Zentangle and doodling – draw and meditate at the same time. Doodling for beginners: how to learn when there are no rules

Definition of concepts

It is worth noting that Doodling and Zentangle are two similar directions that contribute to the relaxation of the person performing the drawings, but with some differences:

Dudling is an unconscious reproduction of any actions with a pen of intricate patterns, curls, pointing the same strokes and other forms. Drawings are most often done on a small piece of paper, in the margins or in the corners of notebooks.

Zentangle is a patented modern trend in the art of drawing and conducting art therapy with a person, his psychological relaxation. It is carried out on small pieces of paper with a certain sequence of actions and clearer requirements for patterns and drawing schemes.

Newfangled drawing style patented by the Americans R. Roberts and M. Thomas in 2006. Roberts and Thomas determined for themselves that zen is a path of development (movement), and reflecting the character of R. Roberts, tangles are tangled curls reflecting the character of M. Thomas. In fact, “zen” (zen) – poise, meditation and “Tangle” came from “rectangle” – a rectangle for drawing.

The main similarity of the two directions is the age category of people who can perform them – from small to great, who can hold a pen, pencil or liner in their hands.

Where to start

Dudling suits even those who have never drawn and are convinced that they cannot do it. The main thing is mechanicalness and spontaneity. While the head is busy with something, the hand draws and reveals the secrets of the subconscious. You are free to choose colors, shapes and sizes. However, if you’re just getting started, consider the following tips.

Get a creative notebook

It is better if it is a small notebook (A6 or A5) with thick paper so that you can always take it with you.

Choose convenient tools

Which do you like best: ballpoint pen, gel pen or pencil? Prefer to color with water-based markers or markers? Find tools that are comfortable for you to work with.

Take time to paint

As in any other business, in doodling, mastery comes with practice. Let your thoughts fly every day: draw over your morning coffee, on the subway on your way to work, in bed before going to bed. 15-20 minutes a day is quite enough. Soon, doodling will become your daily positive habit.

Experiment with color

Colors have a strong emotional effect on a person: some calm, others, on the contrary, irritate; some are encouraging, while others are depressing. For many, doodling is black and white, but try playing with a rainbow. Apply a light background with watercolors to the paper and draw doodles on top. You can go the other way: first draw a pattern, and then paint its individual elements or in its entirety.

Why is doodling useful?

Drawing doodling patterns is a great way to deal with stress and ease your head. Such an occupation can be considered one of the types of art therapy, which, moreover, does not require any significant material costs.

Along with freewriting, doodling is an original way of self-expression, getting rid of fatigue, relaxing, including before going to bed. Dudling attracts to itself by the absence of any rules: the painter is not required to fully concentrate on the process or draw consciously. The beauty of the lesson is drawing as such, without unnecessary hesitation.

Relieve stress – draw in zentangle style

The zentangle method can be mastered even by those who consider themselves absolutely incapable of creativity. A set of ready-made patterns helps to overcome the stress of thoughts like “I can’t draw at all”, and the ability to combine tangles in an infinite number of ways allows you to get an original drawing every time.

Such drawing is similar to a ritual: simple steps are repeated in a circle, the person relaxes, the tension goes away. The creators advise turning to the zentangle method to

• relax;

• cheer up;

• calm the nerves;

• learn to live in the present moment and act consciously;

• improve concentration of attention;

• develop imagination;

• overcome the fear of the white sheet and enter a state of inspiration.

The authors suggest using the zentangle method as an additional tool for psychotherapy when it is necessary to solve problems such as:

• sleep disturbance (you need to devote a few minutes to drawing every night before going to bed);

• panic attacks;

• excessive aggression;

• low self-esteem;

• food and other addictions.

Of course, for those who have serious psychological problems, drawing tangles is not a substitute for working with a specialist, but it can be an addition to therapy.

Fight boredom and train your memory – draw in the doodling style

We usually resort to doodling when we are bored or when we are doing something in parallel that does not require much mental stress. To test how automatic drawing affects our ability to cope with the main task, scientists conducted an experiment. A group of 40 participants were asked to listen to a monotonous audio recording of a telephone message, where the caller talks about preparing for the party. The subjects were not warned that they would later be asked to retell what they heard. Half of the group, while listening to the recording, painted abstract figures, the second did not receive such a task. When the participants were unexpectedly asked to tell what they remembered, the doodlers were able to reproduce 29% more information than those who did not draw anything.

If your hand automatically reaches for the pen and begins to scribble something on a piece of paper, do not rush to interrupt the process. Perhaps unconscious scribbles can help your brain analyze important information or find a solution to a complex problem.

