Zentangle Versus Mandalas
January 17th, 2008 Jenny
Posted in Craft Product Reviews, Craft Resources, Medium: Paper Crafts
Ah, how I love my crafty friends, always turning me on to something new. My friend Eva of Grand River Beads was telling me about Zentangle.com, and how she wants to apply the idea to bead embroidery.
So here’s the gist of it: I think it’s kind of like a mandala: you make a squiggle and then fill in the open areas with a motif. I’m not sure what the technique is because they want you to buy a kit for $50.00 to learn how to doodle.
The site talks about how therapeutic it is, and how you’ll get hooked, and how it promotes insight, and how it’s a form of therapy. Hmmm. Color me a bit skeptical. If it’s therapeutic, why not describe the technique? Why make someone pay the green for a kit that includes pen and paper and the how-to DVD?
So I like the idea, but just not the commercialism. My recommendation: Try a mandala first.
A mandala is a piece of art made in a circle. (Mandala means “circle” in Sanskrit.) Take a piece of paper, draw or trace a circle, and fill it in. With what? Whatever. Doodle, make images. Use pen or pencils or crayons or watercolors or pastels or markers. Just start doing. And finish when it seems done. (Or when you run out of space. Then you can fill the outside, too!)
Carl Jung used mandalas in his psychotherapy practice, feeling that the mandala art form was “representation of the unconscious self.” What I like about them is that it’s completely free-form, and you can analyze it later. Or not. You can also just let it be what it is.
They can be symmetrical, like the ones the Buddhists make, or free-form. See? No rules, just right! (Or write. Or draw. Whatever.)
Personally, being the musical Craftista that I am, I like to paint on drums. Instant mandalas!
Try it yourself. For free. Skip the $50.00 kit- for now!
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January 17th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
[...] briefly referenced Buddhist mandalas in my last post, ones made of completely of sand as a meditative practice. The ritual involves singing (chanting), [...]
January 18th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
When you paint on drums, what medium do you use & do you seal it or do something to it to protect it?
thanks in advance for you help.
peace, Maiah
January 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Great question! I should begin by saying that I only paint on non-organic skins… I like to used frame drums with fixed heads by Remo. They have synthetic “fiber-skin” heads, which respond well to paint. I use an acrylic paint to paint the drums, and then add some Spray Var to protect it. Also, the painting may affect the timbre of the drum…. but they are still playable. Thanks for asking!
February 19th, 2008 at 8:50 am
[...] I blogged about this before, and how a Zentangle really is just a mandala in a square. (Read the full rant here.) But what if you drew a Zentangle or a Mandala or whatever, and then used colored yarns to fill in [...]
April 12th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
You don’t to buy a kit to draw zentangles. All you really need is a fineliner and paper. Than draw what your mind fancies it’s like taking a pen for a walk. Mandalas are freeform and any medium can be used like tried pasta or beads. I see a mandala in nature as well although it can’t always be easily taken home I can remember it in the mind’s eye.
With Zentangles I can’t draw more than 2 a day otherwise I feel a struggle to fill in the design like the creative energies going. They can also be done in colours as well not just a black and white line drawing. The closed to think to understand the Japanese notion of wabi sabi.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:35 am
If you want to learn more about Zentangle without buying the kit, the http://www.zentangle.com website has lots of back issues of their email newsletter. Each one has instructions on how to draw a different tangle. (I have tangles on my blog too.) They aren’t trying to keep it all a secret and force you to buy a kit. It’s like learning yoga (or anything for that matter). You can buy a lovely kit with dvd, yoga mat, and personalized water bottle, you can take a trip to India and study with a master, you can read a book about it, surf the internet, or just lay a towel on your floor and make up your own poses. Lots of options – whatever works for you.
June 1st, 2009 at 6:48 am
Thanks so much for the info and the link!