Why I think Zentangle is ridiculous (and why I really, really love it)

Art has no rules. That's what's so great about it. You can do anything, anytime, anywhere. Make it you. Break free.

Or so I thought.

For those who don't know Zentangle, it's an art form that teaches structured patterns ("tangles") and combines them into beautiful, intricate pictures.
But Zentangle has a mean side. Did you know that if your Zentangle artwork isn't on a 9-by-9 tile, it's "classified as ZIA-Zentangle Inspired Artwork"? That you can buy specific sets online with a supply of tiles and a special pen that you have to use? Am I the only one that finds all this ridiculous?

How I see Zentangle is that it's accepting and nice. Do anything you want. When you're doing your own art, you don't have to conform to just a 9-by-9 tile. The creators of Zentangle took something beautiful and squished it into a tiny box.

I Zentangle by filling a whole page with patterns, edge to edge, sometimes with quotes and stuff in the center. I believe that Zentangle is a very personal decision, and no classifications of ZIA should confine you. Zentangle is at the forefront of my art-related hobbies. I love it to death. Even though they over-advertise it as meditation and calming stuff, it really is. I Zentangle to ward off anxiety attacks at school. I pour everything into my art. But I still find the method that they advertise irking. 

Go forth. Fill pages. Break out of tiny little 9-by-9 tiles.