Review: One Zentangle A Day - A 6-Week Course In Creative Drawing For Relaxation, Inspiration, And Fun by Beckah Krahula

For those of you who have never come across the art form called Zentangle, here's a definition: 

"Zentangle is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns."  (Source: zentangle.com).

In this beautifully illustrated book One Zentangle A Day, Beckah Krahula shows the reader step-by-step how to create and draw the many zentangle patterns used in this relaxing art form.

Drawing in this way is said to be a meditative experience, and furthermore: "studies show that this type of activity increases mental retention, stimulates creativity, improves one's mood, can be calming during stressful situations, and can be used as a tool for anger management." Page 9

Traditional Zentangle shape

All you need to get started is a pen and a piece of paper, and you can decide to upgrade to better felt pens and nicer paper if you really want to get into Zentangling as a hobby.  The possibilities are endless.  

I found the instructions in this book super simple to follow, which was extremely important as I cannot draw to save myself.  Each pattern has a name and you can see these patterns used by other Zentangle artists the world over. This is what differentiates Zentangle from mere doodling.

Here are some Zentangle creations from the internet to give you a better appreciation of this beautiful artwork.

Zentangle bookmark

Zentangle book spines

I thoroughly enjoyed exploring this art form, and have completed a few Zentangles myself now.  It's a world I would love to lose myself in if I had the time, but I just can't give up my bookish pursuits.  If you'd like to explore this artform online, I discovered Tangle Patterns which is a comprehensive site dedicated to Zentangle, and you can visit author Beckah Krahula's own blog here.

My rating = *****

Carpe Librum!