My tangle pattern: Linelism, a tangle showing how to shade in color

I've seen a lot of discussion about color in zentangle/zendoodling and worries about it overpowering the zen or causing too much thought which might pop the person out of the 'zen' mode. 

So-o-o I came up with a pattern designed to help you use very subtle coloring.  I'm using lines, because it helps you keep the color softer, but you could use a scumbling effect (using the side of a pencil lightly).  The other advantage of line is that you can easily use colored pens, versus pencils or pastels.

The idea to keep in mind is blue shadows on snow--atmostpheric, soft, beautiful. This was supposedly the inspiratation for impressionism, and this method borrows heavily from that discipline.

The first tip--how to avoid thought?  That's fairly simple.  Choose your colors before you start.  Alternate them, and apply more color toward the bottom of the fluffball.

The second tip--use a paper that is rough.  Watercolor paper is a good choice.  You'll get a scumbling effect without even trying.

The third tip--don't press down hard and don't try to fill in solid color.  Give your hand a rest, and let the paper do some of the work.

This example was done on a yellow-cream watercolor paper using 3 colored pencils-ochre, teal and rose.  I added some white highlights (since I was using colored paper) with a white gellyroll pen.