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Top Zentangle® Art Supply Recommendations

1. Zentangle® Starter Kit (5) Blk Micron Pens,1 blk Graphite Pencil, 1 Tortillion, (5) 3.5” white Zentangle tile
2. Zentangle® Original Sq Tile 3.5” sq. white Art Tiles, pack of 21 tiles
3. Zentangle Bijou Tiles 2” sq great for new tangle patterns. Display in Coin Holders
4. BCW Pro coin Collecting Holder (20) 20-Pockets per Page, Pocket Size 2”x2”
5. Zendala Round tile  4.5” diameter tile, 21 tiles pack
6. Canson XL Mixed Media  5”x8” 98 lb. fine texture, 60 sheets. Great sketchbook
7. Sakura Micron fineliner Pens - archival Black Ink Pens - Assorted Point Sizes - 6 Pack
8. Staedtler Mars Lumograph Graphite Set - great shading set
9. My Favorite Brand Tortillion Blending tortillion, small 6-pack

Art Supply Categories

Get Started Package

Zentangle® Starter Kit (5) Blk Micron Pens,1 blk Graphite Pencil, 1 Tortillion, (5) 3.5” white Zentangle tile

Paper

Zentangle® Original Sq Tile 3.5” sq. white Art Tiles, pack of 21 tiles

Apprentice 4.5" sq Tiles (21) White Bristol Smooth 21 tiles

Sakura Apprentice Tiles White- Official Zentangle 4.5” x 4.5” - 140 tiles

Zentangle Bijou Tiles 2” sq great for new tangle patterns. Display in Coin Holders

Zendala Round tile  4.5” diameter tile, 21 tiles pack

Strathmore Artist Tiles 6”x6” 20/Pkg- Bristol Vellum White/ 4”x4”

Studio Series Artist's Tiles 3.5” sq. White (75 pack), 300 gsm card stock, no ink bleed, acid-free, budget friendly

Pens

Sakura Micron fineliner Pens - archival Black Ink Pens - Assorted Point Sizes - 6 Pack Microns are the choice pen recommended by Zentangle®.

Staedtler Pigment Fineliner - Black, 8 Pens, Assorted Line Widths, 0.05mm, 0.1mm, 0.2mm, 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.8mm, 1.0mm, 1.2mm - This writes a nice steady line. It is waterproof so it's great for artwork. I've been using the same pen for awhile and the ink has not run out yet. they’re some of the best i’ve ever used! The sizes are super useful and I personally like them better than sakura microns. imo, micron tips get bent and dry out often, but these staedtler pens have thick tips and don’t feel dry. The black is super deep and vibrant as well. love them. You can leave the cap off for a while, although I don’t suggest it and they don’t dry out.

Uni Pin Fineliner Drawing Pen Sketching Set - Black Ink - 0.03 to 0.8mm - Set of 6. I just bought these pens from a recommendation from a student who was looking to replace her Sakura micron pens. The small tip Sakura Microns have very delicate tip and the Unis are stronger. If you’re heavy handed they may be the ones for you. Deep rich easy flowing ink and this set has all the nib sizes you need for  most Zentangle projects 

Pencils

Staedtler Mars Lumograph
Graphite Set - great shading set. I use the F pencil to start my shading and then progress to softer pens for shading. If I have to buy one set of graphite pencils this is the one

Cretacolor Nero Pencil Set 
This pencil set has both the hard and soft pencil for shading and browns that work great with shading Renaissance color Zentangle tiles. This complete pocket tin set of six Artist's oil pencils includes one each of Nero black soft and extra-soft, white, sanguine, sepia light and dark pencils in a tin case. I use them with Micron brown fineliners. This set has a white pencil too. The composition. They are oil-based charcoal pencils, rather than graphite. They likely contain a blend of charcoal and oil binders, which gives them unique properties. Deeper richer richer black for more intense shading, smudge resistance, making them cleaner to work with, Harder pencil less grainy. Not shiny on ink areas like graphite. 

