Inspired by the tangles

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One pen stroke at a time, a structured tangle emerges on white. The black ink steadily spreads across the page, building itself in layers and the construct, when complete, looks beautiful. But the core of Zentangle and Zentangle inspired art isn’t beauty, it’s breaking barriers and finding meaning in the meaningless. A form of meditation, Zentangles were designed to remove obstacles that hinder the creative flow and have now become a popular form of art therapy.

And though the tangle technique is often mistaken for doodling, there is a difference between the two. There are many in the city who love exploring these intricacies; while some work on Zentangles themselves, others are inspired by them to create intricate works. Preeti Maneesh, founder of ‘Tattvam’ and an art educator, says that doodles are inherently more subconscious, like drawing on the sides of a notebook. “But there is a conscious effort put into drawing Zentangle designs.”

This, however, doesn’t translate to a structure when making the art. One of the main objectives of Zentangle art is to let go of familiarity and comfort. “This is for beginners, in particular. Once one gets a hang of the technique they can follow a more structured style that is needed to replicate a pattern,” says Umesh Prasad, founder of Different Strokes Creative Learning and Activity Centre.  

Started by Rick Roberts and Mary Thomas, the art form acts as a soothing and meditative method. As Umesh, a Zentangle expert, says, every scribble or pattern can’t be a tangle. “A tangle is anything that can be consistently reproduced and scaled. Each tangle retains its form and uniqueness, no matter how many times it’s drawn,” he says. Not only does he work on paper, but also on metal and any medium he can find.

Umesh also works on Zentangle inspired art, which can be combination of various techniques. As he explains, drawing a flower isn’t a classic tangle pattern as it has a form and meaning, but it can resemble it. “Each pattern has its own style and name but they can be used in different ways.”

Elaborating on the different kinds of patterns, Preeti says that she uses ones like ‘Paradox’, ‘Stars’, ‘Pointillism’ and ‘Shasta’. She also uses them to make ‘Zendalas’ or mandalas made from tangles. 

Neha Agarwal, owner of ‘Neha’s Art Gallery’, has been doodling from a young age but didn’t know she was working on something similar to Zentangles. She says that the most important thing is to observe things around you and take from them. Jahnavi Zharotia, a 15-year-old student, mimics similar thoughts. She prefers calling her works tangles inspired art but she works with diligence and each stroke is simple yet complex, which is the core of Zentangles.

Used to find emotions that can’t be described, tangling is a form that is taught and has spread all over the world as a helpful technique to keep stress-free. And they can be used in many ways, on numerous mediums, to express feelings that can’t be described with words.