In the beginning we selected the Sakura® Pigma® pens as our drawing tools of choice.
It was still
in the early days of Zentangle and as a small company we didn't think of contacting Sakura directly. However, one day we received a call from the Vice President of Sakura of America who asked, "Who are you and why are you selling so many pens?"
That was the beginning of many friendships and a good relationship between our two companies. Sakura of America was a breath of fresh air compared with other experiences we had in the corporate world. They had an honest desire to know and learn about the Zentangle Method and to understand our story. From the beginning they believed this new drawing method was important . . . and something that went beyond the pen and paper.
Many of the Sakura staff have become CZTs. Sakura is deeply involved with schools and knew that many schools and school age children were already using the Zentangle Method. Together we realized that we needed Zentangle materials suitable for this demographic.
The first item on this list was a tile. Our objective was to create something durable, slightly more economical, that would still fulfill the original philosophy of the Zentangle Method. After much experimentation we created a slightly larger tile to offer a bit more space. Of course, we kept our rounded corners. This is a detail we felt gave the tile that individual specialness and made it a unique surface for art.
For paper we chose a beautiful Bristol that held the ink nicely and still allowed for wonderful pencil blending.
And last but not least what would we call these new tiles? There were many names that we tried, but when "Apprentice" was suggested, everyone agreed it was perfect. It fit our theme of Zentangle art as a practice and Zentangle artists as life long learners. Zentangle Apprentice would become a full line of products including Classroom Packs and individual kits designed for young Zentangle artists but enjoyed by tanglers of all ages.
In July of 2012 Zentangle Inc. introduced a 4.5" white Zentangle Apprentice tile. Today we invite you to explore this smooth vellum surface with a fun tangling lesson from Rick.
Happy day Four!
