Watercolour Painting with Mandala Frame

 Hello everyone!  Today I have my second GSL DT post for March and this time, it's a seed of life painting with metallic elements using these lovely chipboards.  

 

Introduction

The pattern is generally based on what is called the seed of life in what is often referenced in sacred geometry. It consists of seven overlapping circles with the same diameter.  This pattern can be extended indefinitely which is how I have covered the whole page in this example, or if you create one out of nineteen circles it is known as the flower of life.  To make this shape or pattern you will need a compass and a pencil, or something to make circles.  Start by drawing one circle, and then take the point of your compass and place it anywhere on the outside of the circle and draw a second circle.  Now you have two intersecting circles.  Place your compass on the point of intersection and draw another circle.  Keep moving around the original circle in this way until you have six intersecting circles around the original circle.

You could stop here and draw a final circle around the shape to enclose it as shown in the figure below, or continue on until you have covered the page.

If you want to watercolour over the shapes, make sure to keep your pencil lines light so they will not show under the paint.  I plan to draw over my lines with a gold pen so I don't need to worry about that.

Watercolour

It's best to choose your colours in advance so you know what palette you will be working with and can stick to a set number of colours.   Start by painting the petals in the centre.

How you decide to paint this is up to you, but I found it easier to paint all the little petals first, mixing and changing colours as I went, before starting on the hexagonal sections in between.

Take your time and enjoy the experience.

When everything was dry, I outlined all the petals and circles with a gold pen.

Gold Metallic Elements

I wanted to use some metallic elements on my painting and so I pulled out these chipboard pieces - Henna Border D117C x 2 and Mandala Frame 2 C58P.  Note the Mandala Frame has two pieces but I am only using the front piece.

For the heat embossing, I used my favourite gold called Gold Rush, from Wow Embossing Powder.

The henna borders are especially fine and a little fiddly, so if there are any bits not covered in the initial embossing, just repeat the process again.

Final Touches

Glue the mandala frame in the centre of the painting, and then adhere a henna border at the top and bottom of the painting.

 And that's the finished painting ready for framing.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, let me know in the comments.

Elle
Empire of the Cat

Project Recipe:

Henna Border D117C x 2 and Mandala Frame 2 C58P
watercolour paper, watercolour paint, gold pen, gold embossing powder, embossing ink, pencil, compass, hairdryer/heatgun