Singapore Sling Zentangle Step-Outs

  I was in the Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZT) Seminar 21, and it was there that I learnt how to draw "Auraknot". I loved how simple it was to create, even though it looked so beautifully complex. However, to me, Auraknot felt a little.... harsh. I wanted to make it look softer, more feminine. "Perhaps I should round out the point-y parts," I thought to myself. It was then that I created "Singapore Sling". I didn't come up with its name, by the way. I showed the tangle to Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, and much later, they emailed me saying that, amongst themselves, they would refer to the tangle as "Singapore Sling" as I lived in Singapore and the tangle resembled a sling. I found the name delightful and have stuck with it since then.

  If you already know how to draw Auraknot, this will be a breeze. The main difference is that the lines inside the Auraknot are tapered (you'll understand what I mean when you look at the step-outs), and that instead of starting with a point-y shape, you draw a flower shape, instead.

  Here are the step-outs:

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Instructions in more details:

1. First draw your basic outline. Kind of like a flower. It can have as many "petals" as you like. 
2. Draw a line.
3. Aura that line. Make sure you taper the ends. ("What does that mean?" You might want to have a look at the picture below to get what I mean.)
4. Turn your tile. Draw another line.
5. Aura that line. Remember: tapered ends.
6. Turn tile. Aura line.
7. Turn tile again. Aura line again.
8. You know what to do.
9. You've completed one round around the original flower shape that you drew. Now you can go another round. I usually go two or three rounds in total. Then it starts getting too crowded in the flower shape... 

  Now, what do I mean by "taper the ends"....

You can also see how different Auraknot and Singapore Sling actually are.
The concepts behind how to draw them are very similar, though.

  Here's what my mother, Joni, and I have created using Singapore Sling:

Singapore Sling with jewels.
Done by Joni. She likes to add perfs around her Singapore Slings.

Here's Singapore Sling with Nipa.

Here's one done on a black tile with some glitter Tipple and soapstone highlights.

Tiny Singapore Sling on a regular Zentangle tile...

And for contrast, a beautiful and huge Singapore Sling done on a postcard-sized paper.
Paired with colourful Tipple (we love using Tipple around here), and some gold accents.

  I also continued to explore in my sketchbook the various things I could do with Singapore Sling...

Varying the shapes, how  the lines overlap, the number of points you draw...
These all change the outcome of how your Auraknot/Singapore Sling will turn out. Explore options for yourself!

And as a throwback, this is the drawing that sparked my intrigue in how different Auraknot and Singapore Sling could look if I tried drawing it in different ways. (Yes, you can even add perfs or beads INSIDE Singapore Sling!)

Last but definitely not least, here's a tile in which I drew something that was an Auraknot-Singapore Sling hybrid. I loved the tile then, and I still love it now.  ^-^

  Also see my "Mooka, and then some..." post where I show you my way of drawing Mooka and the many things you can do with it. You can find it by clicking right here.

  Update: I made a video of me drawing Singapore Sling.

  I hope you found this post inspirational. Will you be trying out Singapore Sling? I'd love to see what you do with it. Keep tangling~