Mandala Illustrations

Hello! I'm very pleased to finally be back in the blogging seat again. Sorry there hasn't been many updates throughout the summer. I've been a very busy sunning it up in Spain, moving house, and redesigning the blog. Fear not, Thread and Butter is back with a breath of fresh air. I've been concentrating a lot lately on getting back into illustration. It has always been something that I have been passionate about but it seems that my crafty side was creating an imbalance. I'm now armed with a new sketchbook, set of pigment liners, and searched high and low for new sources of inspiration. From flicking through my previous sketchbooks it is clear to see that pattern and print are heavily featured. I've discovered a new passion, in the form of mandalas. Mandala is a word from the region of Greater India meaning 'circle'. The concentric diagrams historically represent a picture of the universe and have been known to help with spiritual meditation. I have been using them as a guide for creating my own patterns, and have developed techniques such as stippling to give a new dimension to the drawing. Creating a finished drawing takes a lot of time and requires a keen eye for detail. I would definitelyrecommend drawing your own as I found it very rewarding. I'm planning to increase the scale of the mandalas I have drawn and change medias. I've been asked to create a mural on a garden wall which is very exciting and something I am looking forward to. I've included a selection of photographs of the artwork I have been creating lately below.