Paint Me

Liiiiiike one of your French girls? Maybe, maybe not! But this blog post we will go into the different ways you can go about coloring in your mandala! We're already aware that there are quite a few ways, and far be it from me to discern which one is the best kind, but every way comes with its own unique style and form! One important thing to remember is that, despite the design being confined in and around a circle, every single mandala you see is different. None are identical. Even if you are one of those scumbags that plagiarizes, you cannot recreate another mandala by hand and make it perfectly identical to the one you are copying. 

Also, just don't plagiarize.

Because every mandala is different, the way they are colored or what coloring method that suits them is also different. I know the title says "Paint" me, but let's use painting as a blanket statement here. Unless your mandalas are strictly black and white, or unless you use multi colored milk or metallic pens on black paper mandalas, you probably use some method of coloring for your pieces. At this point, besides water colors, I've probably used almost every conceivable way of coloring in my mandalas and you know what I learned?

I love every single one of them. 

Colored pencils and markers were soothing, acrylics were vibrant, colored pens had a unique texture, you name it. Every coloring method came with its perks and, like I said, there is no right or wrong way to do it. So what's the catch? 

Think of it like putting on makeup; there are so many brands and options, so many styles and mechanics that go into the process, and it is all individualized. For example, I like to do my foundation step before I do my eyeshadow (and now makeup artists everywhere hate me), and I personally am not the biggest fan of matte eye shadow. Right there we have both a technique and type difference. This same logic applies to coloring in your mandala. We all have our own style preference that suits us, and the aforementioned catch is the often arduous journey of figuring out what that preferred style is.

the journey to discovering that I prefer to paint my mandalas mainly with acrylics took upwards to maybe two years, and that was mainly because I was too scared to even try it. I stuck with colored markers and the occasional paint pen for that extra jazz on my pieces. But eventually I began to really observe how vibrant acrylics really made the mandala look, and i finally caved and bought a set of general colors for a good price and began my attempts at painting my mandalas. Now, a year later, it is my number one preference. I still keep my colored markers and pens, of course, but I take my time now to really figure out a proper scheme and palette using paints. and I just love mixing colors to see what other shades I can get out of my set palette. 

All that aside, what I mainly want you guys to take from that little blurb is that finding your style does apply to how you prefer to color your mandala, but that does not mean to say that whatever you choose is something you must stick with forever. That's ridiculous, seeing as there are so many options out there! You could go years upon years never knowing what your real preference is and still make amazing, vibrant art. It's all about stepping outside your comfort zone and doing research to see what style really catches your eye and how you can incorporate it into your own art. 

I am going to go more into detail regarding the process of painting mandalas using acrylics, and also talk about other types of paints I use as well in pt. 11 of this post! If you have any questions in the mean time or would like me to expand on any of the topics i discussed, let me know! 

Thank you for stopping by! 

xo, m.p.