I have always avoided Mandala creating, because I do not like the symmetry. But this latest class allows for my asymmetrical creativity.
First published September 30, 2023: Louise Gale challenges her students to use their watercolor and ink flows to make lovely backgrounds for mandalas. Her extensive course allows for watercolor and ink play while building a meditative practice of letting the water do the work, and enjoying the movement and melding of the colors. Her style — and voice — provide a soothing yet assertive approach to mixing colors you would never think would work together.
Here are some of the small mandalas (about 2″) I created from the first exercise:
Tiny Mandalas on Watercolor paper, using watercolor and acrylic inks.
While these were pretty much free flowing, the following mandala backgrounds were created to actually fit in a circle (I got to use my compass for the first time in a long time :)).
Acrylic Mandala background above, and how I finished it. I actually found this very relaxing to do. As you can see, I did not try to have perfectly spaced and sized components. That would NOT have been relaxing for me.
My next Acrylic Mandala I went with a more minimal approach. Still relaxing … and satisfying:
My watercolor mandalas took a bit more thinking. I decided to add more watercolor to get some vibrancy.
The background of the second one was a trick Louise showed in her class. I will not give it away here, but the trick opens up all kinds of possibilities in working with watercolors.
This was a very fun class. My final piece is taking my tiny mandalas and doing something more in my comfort zone. It will most likely end up in my shop, if it works.
This class was another in the Art Bundles for Good package. The proceeds benefit Courageous Kitchen in Thailand. Check out my next review next week.
Happy Arting this week!