Tips for aspiring artists

Before you start to paint in the zentangle or doodling style, you need to purchase a paint tool. For Zentangle – watercolor paper, make 9 cm by 9 cm cards from it, for Dudling – a notebook, notebook, etc. You will need a ballpoint pen, a liner, a pencil (plain or colored) – you can choose all with different rod thicknesses and softness.

When making drawings in the Doodling style, you should not think too much, you need to completely rely on intuition and inner feelings, without the rules and limitations of imagination, color and shape and type of drawing.

Zentangle is executed in black and white, with certain clear lines, in the form of abstraction. The sketch should be complete from all sides and look like a single painting.

The main thing in performing any drawing technique is interest, relaxation and inner feelings.

Wavy lines, waves, arcs

Draw 2 straight lines parallel to each other. Between these lines, first draw straight lines that will be at the same distance from each other. Then gradually reduce the distance between them, then increase the distance between them. Then bend the lines in the form of an English S and do the same exercises with it.

Next, draw arcs, increasing and decreasing the distance between them and giving a shadow and changing the width and strength, pressure on the line.

We draw several squares, each of which is divided into 4 equal parts. First, make straight lines in different directions or from the center of the square. Curved lines and arcs in different directions, making them wider and narrower

Practical benefits of doodling

Sunni Brown, author of Doodling for Creative People, lists the many virtues of this art movement. She claims that doodling increases concentration, improves memory, promotes research work, helps solve work and personal problems, makes you think outside the box, increases creativity and, finally, allows you to see the big picture of a particular problem that your brain is struggling with while drawing. …

In addition, Sunny identifies three main areas of conscious use of doodling to achieve your goals:
personal effectiveness (cognitive direction): memorizing and recalling information, as well as understanding it, giving rise to insights, increasing creativity;
collective effectiveness (organizational direction): access to the full picture, strengthening teamwork, developing creative, strategic and tactical thinking, actively participating in problem solving and creating innovations, meeting efficiency, visual recording of meetings;
doodling for pleasure (personal direction): concentration, relaxation, empowerment, as well as getting information for thinking about the work of your own subconscious.

How to design a personal album using zentangle and doodling techniques?

Zentangle and doodling will also help. Open a sheet of your notebook and draw oval elements at the bottom that look like eyes. Connect some with lines.

In the upper right corner, you can create a similar pattern, but in a smaller size. The center can be decorated with an abstract flower. To create it, first draw a point, and draw circles around it using a compass or freehand.

Now you can draw a flower in the center, filling it with different strokes.

Fill in the large circle with dashes, make the flower more picturesque. In the free space, you can write smart sayings or something else.

Fill the outer ring of the circle with repeating patterns, see what remains to be done. If everything suits you, then this diary page is ready.

You can move on to another. First create it in black and white using a dark pen.

Start decorating the diary from the corner. Now smoothly move to another corner, depicting other elements of the schematic drawing here.

Now fill in the next corner, write clever sayings in the free space, make spectacular curls in the center.

Decorate your drawing if you like. Make it brighter.

On the next unfolded sheet, you can depict a lady in an old dress.

Use doodling and zentangle patterns to fill in the surrounding area.

Make the drawing more expressive, write down what you want to immortalize on a piece of paper.
If you want to depict a city, you can also use a familiar trick for it. Buildings can be placed not strictly horizontally and vertically, but diagonally. First draw out their borders, then fill them with themed designs.

As you can see, the inscription is also applied diagonally here.

It remains to make them clearer. After that work on the author’s diary was completed.

You can also position the label diagonally, but not in the bottom corner, but almost in the center. Frame it with all sorts of colors, leaving them in black and white or adding colors.

This is how, using various techniques of self-expression, you can arrange a diary.

Scales, stones, lanterns, rings, volumetric figures

Rings are drawn like the second lesson, first between two straight lines, narrowing, expanding the ring, following to decrease-increase the distance between them, changing the thickness of the lines.

Next, draw the rings one in one and at a distance extending into the distance from each other, you get a kind of tunnel of rings.

Scales – depicted either wide or narrow, shading it with a simple pencil, then pressing harder – creating dark shadows, then weaker – creating a light shadow

Lanterns are drawn using notebook cells. From one end to the other, draw arcs on both sides, which will connect and form a kind of flashlight. The parts that are inside should be shaded, this will add volume to the lantern.

Stones are a simple version of the image in the zentangle style, they are drawn in a rounded, uneven shape, superimposed on each other, shading. The exercise should start by filling in a square from the corner, drawing stones that will create a blockage effect in the picture, then try to shade them.

Workouts should be carried out every day, devoting at least 30 minutes, then the sketches will acquire more beautiful, clear, confident lines and shapes, curls.

