zentangle patterns I used. Most of these are registered Zentangle patterns but I also included one of my own designs, “Y-Full Power.”

Zentangle patterns

These montages are made up of photos of individual ATC-sized cards that I have made over the years. I have a large ring binder with clear pages with pockets to display ATCs in which I keep these cards.

Each card has a single design on it, with the name of the original designer, and on the reverse, I have drawn the step-by-step instructions for drawing them, which I cannot reproduce on here for copyright reasons; if anyone wants to learn how to draw the patterns, it is a simple matter to search for the name of the pattern online and the directions can be found, either on a recognised Zentangle site or on the artist’s own web page.

I created the finished pattern on the front of each card in the form of a little artwork together with its name, to make them more attractive and interesting. These are great fun to draw. When they are installed in the clear pockets in the pages of the album, all I need to do is to turn the pages and select which designs I want for any particular project, and extract them.

Here is the front cover of the large album.

I drew the Zentangle patterns on a sheet of 12 x 12 inch cardstock. Unfortunately since then, I managed to spill coffee on it so there is now a bit of a brown stain at the top, and much to my annoyance, the whole plastic album is starting to disintegrate as the plastic is breaking down, presumably as a result of continuous light exposure. One day I shall have to remove the ring binder assembly from the spine and make a new binder. It’s annoying, because one of the advantages of this particular binder is that it has a clear full-sized pocket on the front for inserting your own picture, and likewise on the spine.

This is the spine design I drew.

This is the first time I’ve done any Zentangle drawing for simply ages! I go through phases with my creativity, and it’s nice to know that whenever the urge returns to do anything, it’s all still there and can be picked up again.

I’ve also done a bit of digital drawing in this style. My best piece is called “Gold Fold” and was part of a phase I was going through where I was trying to learn how to draw metallic or reflective surfaces. I drew this in Procreate on my iPad.

You may recognise some Zentangle patterns in this drawing. One of the great things about the patterns is that with a little shading, one can render them in a very convincing 3-D!