Mandalas for the Win
Mandalas can be a very simple way to draw exquisite shapes and lines together to create wondrous radial patterns and one of a kind designs. They carry with them a vast amount of history and have been explored by many cultures all around the world. Inspiration for mandalas can be found everywhere, but my favorite places to look are in nature. The flower bursting petals from its core, the shell found on the beach that spirals into such beauty or the fern coming to life with the bend in its bow. Let’s explore mandalas and open our minds to all they have to offer in our amazing world.
Drawing mandalas can be a relaxing meditative experience. No special supplies are needed, just paper and a marking utensil like a regular pen.
A few mandalas I have drawn with regular, not fancy pens!
How to get started drawing your own mandalas:
Free hand mandalas-
Gather unlined paper and your choice color pen
Make a small dot on the page with room to go around the dot without hitting the edge of the paper
Draw small shapes and lines coming from the dot in a radial fashion.
Continue to build your mandala by adding more shapes and lines as you work your way around your initial shapes at the core.
Decide where you wish to end your mandala and finish with possibly a nice edge or small shapes to make the mandala feel complete.
A free form mandala may have a wobble or skewed look as these do not have guide lines so it can be easy to get off center. Regardless, I encourage you to try both ways of drawing mandalas.
Guideline mandalas-
Gather a compass, unlined paper and a pencil and your choice color pen.
Use the compass to make 4-5 circles with your pencil coming from one central point. Draw lightly! These pencil circles will be your guidelines as you begin drawing your shapes and lines with your chosen pen. Make sure the largest circle is far enough away from the edge of the paper so it does not affect your drawing.
Begin to use your pen to draw shapes or lines coming from the central point. You can go up to the guidelines or beyond them in your own pattern. They are only guidelines! Feel free to draw symmetrical or asymmetrical lines and shapes all around your mandala.
Draw filling in most spaces with your pen and you can even darken in certain areas to give it more depth and visual interest.
Tips when drawing mandalas:
Allow your drawn imperfections to show, as the more you drawn the more those imperfections will be hidden.
Take your time and draw the shape or line that comes to mind.
Don’t labor about your drawing or allow your critical mind to override this relaxing experience.
Set aside a small sketchbook or cut smaller paper to have ready for when you are able to draw mandalas.
Put your favorite mandalas on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror or on your bulletin board to remind you of how good you felt when you were drawing and how successful and happy it made you to see your finished design.
Pay close attention to nature around you, take pictures if you find a mandala in nature to inspire your next drawing.
Mandala Coloring Page
This month’s post came with some strife because the critical voices inside my head were strong. I had a totally different plan I was doing, something different to discuss, but the vision felt pushed and not ready. I seriously thought month 9 was going to break my commitment to myself of posting monthly, yet I overcame. Another idea - mandalas - came to me in the final hour and I was surprised I never wrote about them before on my blog. They are one of my favorites and something I can spend large amounts of time getting lost in creating. During covid and virtual time at school, I even created a mandala workshop that faculty joined in on virtually to learn and draw their own mandalas. I am so happy I stuck with this post and did not give up. I hope you try drawing a mandala yourself sometime soon.
Stay creative~
Hannah