4.02

5

September 10, 2011

Fabulous book!

I should start by saying I think I own every Zentangle book out there and I think this book would appeal to both the beginner and the advanced Zentanglist (is that a word?).
First, for the beginner ... you start with borders or strips of Zentangles or patterns. Somehow that seems to be easier, not quite so overwhelming? (Anyone can do one border, right? How about another one?)
For the advanced, I think this book demonstrates a different "look." While Zentangles look very striking with bold lines and black & white contrast, Zenspirations seems more fluid. If you look closely at the ABC on the cover, you can see multiple lines that cross over each other to make these letters. Then within some of the lines are the Zentangle patterns. Inside the book, you will see color added to some of the letters, which adds a dramatic punch. (Personally, I think this alphabet was worth the price of the book!)
So, if you can't tell by now, I think this book would make a wonderful addition to any crafter's library.

5

November 24, 2011

Zenspirations

I have a fair few Tangle books now, and those I have, I adore. This one seemed different - so I ordered this one too. It IS different!! It's absolutely lovely. I like to do finishing touches, draw some cards to send to family and friends, or simply a letter and I will try to embellish it a little, to cheer it up a bit with a squiggle here and there :-).

I had been looking around for alphabet letters I could simply "Tangle" fill-in, when I was in a hurry to get something done. I also like to do a nice edge or border around a design. Joanne's book here has wonderful hints for that. She shows you all these cool designs for frames around photos too - imagine finding a pattern you can easily copy to adorn your favourite affirmation !! - you really just want to get stuck into them !! Her letters and patterning have really added to my store of "ingredients" for future cards, letters, drawings, and last but not least Tangles !! :-) My many thanks for this fantastic book of yours Joanne, it's great !!
Kind regards, L.B.

3

March 14, 2016

3 1/2 Stars...Wonderful art but its a small book!

This is a great informational book. It has some step by step guides. Its has some really good ideas. I love the format, the colors and the info on what to buy. I'm new to doodling and needed ideas for bible journaling.

Here's the rub. It has 50 pages. That INCLUDES the cover and the back inside cover. Its a very SHORT book, about the size of a child's pre k picture book (see photo). I wish it contained I dont know, "more" maybe? There are some pages that only contain letters. Not bad, just wish there was more information and how to. The list price is $16.99. Amazon's currently selling it for under $12. I wish it was listed more in the $9-10 range, maybe less. Had it been more substantial, I'd definitely not mind the asking price.

Overall, if it had been longer with more tutorials, it would have been a better book.

1

March 17, 2016

Very disappointed

There isn't any info in here that you can not get off of YouTube and Pinterest, would get my $$ back if I could. I do not like the fact that Amazon will not allow you to look through a book before purchasing it. Had I been able to look though it I would not have wasted good money on a product i will never use.

3

December 15, 2015

Fink a great teacher but this book sadly misses the mark.

I really like the author -Joanne Fink- and her teaching style, a lot.

I watch her videos on YT done for Sakura products . She teaches you how to do Zentangle type art with Sakura products.

Sakura makes various pens/paints for exactly this type of artwork as depicted in this book.

However, this book felt like one big promotional ad for Sakura products with very little teaching information.

In fact, what this book offered in information, I had already gotten off one of her videos.

This book is scant with HOW TO's- and it is written in a style that is definitely for beginners.

But even beginners might be disappointed in how little is offered here in the way of information.

Joanne Fink is wonderful to watch at work and her enthusiasm for the kind of art work she teaches is very contagious.

I am both surprised and disappointed this book did not offer more for the price.

It is a thin trade sized paperback.

On the upside, what instruction she does offer in the book, she does offer clearly and concisely.

Yet, overall the book is a big disappointment :-( If you have to buy this- get a used edition.
And if check her out on YT under both her name and Sakura.

As a side note- I purchased via Amazon through one of their LIGHTENING DEALS, a superb set of pens that you would use for Zentangle type art- Pigma Micron 6 piece set in Black.

