When I was first introduced to this project, I started looking for inspiration from the things around me. I also started looking at traditional mandalas, how they are formed, their purpose and what they can be used for. I observed the different forms and shapes that portrayed different energies and feelings.
Digital Extractions –
Analog Extractions –
I started by researching patterns in everyday items, in nature and in human-made structures. the patterns on leaves, acorns and other flowers caught my. attention the most. I observed lines and extracted subtle and obvious shapes. I had a hard time with this because there are so many different ways to extract the same thing, but they end up with the same general structure so there was a lack of variety. I tried both digital and analog extractions. I was also having trouble extracting with intent. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to portray in my final mandala so I focused on quantity in hopes of finding inspiration.
I saw patterns in dinosaur bones and wanted to incorporate them into my mandala aswell.
Since I had never used adobe illustrator before, I experimented with the tools using my extractions.
Analog Grids –
Digital Grids
I then started creating grids. I used the protractor and experimented with different sized circles with various placements. After that, I connected lines, shifted focus and created different variations of the same basic shape.
I was intrigued by Zentangles and illusion art. so I started experimenting with repetition, and patterns in black and white. However, I realized that these shapes lacked purpose and intent, so I took a step back and went back to ideating.
I settled on these two grids for my natural and human made mandala –
About the Final
- Digital
This mandala was inspired by highways. While driving, I noticed how the highways create lines and that they cross over each other creating a pattern. This lead me to look into more shapes and patterns found on highways, roads, and construction materials. This mandala consists of a gird that overlaps each other- to magnify this effect, I used darker tones of grey where the circles intersect. I used extractions from; roads, where I found a static shape, bolts, from which I found depth and shapes within shapes, impressions with bolts and nuts, which I surrounded with the initial inspiration of over lapping highways. I also included powerlines/signal lines. I was very intrigued by these because there are so many variations of them, and while I was experimenting, I found this one to be the most dynamic. I chose not to include the initial grid because I wanted to create implied sections with the different gradients in the middle of the mandala. I left it with 4 distinct radials because I wanted to show “work” the final mandala looks like a turning wheel and completes itself because it emphases the movement of a mechanical instrument.
- Analog
I really enjoyed creating this mandala in Analog form. Out of all the experimentation I did, I was taken most by the shapes of a peacock. At first I thought that It was to simple of a thing to focus on for this assignment. However, after combining several different things, I found that it told a story. Looking deeper into the anatomy of a peacock, I realized that the animal creates a natural mandala shape with its body. I experimented with several different extractions during my process and settled on these. I wanted to create an overall obvious shave while still incorporating the other extractions I was intrigued by. In the middle, I used a peacock’s neck bones, then I surrounded them with the feathers and the illusions the wings of a peacock make. I then looked into the habitat of peacocks and that led me to incorporate leaves in the next sections. I finished with a pinecone like structure to make the piece wholesome. I really enjoyed using markers to create depth.