^{Watch me create the Mandala - Timelapse Video}

I choose to create a Mandala for Steem Summit's Call for Art. One huge reason for that is because it keeps me relaxed while creating those circles and patterns plus it is very easy to do, anyone can create it and it doesn't require any high art standards, just using patterns and shapes are good enough to produce a beautiful Mandala.

What is a Mandala?

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A mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल, maṇḍala; literally "circle") is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. - wikipedia

Multiple resources online have placed Mandala as a form of art and at the same time, spiritualism. It evokes the inner beings to be connected to the great circle - the Earth.

Round and endless, yet has lines which connect one shape to the next outer circle. These signify our interpersonal attachment to what's surrounding us - nature, humanity and even the spiritual realm. But at the same time, it proposes a balance of each component and it results in an appreciative beauty.

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How I Made My Mandala?

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I normally use my journals and other blank books but for this, I decided to go with a bigger medium. I found a scratch page of a black Blank Slate from lifeafterbreakfast.ph, it was the paper I used during Alessandra Lanot's workshop at National Bookstore's Art and Stationery Fair in Cebu last week.

The other three materials here were the Faber Castell Mechanical pencil, white Uniball Signo pen, and an old compass to create the guide circles.

^{I tried to use the other two white pens but they didn't work so I have to stick with the Uniball instead.}

^{These were my planned items to use but ended up with using just the Uniball. I just took a photo for documentation purposes.}

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I. Base circles.

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^{LOL, I forgot to take a photo of the page where it only has the circles. So I just added this image instead. Sowee!}

I started with circles using the compass, these circles start from the smallest to the biggest. I was not very particular with the gap size between each circle. As long as I got a base pattern, to begin with, that should be good.

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II. Create draft patterns.

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After the circles, I started thinking and drafting the patterns that I want to add to the Mandala piece.

I like triangles and curls, lines and circles. That was what I have in mind and so I just added thin pencil draft on the black paper!

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III. Trace the patterns.

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Creating the pattern took me just a few minutes as I will have to think about the detailed design later on. I got the patterns, I can then realize what I wanted to add along the way to fill in the shapes.

Using the Uniball Signo white pen, I started with tracing the center, as what most Mandala designs should do. The first was a flower.

Flowers again fascinates me, just like trees and grasses, how come they produce different colors, different shapes, the different aroma when they come from the same land? Isn't the Creator amazing? He compels each different base to generate and blossom a variety of colors and shades as well as petal shapes!

Then I added triangles! Lots of them actually. There was a point while creating the patterns that I thought I should name this, how many triangles can you see? Just kidding.

Tracing these took me awhile, around two days because I have to stop once in awhile to rest my hand as well as do my home chores and other online stuff.

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IV. Fill out and finalize Mandala.

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After all the tracing, I added the details and other things to finalize the Mandala. There's a tendency of not stopping though, I always encounter that when creating a Mandala.

After the last circle, I thought I should add perhaps another set but I stopped myself anyway, I have to ditch that idea as I will have to extend this activity and I still have a lot of things to do such as editing the timelapse video and taking photos of the final product!

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Evaluation

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I had fun! It was my first time to make a Mandala on a black medium and a white pen so it was a learning process for me as well because I have to be extra careful not to mess up.

Again, mindfulness, focus, concentration and relaxation have been obviously some of the benefits that I got out from this activity.

As I was done, I thought I should frame this and send it as a gift to a friend, I believe my boss' wife from Belgium will like it. I will have to ask him and will send it to his wife once he confirms. If not, then I'll give it to another friend living here in Cebu.

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