The set comes with 6 different sizes and is a set Fink would recommend.

I love how they write/draw! If you have not bought your gel pen set yet, check out Amazon for this great set by Sakura!

1

October 31, 2017

Super disappointing.

Let me start by saying I love Joanne Fink's art. Her letters and "Zenspirations" doodles are gorgeous. So I had been eyeing this book for awhile. Found it cheap used and had a gift card, so yay, finally bought it!

I wish I had just kept drooling over the cover from afar. It's probably the most disappointing book out of all of the books I've bought/borrowed/read in the last several years. It's not even really a book. It's more like an ad for a book or class you'd find laying around in a craft store. So very glad I didn't pay full price, but wish I hadn't bought it at all.

You'll get more inspiration and instruction from the author for free on her blog, Youtube videos, etc. This isn't even worth buying for the eye candy as there's so little here.

2

September 17, 2013

It's An Ad For Sakura Products

This is an 8.5 x 8.5 book with only 52 pages...and the front cover is pages 1 and 2; the back cover is pages 51 and 52. So, you see you're getting a very small book. I think everyone wanted a pattern for the cute little birds on the cover. She doesn't devote any space to them. I paid a small fortune for this pamphlet that's basically just an ad pushing Sakura products and her own. If you want Zentangle patterns, go to zentangle.com and sign up for the free newsletter.

5

May 24, 2013

amazing for me and the kids

This was the most inspirational book I have ever picked up. Convinced, with good reason, of my pathetic drawing abilities from a young age, this book showed me some simple ways for me to create my own beautiful images and got me started down some fun roads drawing that I have taken tons of pleasure in. Also my kids soon picked up on some of the ways to fancify their art, and it set them to experimenting, which I truly love. I am so thankful to this lady for showing me there is a way for me to indulge my love of drawing without being terrified and disgusted by the results :) haha. Thanks to the author! now go buy it. I liked it much much more than that zentangle stuff. NowI want to teach a session of art class at school on this beautiful style of art!

1

February 25, 2016

Not worth the money. Childish and uninformative

In my opinion this book is not the worth the money. There is very little instructional info with oversized childish drawings as if they were intentionally created that way, in order to fill the pages. A lot of fluff with no real tangible content. It may be good for a small child, but this is not for any adult who wishes to learn anything even remotely real about letters or patterning.

2

March 19, 2013

Waste of Money

Nothing new or innovative here folks. If you want to do alphabets then by all means, but otherwise don't waste your money.

2

August 17, 2012

Not enough examples of writing

I am disappointed with how small this book is. The book has more instructions on doodling that on different handwriting styles.

5

June 15, 2013

Delightful Book!

The book is everything it's advertised to be. Anyone can draw these things and the fun is in the embellishing. Add dots, lines, curves, and so on. I love playing with a pencil but my talent for drawing and sketching leaves much to be desired. I am generally left feeling frustrated with every attempt. With the ideas in this book I have had fun drawing and creating and new ideas keep on coming. It is a very relaxing and playful endeavor, because you really can't mess up. Crooked lines are part of the charm of the drawing! I highly recommend this book to anyone who simply enjoys drawing and playing with color. I would think even a talented artist could enjoy these exercises simply to clear the mind and find new inspiration.

Joanne Fink also has a few videos on YouTube that are interesting and informative. She demonstrates several of the techniques in the book.

I have another book on doodling and also have tried some of the Zentangle books. But this book is by far the easiest and most fun of all.

5

September 5, 2013

Zensational: Pardon the pun!

The patterns and instructions by this author "speak" to me more than most so-called Zen designs do. I find the instructions very easy to apply and the colored designs engaging. My purpose in selecting this book was simply to bring a smile to the face of recipients when they see the brightly-colored designs on the envelope encasing a brightly-colored note card. The author also mentions her occasional use of the computer for scanning, etc. and points out that it usually takes her 30 minutes to complete a single monogram / letter. Because I am not an artist, I practice my designs and monograms many times in my art journals before applying the finished project / product. I enthusiastically recommend this work by Joanne Fink.

