I remember in high school, or maybe junior high, we used to doodle stuff like this in our notebooks when we were supposed to be paying attention in class
Or, if someone would have shown me, I might have done this
We learned these doodles from each other, passing down bits of knowledge between classmates via word of mouth in an oral history tradition.
Well, guess what. These activities now have a name. It’s called “Zentangle”. Who knew? And of course, it’s bigger and better organized than what we did as kids.
According to the Zentangle website, we have the following definition: “The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. We call these patterns, tangles. You create tangles with combinations of dots, lines, simple curves, S-curves and orbs.”
A Quick Look at the website shows learning videos, books with collections of tangles that you can study and practice, art supplies, even a CZT! (Certified Zentangle Teacher). Once I figured out that these doodles had a name, I had no trouble finding books at the library, tutorials on Youtube, and online sellers of Zentangle art supplies.
And for those of you wondering, I am not a CZT. It requires attendance at a 3-day workshop (either in person or online) and it is NOT intended to learn to Zen tangle, but instead, how to teach it.