Mandalas

Since I started reading Tammy's blog, Daisy Yellow, at the beginning of this year, one of the things I have most enjoyed have been her mandala drawings.  I didn't really know anything about mandalas, and I certainly had no idea how to draw one, but I liked looking at the different designs she created.

Back in August, I started to do a little "research", and checked out a couple of books from the library about mandalas. 

Some of my mandala note-taking

One of the things that made the biggest impression on me is how mandalas are found everywhere in the natural world.  Crystals, atoms, hurricanes, the solar system, sound waves, hair shafts, a fetus in the womb, the rings of Saturn, snowflakes, tornadoes, snails, shells, sunflowers, roses, daisies, an octopus, the iris of an eye, pincones, an apple slice, starfish, spiderwebs, the cycle of the seasons, animal migrations....all are mandalas!

Bailey Cunningham explained in Mandala:  Journey to the Center, that "the circle becomes a container to hold your most cherished ideas and emotions.  You organize your thoughts around a central point that represents a particular theme or concept, and express ideas and meanings by choosing symbols and colors that reflect your intent."

It sounded SO meaningful and interesting, yet I still had no idea how to get started.  I even took notes on all the different radiations and their meanings:  3 radiations suggesting wholeness, 4 suggesting stability and order, 7 suggesting divinity, etc.  I understood that to create a mandala was to create intricate designs along multiple radiations.  I just wasn't sure how to do that!

Just two weeks ago, I came across Rainy's website, Honey & Ollie, and I noticed she had a mandala tutorial in the left margin of her page.  She describes a mandala as "a meditation that you build up in layers.  Work from the inside to the outside."  Simply put a dot, spiral, flower, circle, etc. at the center, and then build up your design around it.  She provided a link to a web site with basic henna motifs, and suddenly it all kind of clicked in place for me. 

After some more note-taking, I tackled my first mandala.

Keep in mind that these are not patterns of my own making.  Some are copied as-is from the sites I was looking at, and for the others, I put together the patterns I found there. 

As I started to draw the mandalas, I was reminded very much of the Zentangles I have been enjoying all year.  They look so complex and difficult when looked at as a whole, but when you just make one mark at a time, and let the patterns build up over the page, it's a simple but focused process.

I am not a "mindless doodler"...I wish I were!  For me to make these designs and patterns, I really have to focus and concentrate.  Drawing both Zentangles and mandalas is a soothing, restful pasttime for me.  It has also been an exercise in giving up perfection, which is a valuable exercise for me to undertake.  I know that some folks working on mandalas get out the rulers and compasses, and I even bought some of these tools when I first intended to create some mandalas.  But at this point, I have put that approach to the side in favor of freehand drawing that brings me greater satisfaction.  How fun to have such imperfect lines and spacing, and yet enjoy the results so much! 

Finding Warren's web site, The Doodle Daily, has opened up another whole set of mandala symbols to incorporate into my designs.  I don't think I have anything symbolic going on in my drawings so far.  Right now, I still feel like I'm getting used to the process, and exploring design and pattern options.  I do lots and lots of thinking while I'm drawing, though, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if my work gets more personally symbolic when the designs and patterns come to me naturally, rather than from me looking on the computer for ideas to copy or incorporate.

This mandala is a copy of one of Warren's designs.

Drawing these mandalas was the perfect art experience to bring along with me when I traveled to Atlanta for Thanksgiving this past weekend.  All I needed was a little notebook of drawing paper (which I bound for myself with my Cinch machine) and a black PITT artist pen.  I took along some colored Sharpies, too.  Nothing bulky, nothing messy, and I had a great "arty" outlet to enjoy while I was away from home!

Have your read about mandalas, or created them yourself?  I have MUCH to learn, so please share your knowledge and resources with me in your comments.