SURVIVE & THRIVE – A Zentangle Illustrated Story

Illustration by Linda Fields

I’m so excited for in just two weeks I’ll be attending Zentangle’s certification program. Today I immersed myself in a wonderland of tangles to create my final piece – “Survive & Thrive”. It’s a wonderful reminder that life always finds a way. It will take root and grow.

Step 1 – Strings

In typical Zentangle fashion I set down my strings to create my framed foundation to tangle in.

Step 2 – Cracks

I put in the cracks and deepened my drawing spaces using Sakura Micron pens 003 and 001.

Step 3 – Colored Shadow

I grabbed my brown chalk pencil and with a bit more black, I created depth.

Step 4 – Tangle Time

I’m not exactly sure which tangles I used in my illustration but I promise to more vigilant in future projects so I can put down the tangle names and their links back to their creator. I was inspired by Eni Oken for adding cracks. My goal was to give a kind of faux plaster look.

Step 5 – Details

I continue to use my Micron pens, added a white gel pen, graphite, blender and colored pencils until this was done. But is it really done? Actually… no it’s not. The reality is I spent about 10 hours on this and I just couldn’t take the back pain anymore so while I do like it now, I plan to add some calligraphy especially on the blank plaster band. I can’t wait to make another and explore more tangles in the future.