Tomorrow, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the United States for the first time since 1979. It was nearly 100 years ago that one could be witnessed across the entire contiguous U.S. So, it’s a pretty exciting event. It starts on the Oregon coast at 9:06 a.m. PDT tomorrow and will end on the South Carolina coast at 4:06 p.m. EDT. If you don’t want to leave your home or buy sun-safe goggles, NASA’s website has got you covered.

Since the eclipse is kind of a historic event, I felt inspired to create a Zentangle piece. To draw it, I used tangle designs I found at tanglepatterns.com, a ruler, and a compass. The specific patterns I used are: Footlites, 4 Fun, Ciceron, and Floatfest. The others are just doodles I drew in for fun. To me, the contrast of black and white looks very crisp and signifies light and dark naturally. So, I will most likely leave it uncolored.

Total Solar Eclipse Tangle

This piece took longer than expected, but I did finish it in time! Technically, I know that the sun’s surface cannot be seen during a solar eclipse, but I took creative license here. I thought it would look better this way. One of the things I enjoy so much with Zentangle, is that seemingly random patterns can be taken as building blocks to construct realistic or fictitious works of art. Also, because of the nature of the medium, timidity gets overtaken by creativity. When I finished this, I could hardly believe it. Usually, I get hung up on silly things that keep me from finishing a project. With this, it’s easy to gain momentum and stick with it until the end. So, whether you like science or art or both, I hope everyone gets to enjoy the total solar eclipse tomorrow.