W2 and then some

W2 (for Warp and Weft) is a fairly simple pattern, and depends a little on the initial spacing. Step-outs are on tanglepatterns.com here.

In early November I had the great pleasure of attending OgunquiTangle, a small, semi-annual Zentangle retreat organized by Jenny Perruzzi. There I shared much of what will comprise this post. Here's the group of us in a pumpkin patch. :)

We used an Opus tile and did a sampler of variations of W2, starting with a large W2 overall and filling each section with smaller samples. Each section is about the size of a classic Zentangle tile, so easy to do freehand.

Below is my Opus tile. In the upper left you can see a basic W2 with thin borders added. These borders keep the smaller black squares separated from the larger black squares. The empty section is for people to try their own idea.

The easiest and most basic variation, of course, is to vary the size of the initial squares and, consequently, the bands (the warp and weft). We used both of these possibilities on our Opus tile.

AND THEN SOME...

Add thin black ribbons (upper right section).
1)  Start with small black squares and wide bands.
2)  Imagine where one band runs under another (upper left, green dots).
3)  Draw a black line, about 1/3 of the width of the ribbon (lower left, green lines).
4)  Do this on all the bands (red).
5)  Then draw a thin ribbon from one 'slit' to another, going over the initial band (red horizontal and black vertical).

Add rounded forms.
W2 is an angular tangle, so rounded forms add interest. I've used Black Pearlz and Beadlines (middle right section). In the image below you can also see Knightsbridge in one of the small perimeter sections.
1)  Start with small black squares and wide bands.
2)  Draw a circle in the squares, and a Black Pearl in the circle.
3)  Draw Beadlines along the middle of the bands.

Add center band.
A simple, thin pattern leaves the bands clearly visible.

Add diagonals.

W2 is very right-angled, so diagonals add interest. Here it is with the tangle Zonked (center section). You could do Zonked regularly like I did, or randomly. Begin with large squares and thin bands.

Fill the large squares with a square-grid-based tangle.
We used Stoic (lower left), but other possibilities are Cubine, Dex, Buttercup, Demi, etc..

Use a fragment you like.
Those tangles are composed of repeatable fragments, so in another section everyone chose a fragment they liked and filled the large squares with that (top middle). I used what I now call the Lisbon fragment, first dividing each large square into quarters.

A cut-through look (lower center).
Above you'll see Meer going one direction and simple polka dots going the other. Below is an example with Meer going both directions.
1)  Start with small black squares and wide bands.
2)  Draw a diagonal square in the center of each band, and Aura it.
3)  Fill the bands with Meer, showing the pattern 'underneath' through the square cut-through.

Use a border tangle with non-straight sides (lower right).
My example above shows Prestwood, but you could also use Noom, Ing, MySwing, Paisley Boa, Cruze, and many others.
1)  Start with small squares and wide bands.
2)  Draw the W2 pattern all in pencil.
3)  Lightly fill the squares in pencil, just to help stay organized.
4)  In heavier pencil, note where the bands go over and under. Even erase the lines you don't want.
5)  Draw your chosen tangle in the bands.
6)  Fill the no-longer-squares with black.
An Aura may help separate the pattern bands. Here is an example using Noom, with an Aura.

What to do with those little bits leftover at the edges? You could fill some with Knightsbridge (square on, or diagonal), or continued parts of the tangle from the connecting band, or use whatever you feel would be appropriate.

A HELPFUL TOOL: Jenny Peruzzi has designed a stencil with the 16 initial, larger squares placed appropriately. If you'd like to purchase one check out her Etsy shop here.