Step-out of the month for October 2023: Rice Pattern

The step-out we presented for the month of October broke one of our rules: Rice Pattern had already been published. It's one of many beautiful "slow drawing patterns" published by artist Amy Maricle in her book "Draw Yourself Calm". However, Amy is not a tangler, and did not develop rice pattern for Zentangle artwork, and so I am pretty sure that without this prompt, many, if not most of you would not come across it.

I fell in love with rice pattern because of its simplicity, its versatility, and its beautiful texturing effect, and so I asked Amy for her permission to feature it as step-out of the month. I am very grateful that she has agreed to let me share her wonderful pattern with the Zentangle community.

Amy develops her slow-drawing patterns with care and love, and each one is precious to her. If you are curious about slow-drawing patterns, pay a visit to Amy's website, Mindful Art Studio. Perhaps you will find, as I did, that her art and approach to creating resonate with you. Slow drawing is distinct from the Zentangle Method, but there are notable overlaps, such as the use of simple patterns, small formats, deliberate strokes, and cultivating mindfulness.

Rice pattern fulfills all the formal criteria for a tangle - it has less than six steps, consists only of elemental strokes, and is non-representational. Yes, it is named after and looks like rice, but its visual impact evokes so much more. Like tipple or printemps, this simple "building block" lends itself to endless possibilities, and plays nicely with many other tangles. I hope you have fun exploring its possibilities. In honor of its origins, you might enjoy trying to really slow down while drawing it, allowing yourself to be mesmerized as you repeat this simple, beautiful shape on your tile.

Here are some of my first explorations using rice pattern on tiles. I love that it is so simple and yet so eye-catching. I enjoyed playing with different tools and using rice pattern as a monotangle on these two black tiles:

Of course I couldn't resist combining rice pattern with other tangles. Here is a selection of the ones I liked the most:

Rice pattern was the step-out of the month for October 2023. If you would like to receive the step-out of the month before it is published in our blog, you can sign up here:

Please feel welcome to share your artwork using rice pattern at any time on our Step-out of the Month Facebook page, where you can also see many other beautiful examples of artwork using this tangle. When you post on Instagram, Facebook or the Mosaic app please use these hashtags so we and others can find your work: #ricepattern, #conzentric, #sootm #stepoutofthemonth.