Today would have been Alphonse Maria Mucha’s birthday so I am dedicating this post in his honor. Who was Alphonse Mucha you ask? Alphonse Mucha (July 24, 1860 – July 14, 1939) was a Czech Art Nouveau artist who was known for his unique style. During his career he created many beautiful artworks, including paintings and posters. To learn more about his life and work check out The Mucha Foundation website.
Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts of Zentangle.com developed an official zentangle pattern which was inspired by Mucha’s work. They call it Mooka. There is a video tutorial as well as step out available here.
Take a look at the step out and examples of Mooka illustrated at the link above, and then study this public domain image of one of Mucha’s works:
The influence of Mucha’s style is obvious in the tangle Mooka, especially when you look closely at how he painted the woman’s hair.
When I first started tangling I searched for patterns online and found the linked video tutorial on how to draw Mooka. The tangle intrigued me. After practicing for a while I drew this Mooka tile (also with Heartfully and Heartline by Helen Williams):
More recently I drew another Mooka tangle, this time on a Renaissance tile. This one includes tangles Mooka and Lazy Eights.
Happy Mooka Day!