Mandalas

Tibetan mandala of Vajrayogini, female Buddha

I've become fascinated by Mandalas and have begun to paint them. These two are the first I have completed, and are both in aquarelle (water colours). I've coloured them with special water-colour pencils and then used brush and water to paint them. Small projects where it almost takes more time to outline the pattern in the mandala than it takes to colour them.

Tibetan mandala of Vajrayogini - a pink/purple version for my daughter

After doing my first one, my daughter wanted one for herself in her favourite colours, so of course I had to create another with lots of pinks and purples. It's now hanging in her room and she loves it.

Yantra of the goddess Durga

Today I was a bit more courageous and did one of the mandalas which are a bit more complicated. I cheated a bit and made half circles instead of lotus leaves in this one. I think the result is rather good though. This yantra should be powerful for attaining desires, remove difficulties and conquer enemies. It bestows wealth and protects the person from sorts of dangers. Let's see if it works, it now hangs on the wall behind my workstation.


I came across this book "World Mandalas" in a French art supply shop, but didn't buy it then. When I came home from the shop it was still in my head and I went online to order the English version. It has lots of inspiration and ideas for mandalas and also tells where the examples are from, giving you a chance to research the background of each one.

The book does suggest that you colour the mandalas in the book, but I'll rather copy them onto another media and thereby be able to do the same mandala several times.

I am quite enjoying painting them, even if some of the mandalas are very daunting to copy. Some are so beautiful and complex.

I'll share the oil-paintings I'm working on when they're done. There are two in progress with my own mandala-inspired designs; the repeat patterns, symmetry, and circles.