Tag Archive: Art



Zentangle: The Ultimate Guide to Understand and Create Amazing Patterns and Shapes (Zentagle For Beginners, Zentangle Books, Zentangle Patterns, Zentangle ... rts and Crafts, Creativity, Graphic Design)Zentangle: The Ultimate Guide to Understand and Create Amazing Patterns and Shapes by David Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another Zentangle book on Kindle. I am so happy that there are so many now. This one is free on Kindle Unlimited and only $2.99 otherwise. Maybe for a beginner it would be worth the price but I have been researching and learning this wonderful art for a little while. I only picked it up for inspiration. And it was free then.

There are not only lovely Zentangles illustrated within the ebook, there were web links to others online. Now I have more boards to follow on my Pinterest! But that’s what that site is for, right?

One new concept that was brought up in this book that I haven’t seen (or noticed) before was how doing Zentangles can be a good habit exchange for a bad habit, such as over-eating or smoking. Great idea!

If you get the chance, look this book up. It is a great introduction to the art of Zentangling.

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Zentangle For Beginners: Elevate Your Life With Zentangle Art, Patterns and Shapes for Creativity, Focus & Well-Being (Zentangle, Zentangle for Beginners, ... Zentangle Basics, Zentangle Books)Zentangle For Beginners: Elevate Your Life With Zentangle Art, Patterns and Shapes for Creativity, Focus & Well-Being by Charlotte Pearce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Of the freebie Kindle Zentangle books I’ve read so far, this has been my favorite. It was well written, describing the process of getting into the tangle, with zen and scientific results. I got so anxious about this just being wordy. But finally! There are enough illustrations of good Zentangles to give the beginner a chance to decide if this is for them. Worth the price (free) and maybe even worth a little more. After all, you can pick up most of this information from the website: Zentangle.com. Still it is nice that the author shared very different artists work. Try it, you’ll like it!

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My Intro to Zentangle Art


I can’t believe that it has been nearly three years since I discovered the magic of Zentangle. A good friend of mine mentioned it as something he likes to do. He uses his designs in wood burning projects.  I started researching this form of art. Zentangle.com is the best starting place.

When I finally could afford it I bought the kit from the website. Here are some of the goodies in that cigar box kit.

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At the top of this picture is my little gold Zentangle drawing pad I found in the dollar bins at some store. This is what I try to organize the different designs that you can click on at the top of the Zentangle site organized in alphabetical order. As you can see there is a little chart that has 20 designs to choose from. That’s for the beginner who needs a little nudge to get started. The 20 sided die is to make the choice easier. There are the special pens and pencil and shadow-maker. There’s a CD to get you started and an instructional booklet to learn the first picture. Which you draw on the included little cards. Here is my first:

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As is my usual bent, I got into this Zentangle thing and made two more within a couple days.

20120311 DM Zentangle

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I don’t know why this last one ever got finished. I didn’t seem to shadow anything. But see those two teardrop shapes? I could never figure out how to deal with them. I think that was why I gave up on it. Now I like those white empty spaces so I think I will just shade here and there and start something new.

I haven’t done much since those projects except occasionally keep up my alphabet design book. Now that I have read those two books I reviewed yesterday I feel this art calling me. It’s time!


Zentangle Basics: Easy to Learn Zentangle Method. 12 Basic Elements of Fine Tangling Process and Art Mediation (Zentangle books, Zentangle basics books, Zentangle basics featuring ideas books,)Zentangle Basics: Easy to Learn Zentangle Method. 12 Basic Elements of Fine Tangling Process and Art Mediation by Leroy Barnes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have to admit that I have a bit of confusion going on here. I picked up two Zentangle books at the same time. One because it was free and the other because I could get it for free with Kindle Unlimited. This one was $2.99 last I looked. Though I got it for free through Kindle Unlimited. Now do I have you confused, too?

Either book is a good starting point for learning about the good that doing a bit of Zentangling can do for you. Both have written instructions for getting started. This one had fewer illustrations. Just as a hint of the type of designs that one can do simply even if you are not an artist. In fact, that is a point made in both books.

Both books are quick reads, even without pictures. And so I read them both yesterday one after the other.

Which one is best? The one with more pictures. But only because of that. I wish either of them had more visual instructions. Can you imagine being taught to draw without anything to look at to compare to? Yeah. Oh, some are upset about the size of the pictures. I found if I clicked on the tiny picture I can enlarge it to a satisfying size.

My advice? If you see these for free, grab ’em and read ’em. After that head over to Zentangle.com and play around that site. Then go check out the Youtubes that the site recommends. Pick up a Zentangle kit. I did and have loved working with it. One of these days, I will post some of my resulting tangles on my website: darsword.wordpress.com.

Now I am going to copy and paste this review into the other books review changing only the price range and a word or two here or there. Try Zentangling!

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Zentangle: Zentangle Art Basics: How to create beautiful patterns and shapesZentangle: Zentangle Art Basics: How to create beautiful patterns and shapes by Hailey Leman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have to admit that I have a bit of confusion going on here. I picked up two Zentangle books at the same time. One because it was free and the other because I could get it for free with Kindle Unlimited. This one was $2.99 last I looked. Though I got it for free. Now do I have you confused, too?

