Mandala Magic – Hamsa Mandala

In the next day of the 5 Days of Mandala Magic workshop we learned about the symbolism of the Hand and the meaning of Five. Very interesting! The hamsa (hand) form is a protection  symbol which has significance across many cultures. The hamsa symbol features five digits (thus the symbolism of the 5). To create a hamsa you can either trace your hand (the simplest way), or do a more stylized form (as I chose for my mandala).

The exercise was to create a mandala featuring the hamsa symbol. For my design I wanted to go with a henna style. Use of a Renaissance zendala tile seemed appropriate. I also  thought use of a sienna Sakura Pigma Micron 01 pen was perfect. Shading was done using a white pencil. Continue reading

Mandala Magic – Concentric Circles Mandala

As I discussed in my previous post, I recently participated in the Five Days of Mandala Magic workshop with Julie Gibbons. The next exercise was to make a concentric circles mandala. As pointed out in the workshop, the construction of a concentric circles grid is a bit easier than that used for the lotus flower pattern.  Drawing concentric circles of varying depths allows for a lot of variation and originality. My mandala was done in black and white, using a basic zendala tile with the patterns drawn with a black Sakura Pigma Micron 01 pen.

Starting in the center I made a spiral. Going outwards from the middle to the next two rings I drew orbs and filled u-shaped loops respectively. Next I included a ring of parallel lines which looked like a series of bars going around the circle. For the penultimate ring I went with the tangle pattern Hua by Mei Hua Teng CZT. In the outermost ring I drew a pattern of wavy C-shapes.

I’m not sure if this mandala can also be considered a Zendala, but it certainly has elements thereof. I like how it turned out!

Concentric Circles Mandala
Concentric Circles Mandala #5DaysMM

 

 

Mandala Magic – Lotus Flower Mandala

This past week I participated in Five Days of Mandala Magic, a free online workshop offered by Julie Gibbons. Ever since I first found out about this workshop two years ago I had wanted to sign up.

I highly recommend taking the workshop the next time it is offered! If you are interested in learning about mandala/zendala then I suggest that you go right now to Julie’s site and sign up for her newsletter. That way you will receive a timely notification regarding when her next free workshop will be offered. She also teaches a year long, paid Mandala Magic course. Julie Gibbons has a great teaching style and you will learn a lot about the symbolism and emotionality of the mandala art form, as well as how to construct different types of mandalas. Zentangle aficionados will love it too. Continue reading