Individuality and style

It is believed that each pattern in the doodling style is unique, and even the author of the original cannot depict exactly the same one. At the same time, periodically emerging elements and stylistic features allow for some classification of such patterns. Dudler Sunny Brown, although he does not deny the deep individuality of the drawings of each artist, nevertheless insists on the existence of repetitive, especially favorite motifs. She identified five conditional types of doodlers:

• Dudler the landscape painter, whose work is permeated with natural motives; he draws floral ornaments and other objects of beauty of the surrounding nature;
• Dudler is an abstractionist, whose drawings are replete with geometric shapes, shapeless patterns and resemble a stream of consciousness expressed on paper;
• Doodler-realist, who draws quite recognizable objects and objects; professional artists are often found among such doodlers;
• Dudler-portraitist, including faces, people in whole or individual parts of the body;
• A verbal doodler, mainly depicting words and individual intricately decorated letters.

If you intend to define your personal style in the world of doodling, try to do a few drawings in each of the styles listed.

Painting by numbers and diamond painting

Another way to experience beauty is painting by numbers. The set usually includes a canvas with the contours of the future painting, small tubes of acrylic paint, a brush, an example of a color image and instructions. Each fragment of the painting contains the number of the color that should be used to paint this area.

Finally, you can also relax with the help of the so-called diamond painting (diamond embroidery). The kit contains a canvas diagram with an adhesive layer, rhinestones, tweezers, a saucer and a reduced color image.

Basic techniques

Unlike school art lessons, there are no frameworks, no rules, no conditions in doodling. Patterns can be both abstract and plot. The flight of your imagination is absolutely not limited to anything. However, in addition to doodling, you may be interested in related forms of “self-expression.”

Zentangle (from the Japanese “Zen” – concentration, and the English “tangle” – a ball) is an art direction invented half a century ago for a kind of meditation. It has a number of restrictions and rules, for example, the classic size of the picture is 9×9 cm, and this picture itself must be abstract. Most often, for drawing such a tile, 1-3 repeating patterns are used, examples of which can be taken on the Internet, in special brochures, wallpaper designs, etc.

Sendudling is a peculiar hybrid of zentangle and doodling. It can be a classic zentangle that is done in color. Or a strictly repeating ornament, which nevertheless forms a meaningful figure (for example, a flower).

A beginner may have a fair question: what exactly to give preference to if any of the directions is unique in its own way? In fact, you need to try all the options, and only then will your preferences become clear.

How to start drawing doodling?

Although doodling does not have strict rules, the first question may be: where to start? We recommend that you first outline the outline of the future drawing: the outlines of an animal or object, perhaps just a geometric figure. The next step is to fill the path with patterns. Don’t worry about the movements! Gradually, curls, figures, fabulous patterns will appear on the sheet, which will make up the finished drawing.

Provide a “background” to relax while drawing: it can be pleasant music or a movie. Do not think about every movement of the pen on the paper, and in a few minutes a doodle will be formed from separate elements.

When the series of drawings is ready, evaluate which of the motives did you use more often? Perhaps in the early days you will be able to decide on your own type of doodler.

Step by step doodling for a beginner

There are no rules and restrictions for creating drawings in the Dudling style, just using your imagination in weaving of fancy curls and patterns.

To create a picture, you need to decide on what to draw on: an album, a notebook, a notebook leaf, a wall, glass. Choose pencils, liners, ballpoint pen or markers for drawing;

Doodling and Zendudling Rules

There are no restrictions or rules in doodling, unlike zentangle. In this style, you can paint on any surface or paper of any size, even fabric or clothing. Doodle art is not tied to the overall composition of the drawing, to lines or squiggles. They can scatter from one point in different directions or move parallel to each other.

Everyone can create a unique doodle and draw in their own way. Doodle can serve as a training for setting the hand and improving the eye, as we improve our skills while drawing dots and lines. This is how children learn to write. Gradually learn squiggles and smoothly move on to letters. Those who are more interested in it, as a result, acquire a more calligraphic handwriting.

Everyone draws and places their doodles in their own way, so each drawing is unique. Doodles can be drawn as a training for setting a confident hand and developing an eye, since by drawing lines and dots, we gradually do it better and better. This is how children learn writing – starting with squiggles, dots and squiggles. And those who do it with great interest acquire more beautiful handwriting as a result.

In zendouling, you draw whatever comes to mind, without any plan. You can limit the drawing area with a frame or not, you can draw with one marker or use pencils, liners, paints.

As for the doodlart, without the prefix “zen”, here you can plan your drawing, choose a specific theme and draw specific objects, in general, come up with a specific idea and implement it both on paper and on different objects and things.

I hope I was able to explain what doodling is. This is a drawing style that is considered the simplest and most democratic of all types. If you are just getting started with this style, grab a pen and paper and start practicing with the beginner’s lesson.

