May 10, 2023

Hello Rick and Maria,

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, tomorrow we will begin our 21 Day Zentangle Journey with our dear friend Bijou. During this challenge, we will delve into one Bijouism and one tangle on a Bijou tile each day. We invite you to find 15-20 minutes each day to tangle along with us, Bijou, and the Zentangle Community, allowing your pen to soothe your soul.


Before we begin, we wanted to take a moment to talk about our friend Bijou, how to prepare for this series and what to expect. In this newsletter you will find:


  • Bijou's Be Well Bundle Series: What to Expect
  • Our most recent blog post, Get to Know Bijou
  • Tangling tips and resources


Enjoy!

Blog: Get to Know Bijou

Last week, we announced that beginning on May 11th we will be hosting a 21 Day Zentangle Journey.

Read More

Bijou's Be Well Bundle Series: What to Expect

The Bijouism: We will begin each day with the celebration of one of Bijou’s philosophies, that we call Bijouisms, which are important aspects of the Zentangle Method. This will be the theme of each day and the intention for the video.


Tile or tangling surface: In each video we will be using a Bijou tile. We will alternate demonstrating on different surfaces each day. At the end of each video, you will see examples of the same tangle done on other surfaces. We invite you to use your choice of a Bijou tile or feel free to use something else. You can easily do this same lesson on a 3.5” square tile if you like a little more space, or you could make a string with lots of spaces on an Opus or the like, or maybe you have a special journal you want to fill with the tangles. Whatever you choose, we are thrilled to have you tangling along.


Tools: We will be using a selection of pens and pencils offered in the Bijou Be Well Bundles. It is fun to see how you can stretch your creativity with a selective pallet. Play with a combination from the tools you received or use your own. Be consistent throughout or change it up each day. We will show examples at the end of each video to inspire the potential. You can always keep it simple and use one pen throughout the series and that is fun too!


Learning more about exploratory materials: See the end of this newsletter, Tangling Tool Tips, for some specific tips for working with Gelly Roll® Pens, Souffle® Pens, and tangling on Translucen-Z tiles. We recently learned some new tips and tricks, so you may too!



The Audio: We talked to Bijou and he suggested we do silent tangling for this particular series. We agreed that would be a nice change. So, the audio will be very simplified for these lessons. You will hear a little music at the beginning and at the end, but the rest is limited to the sounds of the pens and pencils working on the tiles. Enjoy the quiet or put on your own calming music. If you have never heard our Zentangle Sounds album, it is quite lovely tangling music. Currently available on CD only in the Zentangle store.


The Videos: Each video and lesson is between 10 to 20 minutes long. They are designed to be short, simple, and full of Bijou love. The videos are not sequential so feel free to enjoy as many as you want in any order. In other words, do not sweat it if you miss one.


The 8-Steps:


  1. Gratitude and Appreciation - Each tile will begin with a moment for Gratitude.
  2. Dots - These tiles will not have dots.
  3. Border - And they will not have borders.
  4. String - We will use the same pencil string on each tile.
  5. Tangle - We will feature one tangle each day. The chosen tangles are basic with plenty of room for exploration.
  6. Shade - Shade your tangles if you like. See the materials section below for tips on shading on Gelly Roll pens.
  7. Sign - It is a tiny space … but find somewhere to put your initials. You are the artist after all.
  8. Gratitude and Appreciation - We begin and end with gratitude and take an additional moment to appreciate your artwork.


The Mosaic - At the end of the lesson we share more tiles done with same tangle to show examples of different materials and tangleations.

Tangling Tool Tips and more!

We have created and collected a series of tips and tricks for working with various tools and different surfaces.


Our friends at Sakura of America recently shared a short video with tips for reviving Gelly Roll pens. We learned a lot and wanted to share with you, the Zentangle Community.



Join Molly and Julie as they explore different tangling tools on Translucen-Z Tiles.



Molly shares her tips for shading with Gelly Roll® Pens.



Additional Tips from Bijou:


  • Have a scratch pad or blotter nearby to test and clean pens as you work.
  • Take chances and do not be afraid to explore materials, even if the exploration is not successful, you will learn from the experience.
  • Bijou always recommends a light touch with your pen, but he especially recommends it with the Gelly Roll pens. The luscious gel ink flows much better when you use a light touch.
  • Go slow. This is not race. Enjoy the process. Your pens will like the slower pace too.
  • Be patient. Allow the ink to fully dry before adding layers and shading.
  • Don't sweat the small stuff. It's all part of a process. Embrace all that you bring to your artistic journey.
  • Have Fun!

Bijou's Be Well Bundles

Bijou's Be Well Bundle - White Bijou tiles and tools
Bijou's Be Well Bundle - Black Bijou tiles and tools
Become a Certified Zentangle Teacher
United States

CZT 41: September 22-24, 2023
English Only

please email [email protected] with any questions about seminars in the US
Asia

CZT Asia 22: August 17-20, 2023
Mandarin Only.

please email [email protected] with any questions about seminars in Asia

Europe

CZT-EU 7: October 19-22, 2023
German, English, Spanish and French options available.

please email [email protected] with any questions about seminars in Europe

We will see you tomorrow for Day 1 of Bijou's Be Well Bundle!


With Gratitude and Appreciation,

Rick, Maria, Molly, Martha, Bijou and everyone at Zentangle HQ!



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