To Tangle or Not to Tangle
October 31, 2026
Wow, where did the year go? It seemed like only yesterday I was sharing 31 EggTober 2025 paintings as my creative twist on the annual Inktober challenge. For Inktober 2026, it was fun to take a more traditional approach and follow the official prompts list for the month. In a parallel challenge, I also took on the official Zentangle prompts, learning a few new patterns during the month.
To complete both lists by month’s end, and get some nature journaling done too, I found two inspiring templates, each designed with enough cubbyholes to contain all 62 prompts.
To prepare for the Official Inktober 2026, I followed a step-by-step, 12-minute YouTube tutorial titled, “3-Square Fold.” This clever approach begins with three equal squares of paper (of any size) that are glued together in a certain way, and then folded down to make a standalone square-shaped booklet. It’s the specific folding method that defines 31 internal square- and triangle-shaped spaces, a front and back cover, and a spare square for notes, table of contents or whatever you wish. My three initial squares were 12cm x 12cm each, as suggested in the tutorial. This size resulted in a much smaller area than I typically work on, causing my illustrations to be small and simple. It was good practice though. However, if my squares were larger — even 18cm2 — my illustrations would’ve had more breathing room. But after having so much fun making this Inktober container, I made two more booklets to have for future projects! To give this folded paper booklet a try, click this link.
All of my illustrations were colored with watercolor pencils after drawn in ink.
To prepare for the Official Zentangle Inktober Tangles 2026, I stumbled upon a lovely Dreamcatcher design developed by Barbara Langston—CZT (Certified Zentangle Instructor). Barbara’s 22-minute, step-by-step YouTube tutorial titled, “How to Draw the Dreamcatcher Template for Inktober Tangles” was designed to hold a space for each of the 31 patterns. My 9” x 12” paper size allowed me to place the Dreamcatcher into a 9” x 9” square, leaving room around the perimeter for eight large blocks. In these blocks I redrew up to five of the 31 patterns, in random order and without any repeats. This turned out to be a very busy and very full page — one that really satisfied my extreme love of detail! Call me crazy! To try your hand at drawing this easier-than-it-looks Dreamcatcher, click this link.
All of the Zentangle patterns were drawn with a 005 micron pen.
As always, participating in the annual Inktober challenge was fun, rewarding, and motivating. And this year, by following official prompt lists, it was a great way to supplement my daily drawing practice with subjects very different from nature journaling.
Oh, and this year I followed the progress of several good friends who also had a great Inktober experience … Chris, who dared to draw the Dreamcatcher with perimeter blocks. She did a beautiful job filling up her page with all 31 Zentangle patterns, adding perfect touches of gold accents! ….. and Lunnette, who jumped outside the traditional ‘box’ with her “Leaf-tober.” Her challenge was to draw an Autumn leaf-a-day collected from her neighborhood.
Drop a comment to this post if you’ve ever participated Inktober, how you defined your unique challenge, and if you had fun.
Hope you enjoyed my Inktober 2026 creations.
Thanks for stopping by!