Examples for sketching

For a drawing, you can use any shape in which an original decoration is created from lines and curls. Patterns can be repeated or randomly scattered over the pattern.

We bring to your attention examples for the advanced level (increased difficulty of drawing):

Tips for beginners

Doodling is suitable for everyone, but there are several recommendations that, in the initial stages, will make this creative process more convenient and enjoyable:

• Get a small creative notebook that you can always carry with you;
• It is better to choose thick paper;
• Choose tools that will be comfortable and pleasant for you to work with. Dudling does not limit, as, for example, the zentangle: you can draw with any colors, felt-tip pens, pencils, liners …
• Set aside time for painting, 15-20 minutes a day. You can draw on the subway, over a cup of coffee, before going to bed, talking on the phone … Such a useful habit will become entrenched, and you can not only independently regulate your condition, but also develop creativity.
• Experiment with color, because it strongly affects the emotional background: some shades are pleasing, others are annoying. What attracts your eye? How does your emotional background respond to different colors of the picture?
• At the beginning of drawing, you can use templates, since many are simply lost in front of a blank sheet of paper.

Of course, there can be no universal advice here, and in order to understand whether this style suits you, you need to try.

Doodling with a pencil, pen, liner – simple drawings

An owl is a wise bird that many are trying to depict on a sheet of paper in the Doodling style – it looks original and unique:

1. On a sheet of paper, first draw 2 eyes in the form of a circle, in which draw 2 shaded semicircles on one side.
2. Draw a nose in the form of a cone in the middle between the edges of the circles.
3. Determine the size of the owl, draw the floor of the oval from below to the upper part of the eyes and draw a line between the line of the unfinished oval, slightly angular so that the resulting 2 corners resemble the ears of an owl.
4. Draw 2 arcs on the sides of the oval – these are the wings of an owl.
5. Next, you should select the eyes of the owl, draw arcs on one side of the ear and on the other, connect between the eyes, and the lower ones under the nose of the owl.
6. The penultimate touch – paws, depict in the form of 2 stripes.
7. Now you can start the Doodling technique, and apply shadows and strokes with a pen, pencil, liner.

Monsters are often portrayed by schoolchildren and students in lectures.

And also other drawings:

Zentangle and doodling for beginners – how to draw a pumpkin?

To depict this vegetable, use the zentangle and doodling at once. Here’s what you need:

• ballpoint or gel pen with a thin black refill;
• black thin felt-tip pen;
• thin synthetic brush;
• eraser;
• simple pencil;
• watercolor;
• sheet of thick paper.

Using this image, draw a pumpkin on thick paper. Now start painting it with watercolors. You can make some strokes brighter and others lighter to show the effect of volume.

When the paint is dry, now you need to draw a certain pattern in each segment.

Start at the edges, here the patterns can be in a darker saturated color. Closer to the center, they are lighter.

Continue in the same spirit.

Fill in the entire space of the pumpkin, as well as its tail and leaves. If you still need to remove some wrong dashes or lines, then use an eraser. Such an interesting work will turn out.
You can use this idea to decorate not only the pumpkin, but various other vegetables or objects. So that you know how to do this, practice drawing individual elements.

Zentangle and doodling – patterns and schemes for drawing

1. To make the final drawing look like staggered 4-lobed flowers, first draw the correct perpendicular lines, located slightly diagonally, on a sheet of paper.
2. Now, in each square, draw a diagonal petal so that two petals of one flower refer not only to it, but also to other flowers. You can fill in the space between the petals with strokes, and paint the other with a black pen or felt-tip pen of this color.
3. The following diagram will allow you to create a ball-like pattern. Draw a diagonal petal across the entire sheet and another one perpendicular to it. These details will help you create others.
4. Some of them run parallel to one diagonal element, and the second – to another. Leave the small square free in the center. If you are drawing a tangle, then round off your outline.

The next abstract drawing is created from symmetrical elements. First, draw lines on a piece of paper that run parallel or perpendicular to each other. Draw a small petal at the intersection of each square with the other. Complete the pattern with quarter-oval sectors. Highlight the elements with a black pen or felt-tip pen of that color.

Sources used and useful links on the topic: https://wikiw.life/handmade/risovanie/zentangl-i-dudling.html https://Lifehacker.ru/doodling-2/ https://fin-gazeta.ru/chto -takoe-dudling-v-risovanii / https://sibmama.ru/zenart.htm https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/599311c157906a3a87c3adbc/kak-rabotaet-dudling-599313b8482677b3549fe76f https://tutknow.ru /rukodelie/11604-zentangl-i-dudling-risuem-i-meditiruem-odnovremenno.html https://linedot.ru/zenart/zentangle-doodling/chto-takoe-dudling/ https://naturopiya.com/art- terapiya / dudling / kak-risovat-dudling-stil.html