Zentangle Dingbats by Brian Crimmins

Zentangle Dingbats

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.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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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.

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