Blending Tools

My Favorite Brand Tortillion
Blending tortillion, small 6-pack
Jack Richeson Blending Stump
#1 3 in the set, I prefer using a blending stump for shading than a tortillion. They last longer. For small tile drawing make sure you order #1 or small size as other sizes are for larger drawings. 
Q tips can work and so can your finger, although I have had a problem with them. I get much better results with the tortillion and blending stump
Sandpaper Sharpener 2 pieces sketch sandpaper pencil sharpener, lead pointer, art drawing tool for Artists
Mono Zero Eraser  Square Tip, Tombow 57317 Mono Zero Eraser Value Pack, Rectangle 2.5mm. Precision Tip Pen-Style Eraser with Refill
Mono Zero Eraser  Round Tip is good for small areas. I found the round tip broke off too easily and the square tip lasts much longer.

Colored Pencils

Prisma Color Pencils (36)
A favorite colored pencil by CZTs. It's a great beginning set. Buy quality pencils whenever you can because it makes a difference with your art
Prismacolor Pencils.  Sam's Club Deal ! 36 pencils for $20.38 Great deal!

Storage and Organization

Storage Sleeves 4x4" Golden State Art 4x4” 200 acid-free sleeves storage bags for 3.5” tiles
BCW Pro coin Collecting Holder (20) 20-Pockets per Page, Pocket Size 2”x2”

Suggested Reading

 Zentangle Primer Vol 1 Paperback 
I highly recommend this book if you want to dive deep into the Zentangle Method. It touches on all the techniques in the original method. Each chapter is a lesson followed by several practice exercises to improve your comprehension and provides practice ideas. It is an "old world" instructional book written and illustrated by the founders of the Zentangle Method, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. Great for beginners

One Zentangle A Day 
A 6 week course in creative drawing for relaxation, Inspiration, and Fun (One A Day). I started my Zentangle journey with this book and immediately was hooked. If I were to start today knowing what I’ve learned over the past four years of becoming a Certified Zentangle Teacher, I’d be hard pressed to choose between these two books. They are both great and will get you moving in the right direction.

Made in the Shade: A Zentangle Workbook
This book will open up a wonderful, dynamic, and 3-dimensional world of shading possibilities. Learn to shade your Zentangle art with confidence and creativity. This workbook is for tanglers who wants to learn more about shading. It includes step-by-step instruction with exercises on Zentangle shading techniques, dozens of ideas for shading 20 official tangles, plus 4 step-by-step shading projects to teach the reader to analyze a tile and use shading to create a focal point, improve contrast, add dimension, and enhance the overall design.

Best Websites for Tangle Step Outs

A Zentangle step-out is a clear and concise visual guide designed to teach artists how to draw specific tangle patterns with ease and precision. Presented in a series of simple, sequential steps, each step-out breaks down the complex process of creating a Zentangle pattern into manageable stages. From the initial strokes to the final details, a step-out ensures that even beginners can follow along smoothly, helping them master new patterns and enhance their drawing skills in a structured, enjoyable way.

Tangle Patterns Dot Com
An Inspiration of Tangles: an index and graphic guide to the best Zentangle® patterns on the web and how to draw. This is a very comprehensive website and is somewhat hard to navigate, but it has a ton of information about the Zentangle method and it is recommended and trusted by Zentangle, Inc. and CZTs (Certified Zentangle Teachers) Search for all the 179 original Zentangle® official patterns and over 250 different string patterns. 

Musterquelle
The pattern source is a collection of instructions for patterns and tangles from all over the world for the whole world. The two German CZTs Annette and Ela, who developed and maintained it in their free time, were committed to the philosophy of  Zentangle® . It also has a Reticula and Fragment section. In the Zentangle “Primer 1” book by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, chapter 7 (p.111 ff) describes the concept of “reticula and fragments”. This concept is an extension of the possibilities offered by so-called grid patterns (grid tangles).

Mosaic App
This app is a powerful tool for exploring tiles created by contributors. The app is free and a premium upgrade to get even more great content. It’s worth checking out. I think the annual subscription is around $25.

Yehudit's Top 31 Beginner Zentangle® Official Tangle Patterns 
31 Beginner Tangle patterns with links to step-outs. Yehudit Steinberg M.Ed. CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher)  recommendations for beginners to get started learning the Zentangle Method