Doodling and Zen

I might have taken up another pastime.  Or maybe I've taken something I've always done (doodling) to a new level.  And acquired some new tools.  Oh, and a book or two.

The person who owned the Stampassion store in Albany - that closed - is teaching classes about how to Zentangle.  I wasn't looking for something new to do with paper and pen, but the name caught my eye.  What the heck was that?  I figured a two hour class couldn't hurt and I might learn something new.  It's new to me, but not really new.  Go take a look at Flickr; 13 thousand photos posted with Zentangle in the tag.

I'm posting my first tries....the choice of patterns in most of them are not mine.  They were made in classes or are rough approximations of layouts from the Zentangle 1, 2, 3, or 4 books. (Told you there might have been some book purchases involved....)  One of the things recommended is to draw one a day for practice and to date them so you can see how your approach, taste, preferences change over time.  These are in chronological order.

Some of these I like and some have so much going on that I think they just look messy. But then I guess that's the learning process.