Parent Week - Relax with Zentangle Art

Hello! I’m a guest blogger here at PBS KIDS Utah. My name is Missy Maxwell. I grew up in Utah, but have lived in Olympia, Washington for the last 11 years with my husband and my cat. Being temporarily laid off of my job, I’ve had more time to devote to my true passion, art!

You’ve heard it again and again: “These are weird times we are going through.” We’re all experiencing a shared trauma. Nothing takes me out of the scariness of the ‘here and now’ more than sitting on my couch and just drawing designs, doodles, whatever comes to mind. Here are a couple more ideas for relaxing, therapy art style drawings. If you missed last weeks therapy art, you can check it out here.

Supplies:

• Paper
• Pen
• Colored pencils (or crayons or markers)

Instructions:

Scribble Coloring Doodle

1. Using a pen, start loosely scribbling a long, looping line on your paper.
2. Cross over lines you’ve drawn, back and forth, up and down, around and around.
3. Finish by connecting your looping line back to its starting point.
4. Using colored pencils (or crayons or markers), fill in each small shape created. Switch colors to make a random patchwork.
5. Breathe and relax.

Scallop Design Doodle

1. Using a pen, start at the bottom on the paper. Make small “bumps” or “hills,” all the same height, going left to right.
2. Now go to the summit of the first “bump” you drew, and connect it to the second “bump” summit, using another “bump”.
3. Continue in this way, forming a second row of “bumps” atop the first row.
4. Now make a third row of “bumps.” And a forth and a fifth and so on. Fill the page to the top.
5. Now go back and design the “bumps” by adding lines, dots, criss-crosses, zig-zags, scallops, anything that you can think of.
6. Breathe and relax. 

We’ve all had a strange couple months, but remembering to breathe, relax and just take care of yourself is important. Doing these little doodle drawing exercises can be that small break from reality that you need. Have a great, relaxing day!