Ensō Zine Swap

Make a zine or mini-zine containing at least seven ensō that you created. The ensō may be painted, drawn, collaged, cut or created in any other way, as long as they were created by you. Send your zine to three partners. You can make one zine and photocopy/scan/print multiples, or you can make three different zines.

Your zine must at a minimum have a title, your name, some form of contact info and seven ensō. Feel free to add other stuff, but the other stuff isn't required. Digital art is OK, but it must be printed, made into a booklet and mailed to your partners. Digital art must be your art. If you use foreign symbols or languages please send a note with the meaning. International because shipping should be incredibly low.

The ensō is circular Japanese symbol that represents strength, the universe and emptiness. It is a form of minimalist art that is sometimes associated with Zen meditation. Often people will practice writing or drawing the ensō as a meditative or spiritual practice. This symbol is thought to be a reflection of the artist at that moment.

There is no wrong way to make an ensō. Some people simply draw or paint the circle with black ink on white paper. Some people use colors or add other calligraphy. Some people use colored ink or paint on colored backgrounds. The circle may be closed or open. You can start at any point and end at any point. There may be embellishments or not. For purposes of this swap, the definition of ensō is a circle with open space in the middle that you created.

To participate in this swap, you must have a 4.8 rating or higher with no unexplained no sends or suspicious ratings. Newbies OK as long as you have a completed profile by the day that I assign partners. You must not be late on any swaps you are currently in. Users who do not meet these requirements will be automatically banned, but feel free to start your own swaps.

Because the ensō is sometimes a form of minimalist art, some of the finished zines might be kind of plain. That's OK. It's also OK to really decorate and make your art not minimalist. The requirements to get a 5 rating are to make a zine with at least seven ensō that you created and mail on time. Send something that is nice and that you put effort into, but minimalism is ok.

Questions? Please PM me.