How to Draw Zentangle Patterns

Learn how to draw zentangle patterns and doodles to create when you’re bored or need easy creative art ideas.

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If you’re looking for easy inspiration for doodling, try drawing zentangles. Zentangles are repeating patterns that can be simple or complex. (The term was officially coined by Maria Thomas.)

You can draw them on blank paper, or use them to fill in shapes or backgrounds of any coloring page. Zentangles are relaxing to draw and they don’t have any rules. Grab your favorite art supplies and get started with a few simple patterns.

Art supplies

You don’t need special art supplies to draw zentangles, just a pencil and paper. If you want to turn your doodles into more elaborate art, here are the supplies I use.

A wood ruler, pencil, black pen, mixed media paper spiral, and set of 36 watercolor paints.

Doodles inspired by zentangle patterns

Scales

Start with a square and draw a row of curved lines resembling dragon or fish scales. On the second row, repeat the pattern but offset. Keep repeating the pattern, alternating, until the box is full.

Drawing a square with a row of 8 arches along the bottom.

Adding a second row of arches over the first, offset by half.

A full square of several rows of arches, alternating offset to resemble dragon scales.

Spiraling box

Start with a square and draw a straight line across the bottom. Rotate your paper clockwise, then draw a second line from the first to the edge. Keep rotating the paper and adding lines until you reach the center.

Drawing a square with a horizontal line approximately a tenth of an inch from the bottom.

The paper rotated 90 degrees clockwise, drawing another horizontal line on each edge with overlapping corners.

A full square of overlapping lines rotating around until they meet in the center.

Triangles

Start with a square and divide it into even rows. Starting on the bottom row, draw a line of triangles. On the next row, draw another line of triangles offset. Repeat the pattern, alternating, until the box is full.

A full square filled in with triangles on each row, offset to create alternating pattern.

All of the downward pointing triangles colored in with pencil while the upward pointing triangles are white.

Spirals

Start with a box and divide it into 4 or more smaller sections. Inside one section, start in the center and draw a spiral until you reach the edge. Repeat the pattern in each smaller box until they are full.

Drawing a square divided into 4 equal smaller squares.

Drawing a spiral to fill the top left square in the group of 4.

A similar spiral drawn in all 4 squares.

Bricks

Start with a square and draw horizontal lines to divide it into even rows. Starting with the bottom row, draw vertical lines to divide it into smaller sections. For the second row, draw vertical lines centered above the lower row. Repeat, alternating all the way up.

Drawing a square divided into 6 equal horizontal rows.

In the bottom row of the square, vertical lines divide into 4 sections.

A full square filled with a brick pattern created from alternating vertical lines on each row.

Checkerboard

Start with a square and divide it into 16 smaller squares. Beside each line, draw a second line. Fill in the large and small squares, leaving the spaces between them blank.

Drawing a square divided into 16 equal smaller squares.

Adding a second line beside each vertical and horizontal line to create a plaid pattern.

All the squares on the grid colored in with pencil, leaving small rectangles white.

Watercolor doodle art

My favorite way to use zentangle patterns is by drawing with a pen on top of watercolors.

How to layer watercolor and drawing

First, draw a square or rectangle (or any shape) with a pencil on your paper to add a margin border. Use watercolors to paint inside the box and let it dry completely. If your paper curls, you may want to put it under a heavy object for a few minutes after it has dried.

Use a black pen to outline the rectangle. Erase the pencil lines.

A blurry mixed watercolor rectangle painted in a spiral beside a palette of 36 colors.

Closeup of abstract watercolor inside a rectangle outlined in black pen.

Use the black pen to draw the zentangle pattern on top of the watercolor design.

For this one, I used a ruler to get straight lines. I started in the bottom left corner and drew a line to the right side, about a quarter inch from the bottom. From the same corner, I drew 2 more lines.

Then I rotated the paper and drew another set of 3 lines from the new left corner to the right edge. Keep rotating and adding sets of 3 lines, starting where the new corner is each time. For this one, I went around the rectangle twice.

A zentangle pattern that resembles a stack of spiraling rectangles over an abstract watercolor design.

Watercolor pattern boxes

You can doodle several patterns on a single page. One of the easiest ways to do this is to draw several small boxes with a pencil. Outline each one in pen (and erase extra pencil lines).

Paint a different watercolor shade in each box. For this one, I picked 9 colors that are similar. After the watercolors have dried, use the pen to doodle a different pattern in each one.

A grid of 9 rectangles on watercolor paper, each painted a shade of pink or purple and filled in with a different pattern of lines or circles in black ink.

Striped watercolor patterns

When you’re not sure what to paint, a classic rainbow is always fun. For this one, I drew a rectangle and divided it into 6 sections about an inch long. I didn’t use a ruler, so you might notice the lines are a bit wobbly.

I painted a different color in each box, then outlined them in pen after the paint dried. Then I just doodled a different pattern in each one. I made them up as I went, so some worked out better than others.

A rectangle divided into 6 equal sections and painted in rainbow from red to purple, each filled with a different ink doodle pattern.

The fun of creating zentangle patterns is experimenting without worrying about whether you’re creating something perfect. Zentangles almost all start with a simple shape or line, so you can’t go wrong. Mix colors to see what looks good. Create your own patterns or try the ones I’ve shown in this post.

Check out some other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:

How to Draw Zentangle Patterns

Art supplies