Mandala

Materials needed:

*Large sheet of butcher paper

*Pastels

*India Ink

*Pencil

*Paint brush(es)

*Spray sealant

After studying the history, practices, and designs of Mandalas, I created my own based on my personal life and beliefs. In studying the basic designs of Mandalas, I found that they are symmetrical (generally in a radial fashion), contain “gates” at all four sides, and have some patterns.

*For a tutorial on this project, visit Fresh to the Idea of Art*
I started by folding the square paper in half both ways as well as in both diagonals for a total of four folds to help create symmetry. I took my pencil and began in the center. I drew a random organic shape, which sparked my ideas of doing a flower shape in the center. Flowers represent living life for me, in reference to art history and floral still lifes, so the idea of a flower was perfect. From there, I drew one tear-dropped petal shape. I folded in both the diagonal and horizontal directions and traced through the paper onto the backside of the piece to get the perfect copied shape. I then redrew the image by tracing through and onto the front side. (Essentially, the front of the paper will be completely covered by design, while the back will be drawn mostly with guide lines created by folding and tracing to help transfer a symmetric image.) After I had four petals surrounding the initial organic shape, I then added four larger petals on the outside of those, and leaf-like shapes in between as you can see above with small vines on each of their sides. To fill and balance out the corners, I placed a large circle, and two floral/bird-like designs (representing a spiritual aspect in my life) in each of the corners.

I then chose the pastel colors that I wanted that were both natural yet vibrant, meshing well with one another. I rubbed the pastels into the paper, varying the pressure in my hand to create varying values and transitions from one color to another. After the initial placement of color, I then rubbed and pushed the pastel into the fibers of the paper with my finger. After the blue and red pastels had been laid down, I placed dots of water in a pattern into the center of the Mandala. As I worked the outermost portion of the piece and blew the excess pastel dust across the page, it settled into the water spots, creating dabs of uneven and dimensional color. After all the shapes had been rubbed with pastel colors, I then outlined everything with a paintbrush and India Ink. To be sure the design stays in tact, I coated the paper with a matte finish sealant.

What I personally learned from this project is how time consuming it ended up being. I realized that different sizes of paint brushes was necessary in order to get the smaller, finer details. Being aware of where your hands are at all times was also an important detail. It was easy to drag my hand through other colors of pastels and smear them into one another.