Zentangle Dingbats: Patterns & Projects for Dynamic Tangled Ornaments & Decorations

by Brian Crimmins

Dingbats are a fun way to incorporate the fundamentals of Zentangle into a wide variety of creative projects and bring attention and mindfulness to the smallest corners of your life. Use dingbats to add flair to whatever you're working on-they provide a wonderful complement to any hand lettering, scrapbook and art journaling project.
Small enough to provide a sense of instant gratification when you make them, these "Zenbellishments" require few materials, making them accessible to all skill levels from beginner to advanced.
This book will introduce you to how dingbats are constructed and how to build from that basic structure to create designs uniquely your own. Zentangle Dingbats includes a variety of projects that will allow you to practice using dingbats not only as stand-alone designs, but also as accents and enhancements to other art projects.

• ISBN13: 9781497204171
• Publish Date: 11 June 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Design Originals
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 160
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Zentangle Dingbatz through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Zentangle Dingbatz by Brian Crimmons Czt is a fun new way of looking at Zentangle art. What’s Zentangle? Zentangle is the art of creating complex yet structured patterns. It earned its name thanks to the calm it brings for artists, and thus is a widely loved method of relaxing and creating artwork.
This book isn’t simply full of Zentangle patterns, however (though there is some of that). Instead, this book is a guide on alternative ways of creating and using Zentangles. What I especially love about this book is that it gives a detailed explanation on how to do several different designs, while giving the foundation to go out there and create your own.
Zentangle Dingbatz contains several chapters’ worth of tutorials, and they go into a shocking amount of detail. Not just about the design itself, but about the materials and stationary used as well. It’s extremely impressive.
The last thing covered in Zentangle Dingbatz is a gallery of completed artwork. I always love these sections, as they’re highly motivating. It's fun to see what can be done, once you’ve mastered any one art style.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Zentangle Dingbatz is a new tutorial guide for alternative and additional Zentangle techniques by Brian Crimmins. Released 11th June 2019 by Fox Chapel on their Design Originals imprint, it's 160 pages and available in paperback format.

Zentangle is an accessible, fun, and valuable creativity exercise which packs a lot of mindfulness and stimulation into a very short time commitment. They're also really really fun to do. These extra techniques can be used on a variety of surfaces and in a variety of sizes. For readers who are previously unfamiliar with the process, the introductory chapter in this book explains the process including a step by step visual tutorial.

The book has an easily accessible and logical layout. The introduction (~17% of the page content) introduces basic Zentangle concepts, starting instructions, and supplies for doing the projects. The next chapter provides the reader with a thorough tutorial showing the differences between the basic Zentangle tile art and 'Dingbatz' alternatives.

The next chapters include specific project tutorials and inspiration including stationery, a handwritten 'zine, place cards, nametags, gift tags, journals, and several more. Each of the chapters include a self-practice workbook area.

The final chapter includes a tangle gallery with tutorials for some of the tangle elements used in the book. There is also a brief acknowledgement section with some references for further reading (including the facebook group mention), as well as an author statement and a short index.

This is a useful, energetic, and accessible tutorial for all things Dingbatz. The author has a refreshingly encouraging voice and readers of all levels of expertise can use this guide to produce beautifully useful finished objects. The style of zentangle art makes them organic and structured at the same time. I really love the look of them.

This would make a superlative gift along with some pens and tiles or a journal for a drawing friend (or oneself).

Five stars. Well written, superbly photographed, accessible, and complete.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.