Logic and Composition

I just finished reading yet another mystery and once again, I had no idea 'who done it'.   I never figure it out when the perp is more than one person, so it's pretty easy to fool me.   But then, it's always nice to be challenged.  The nice thing about mysteries is that they are (when they are any good) exorcises in logic.  I always enjoy those even if I do not figure them out.

Zentangles aren't like that for me.  I can figure out most tangles with no problem, but making them look good --AH, that's another challenge.  I was simply not born with a very good 'composition' gene.  The logic of it escapes me.   I know I should have a center of interest.  I know I should have a way to take the eye around to different parts of the drawing,  but I'll be darned if I can do that instinctively!  I can do the tangles, but all too often, they don't have that Zip, that sparkle that I see in the work of  Maria, or Shelley, or Sue or  . . well I could go on forever with that.  So many of my contemporaries are highly gifted.  Their compositions look effortless and natural.  Not so much mine.

I know that Zentangles are not supposed to be thought out ahead of time, we are supposed to just let them 'happen'.  When i do that, I get the Zen of it, but the finished product is often unremarkable.  I would like to like the end result as well.

Perhaps that is one reason why I like the Zendala forms so much.  They are already centered and have a focus, they already know how to take your eye from place to place around the tile.  I can relax and focus on the tangle, or the proportions of light and dark, complexity vs simplicity, etc.

Well, the whole Zentangle thing offers many different gifts, so perhaps someday, I too, will have focus, balance, and decent composition.

Let us pray.