Either book is a good starting point for learning about the good that doing a bit of Zentangling can do for you. Both have written instructions for getting started. This one had a couple more illustrations. Just as a hint of the type of designs that one can do simply even if you are not an artist. In fact, that is a point made in both books.

Both books are quick reads, even without pictures. And so I read them both yesterday one after the other.

Which one is best? The one with more pictures. But only because of that. I wish either of them had more visual instructions. Can you imagine being taught to draw without anything to look at to compare to? Yeah. Oh, some are upset about the size of the pictures. I found if I clicked on the tiny picture I can enlarge it to a satisfying size.

My advice? If you see these for free, grab ’em and read ’em. After that head over to Zentangle.com and play around that site. Then go check out the Youtubes that the site recommends. Pick up a Zentangle kit. I did and have loved working with it. One of these days, I will post some of my resulting tangles here.

Now I am going to copy and paste this review into the other books review changing only the price range and a word or two here or there. Try Zentangling!

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Tell Me WhyTell Me Why by Trista Hendren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another amazing gem! This one was dedicated to the author’s son and the male community at large. Still there was a lot of wisdom to be inhaled by all.

Once again, this was one I couldn’t afford right now but when I saw I could get it through Kindle Unlimited, I just grabbed it up and gobbled it down. The illustrations by Elisabeth Slettnes were breathtaking. The quotes by wise ones worth rereading over and over. That’s why I must buy this one once I get paid. Not only do I want the whole series on my Kindle, I want the tree copies to highlight and meditate over.

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Mother Earth (The Girl God)Mother Earth by Trista Hendren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When something intrigues me, I do not stop until I have chased down every butterfly! This was the next book by Trista Hendren. Another wow!

Again the illustrations were amazing. The story to all children of all ages touched me, inspired me. Again, there are quotes to go along with each picture. They made me wish I had the tree book to highlight and review from time to time.

I picked this up for free with Kindle Unlimited. It was a shame to let the book go back, but I plan to buy my own copies when I get paid.

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The Girl GodThe Girl God by Trista Hendren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, wow. I picked this small but mighty book up for free today from Amazon. I was intrigued by the picture on the front cover and the title. I thought I was getting a children’s book. I believe this is an ‘everybody’ book.

The story was from a mother to her daughter. A sweet simple story. But the wisdom of the story runs deeply. Then there are the quotations throughout; each capturing a piece of my soul. All the illustrations were engaging. I wish I bought this in tree form as I would like to spend more time with the book and with the pictures. At least I can go back to this one in my ‘cloud’.

Because this was so wonderful I went to find other books by Trista Hendren. Yay! The were free with Kindle Unlimited!

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The Art FacultyThe Art Faculty by P. J. Vye

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I picked this e-book up from BookRooster dot com quite a while ago. Sorry that I am just now getting to it.

This story was unique. It started out with a recently orphaned teen. I liked her right away. Since it was so long ago that I was sent this book, I couldn’t figure out why I got it. I just kept reading. And even though it was written in the present tense, and in the first person, I got used to it. It wasn’t long into the story that I saw that the story was a science fiction. Space flight, other worlds. Yay! My kind of story!

Look, really, this got me as it was the right-brainers, the creative, musical, artistic, and dramatic save the day. How often does that happen in sci-fi? And the main character is a female and she is the hero though not in her own mind. Yes, there is a bit of romance, but it isn’t the guiding force. I hope I haven’t given spoilers. There is so much in this seemingly quiet story. Action takes over the end of the story. Meanwhile, get to know what the main character is going through. There was so much that I could relate to.

I hope P. J. Vye, the author will get this out for the general public. This would have been a favorite story for me as a teen. There are others who will love it, too!

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Basic Drawing Technique: The How-to Guide
Basic Drawing Technique: The How-to Guide by Dr. Vook
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This was one of my first Kindle books. It seemed like a great idea at the time. The only thing I can think of to say is, what if you were only able to talk to your art teacher on the phone. Not Skype, just landline type phone. There would be no illustrations to show how it is done. That is how this book attempts to teach art. Just words. There wasn’t even a passion from the teacher. Just deadpan instructions. Boring.

When I was in high school, I thought all the teachers felt sorry for me. That was why I got A’s in art and music. Then they decided I was so advanced that I was placed in senior lever art while only a freshman. That might have worked for me had the teacher actually taught. Instead, he wrote on the chalkboard all the notes we were to copy down. The notebook was to be the grade in this class. ART!!! When I brought home the note that said I was failing this class my mom went through the roof. She made me stay after school every day to catch up with that notebook. I didn’t fail that class but I did learn a lot about my abilities and lack thereof. I had no problems with creativity. I was not good at taking notes, even when they were spelled out in front of me.

This book brought that nightmare to mind. I am glad I got it for free. I can’t imagine spending $2.99 for this non-art book.

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