We all love the concentrated circle design mandala. The symmetrical mandala drawing is one of the best stress relievers. But making mistakes is also very common as beginners. Here are top mistakes that I have observed in my mandala drawing practice.
Contents
No visualisation before starting
I usually visualise my designs but many times I just go with the flow and then I am not happy with the outcome. I still repeat it almost every other day. It leads to major confusion and too many distractions during drawing because then I get stuck in iterative operations of changing my designs as I draw on the element. No shortcuts on this one. The trick I found helpful is actually writing the theme, then doing a full rough sketch before going ahead
Drawing directly the final design with pen
So this is how I start drawing. After I visualise the design I start drawing. A very common mistake that I do and repeat every now and then is drawing with a pen. I do a rough outline of the mandala and then directly start filling with a pen. I noticed a couple of videos online of professional artists and they all do rough design and fillers with pencil. It’s safe to say that pens or markers should not be touched until at least 70-80 percent of the design is on paper.
Lifting pen too often and in between drawing
Now I know this is unexpected but true. I have seen myself lifting my pen too many times when doing simple straight lines or borders or even fillers. This breaks the rhythm and also breaks the line and when you start again there is a bump in the drawing which looks very unclean. I have not found any fool proof solution to fix this. Practice makes a man perfect. So I have to draw everyday.
Exercises for neck, hand and eyes
There is also something else which i found helpful is doing hand and some finger exercise or movements so that drawing is not restricted by movement. Sometimes I feel since I am drawing the same thing over and over my hand or finger or neck freezes. Here are some easy exercises that help me.
- Hand exercises and relaxation
- Open and close your fist for ten or twenty counts
- Twisting wrists clockwise and anti-clockwise for ten counts each
- Full hand rotation five times in each direction
- Massage each hand in round motions in one direction. Now repeat on other hand
- Few neck exercises
- Slowly up and down for 5 times
- Round clockwise and anti-clockwise 5 times
- Eyes relax and wash
- Close your eyes for 30 seconds and open.
- Close your eyes with your palm on it for 5 – 10 seconds and then open it again.
- Make a cup in your palm. Then fill the water in your palm. Now bend and put your one eye on the palm. open and close your eyes for 5 times very quickly. Repeat with other eye
Too much innovation
We definitely should not block the creativity flow but that is exactly stopping our ability to create complete designs. Trying too many designs and every time new designs leads to confusion and I end up leaving my mandala drawing in between or getting disheartened.
Not enough practice
It goes without saying that for every skill we need practice to become perfect. This is largely underestimated. Practice sheets are key for mandala
What do you think can be added here. Share your mistakes and let’s help others who are trying to learn like you and me
