I have never quite "got" the art of Mandala, but this month 2 fabulous artists have gotten together and inspired me :D
Guadalupe Brizuela Cabal and Jay the Viking(or Master as I call him), have combined their skills to create
and this is what I created from their free template for January :D
This is the template printed out on cheap copy paper, which I trimmed down and pasted onto grey board with matt medium.
When completely dry, I chose to colour it with water soluble pastels, as this seemed in keeping with the totems requirements(even using someone else's art as my base I try to make a spiritual link with the piece)
I blocked in all the shapes...
then started adding depth with darker colours.
before the final adding of shadows with grey water soluble crayon. I rubbed some crayon onto an acrylic block and added water to make a thin wash for this stage, so as not to make the shading too dark.
My ...interpretation of this piece...
The sea-turtle is seen as a water creature, but in the mandala I saw eggs and Limpets. This creature is born of all 4 elements. Though the Turtle lives in the Sea, it needs Earth to protect it's eggs, and the Fire of the Sun to "bake" them, before they break free and gasp for Air and return to the water they were born to.
Enjoy :D XXX
