Dreamy Mandala - work in progress

I've been busy working on a new mandala painting which hopefully will be ready for the MK Open exhibition at Westbury Arts Centre later this year. 

Once the exhibition has finished I hope to donate the piece to the art collection at Arts for Health MK, a charity based in Milton Keynes who use arts and creativity to improve people's health and wellbeing.

Step 1: trace out lines using watercolour pencil and compass.

Step 2: start with white to map out some of the patterns.

Step 4: Filled in with blue and custard colours to enhance floral areas.

Step 5: Adding pink, purple plus more mustard.

 

Step 6: The finished 'Dreamy Mandala'.

Beauty vs Mini Beasts mandala

The beauty of nature and the chaos caused to our world by the coronavirus pandemic, is the inspiration for this first piece of artwork in my new collection.

Let me ask; can you spot flower petals, butterflies and other tiny creatures in this painting? 

This piece represents our world’s intricate essence; encompassing all its beauty and the synchronicity of nature’s life cycles, of which the human race are an intrinsic part. 

It is a fact of nature that both our internal and external worlds are in constant change, transformation is all around us. Caterpillars turn in to butterflies, tadpoles turn into frogs...we often take these small creatures for granted. Also highlighted is the structure of a virus and how it replicates and can invade a cell as it mutates.

Step 1: Using a compass to map out the circles
and structure of the mandala.

Step 2: White paint is the initial colour to bring out the patterns 
of the interconnecting circles.

Step 3: Starting to add a little bit of colour.

Step 4: Adding in mini beasts: dragonflies, snakes and beetles

Step 5: Adding blue into the mix

Dragonfly close-up

Centre close-up

Finished painting after changing the tails on the dragonflies.