What is Zentangle®?
If you’ve ever caught yourself scribbling endless loops and shapes on the corner of your notebook during a meeting or class—congratulations! You’re part of a timeless artistic tradition. But did you know that there’s a whole movement around this, complete with its own fancy name (and trademark!), called Zentangle®?
Before we dive in, a quick note: Zentangle® is actually a registered trademark, just like how people say “Post-it” when they mean sticky notes, even if they’re not made by 3M. So, when someone says they’re doing “Zentangle,” they’re technically referring to a specific method created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas back in the early 2000s.
The Zentangle® Method was designed as a mindful way to relax, create intricate patterns, and let your mind wander. But let’s be real: humans have been doodling patterns on cave walls, parchment, and school desks since the dawn of time. The urge to create repetitive designs is universal.
What makes Zentangle® special (and what the creators cleverly protected with that little ®) is its particular approach, with deliberate steps, special tiles, and a focus on relaxation. Thanks to the internet, Zentangle® and similar forms of pattern art have exploded in popularity. Suddenly, you don’t need to attend a workshop—you can join a global community with a few clicks and a pen.
The borders between Zentangle®, doodling, and other pattern arts are delightfully blurry. Many people confuse Zentangle® with “doodling,” and honestly, that’s okay! Whether you call it Zentangle®, doodle art, or simply “my way to unwind,” the benefits are clear: it’s a way to meditate with your pen, much like drawing Mandalas—but often simpler and less intimidating.
Pattern art, in all its forms, shares many of the calming and focusing perks of Mandala drawing but skips the need for a compass or perfect symmetry. That means everyone—from kids to grown-ups, artists to “I-can’t-draw” types—can join in and feel the creative joy.
If you’re ready to explore the wonderful world of patterns, you’ll find my book with over 500 patterns on Amazon, and here on my website you can download templates to fill-in with pattern. Get your pen ready—relaxation and creativity await!
In its original form, as created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, Zentangle® involves drawing a square or rectangle with different zones on a 9×9 cm piece of paper and filling these with various patterns and possibly decorating around them.
Today, many drawings are called “Zentangles” that aren’t actually true Zentangles according to the original method, but using this term makes it easier to search for ideas, inspiration, and similar artistic techniques.
