Love to draw and doodle? How about painting? If so, you should try your hand at Zentangle Art. I really enjoy it and every design that I sit down to make is unique! Anyone can do Zentangle! It’s all about letting your creativity flow. It’s about the designs that you personally like. Often times I have no set design in my head…I just sit down and start creating.
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For these particular ZenTangle designs I opted to pain them onto large clam shells that I collected from the beach. You want to wash them in warm soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. It does the best job at removing sand, debris and fishy odors. Rinse with clean water and let them air dry overnight.
Base coat the seashells with 2 coats of white acrylic craft paint. Allow for 30-45 minutes of drying time between coats. If you want to speed up the drying time…I use a wireless desk fan and have it blowing air over them which cuts the drying time in half!
I used a pencil and lightly sketched out a star shape, a heart shape and a rectangle shape on each clam shell. I used a pack of BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers to color-in different shapes inside the large main shape. BETEM Acrylic Paint Markers have dual-ended tips. They don’t require priming, no clogged tips, no drippy messes and no foul paint odors. Plus, they dry fairly quickly. Once you have the main shape all colored-in…it’s time to doodle and decorate!
Tooli-Art Fine Tip Black Acrylic Paint Pens are what I prefer to use when doodling. They give me the precision that I need. These acrylic paint pens do require priming and have a tendency to clog up once in awhile (the tips). You can unclog them by running the tip under hot running water under your tap. Dry the tip and then go back to painting. When doodling you want to pick a pattern that you like and do it over and over in that small confined space. It can be circles, swirls, mini triangles, dots, slash marks, stripes, etc. Look at my photograph to give you some inspiration on what to create.
Finishing…. I opted to add a border around each seashell using metallic acrylic craft paint. I left them dry for several hours. To protect the painted design…I brushed-on 2 light coats of Mod Podge Clear Sealer with a glossy finish allowing for 40-50 minutes of drying time between coats. It goes on white but will dry crystal clear.
These Zentangle designed seashells turned out beautifully. I’m already working on 4 additional shapes. They’re super easy to make…great little accents for your home or to give as gifts! Check out the TCC Blog for over 450+ arts and crafts projects that use seashells and other beach items in their designs!