1

June 15, 2016

Pointless purchase!

This book is useless for beginners. I thought it would show examples of entire alphabet but there are just a few.

1

May 5, 2016

One Star

I wasn't excited about it.

1

February 13, 2015

Don't bother.

This is a childish book children learning to write at best. Not really much information in it.

1

December 7, 2014

One Star

Garbage.

2

February 24, 2015

If you're looking for a lettering book, look elsewhere...

I bought this for a gift based on the rave reviews to see if I might want one for myself. It's very disappointing. Titled 'Letters and Patterns' it is 90% patterns and very little lettering. There are two alphabet examples, one simple and one flamboyant. The designs are pretty childish also - I'll be looking elsewhere for a book for myself.

3

Jan 23, 2015

3.5 stars. Overall, a good book, just not quite what I was hoping for.

If your main interest in this title is learning to apply zentangle principles to lettering and creating monograms this book will likely not meet your expectations. While it is a slim volume with large text and of course lots of graphics there are only 8 or so pages dedicated to lettering and monograms, and really only one style is shown.

If, on the other hand, you are interested in ornamenting drawings with patterns or 3.5 stars. Overall, a good book, just not quite what I was hoping for.

If your main interest in this title is learning to apply zentangle principles to lettering and creating monograms this book will likely not meet your expectations. While it is a slim volume with large text and of course lots of graphics there are only 8 or so pages dedicated to lettering and monograms, and really only one style is shown.

If, on the other hand, you are interested in ornamenting drawings with patterns or zentangling with representational "strings" there is much to be inspired by in this book. I did enjoy how she demonstrated that patterning is a building process and one can stop at any point. That is not something often mentioned when looking at zentangle step-outs. It also means the how-tos here are not presented in multiple colors so as to demonstrate the look achieved if one stops at any of the steps. I personally liked that, but if you are spatially challenged it might be harder to ascertain what the next steps in drawing the pattern are.
...more

4

Feb 10, 2016

ZENSPIRATIONS beautiful and contagious

This 51 page paperback is exactly what I was hoping it was. Joanne Fink's ZENSPIRATIONS Letters & Patterns is one of those things that if you get stuck on a deserted island you would want to have with you! It's so entertaining but also gives one confidence in being able to turn their 'can't draw a straight line' into some much more fun and interesting. Definitely recommend to all doodlers, artists or wanna be artists.

4

Aug 15, 2014

This book had a lot of cool ideas, but I really wanted some more detailed or step-by-step instructions for the monograms. She had one letter all drawn out step-by-step, but I would have liked the whole alphabet; the final designs were just too intricate to break down on my own. Liked the book though, read through it several times for ideas and started going with it right away.

5

July 25, 2018

Great Escape!

SOOO much fun! I have done several designs and created my own. This will absolutely unleash your creativity. If you like to draw whimsical flowers, bird cages and homes, you will love this! In fact, I'm about to set up my area to start drawing right now! VERY easy to follow. Beginning artist friendly. When I say beginning artist, I mean if you can hold a pencil and draw a line---you can do this!!! Get off of faceb. and do something that will truly bring you joy! You won't regret it!

5

November 3, 2017

This is a fun book if you want to learn more about art and lettering, and flower designs

Great little book full of goodies .Fascinating ideas on how to twist those designs upside down and inside out. Like going over a letter and making it more complex with lines that it become a 3-d color exhibition. Techniques in coloring and
ex saturations (can't remember how to spell this word) so good and a few drawings to show you how its done. Very colorful book with great ideas on how to use the ideas on frames, calendars, and shirts etc.

1

October 10, 2014

One Star

Great book - very helpful! Thanks!

2

November 8, 2019

not real zentangles

I didn't really like this book. I was hoping for more zentangle patterns for letters and that is not what is in the book.