Mandalas

In art, we often use words related to weight to describe shapes or marks. For example, a thick line is called a “heavy” line. A large shape has more visual “weight” than a small shape. This is because, as artists, we are usually trying to achieve a feeling of balance in our pictures. Just as one would try to balance objects on a scale, artists try to arrange the elements of our pictures to achieve a balanced composition.

There are many ways to make a picture feel balanced. One way is called radial balance. This is when the designs are arranged like the rays of the sun around the center of a circle. They radiate from the middle. Look at these examples of radial balance in nature. Notice that if you were to rotate one of these objects in any direction, it would not change the way it looks. No one side is “heavier” or more important than any other. Nature’s designs are balanced.

Mandalas are a kind of circular design that often use radial balance. They have various meanings in different cultures and religions. In this video, Tibetan Buddhist monks perform a ritual in which they make a mandala sand painting.

The Mayan calendar took a form silmilar to a mandala.

This Aztec Sun Stone resembles a mandala. It is thought to be a representation of the entire universe.

This is a mandala, also called a yantra, of the Hindu diety Vishnu.

This is a stained glass window called a “rose window” in the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Mandalas

Materials

• mandala template Click here to download.

• printer paper

• black or colored pen

• colored pencils

Process

1. Print out your template. You will not draw on this, it will be your guide

2. Place your printer paper on top of your mandala template. You should be able to see the lines through the paper.

3. Start at the center point and begin your drawing. You can place your drawings on the lines or between the lines. Repeat the same drawings all the way around the center.

4. Use the next circle to repeat the same process. Keep going until you have filled in all the circles.

5. When your design is done, color it in with colored pencils. Start out by making a very light layer of color. Make colors darker by adding more layers. Blend colors by layering different colors on top of each other.