How to make mandalas step by step

Creating and coloring a mandala is an activity that everyone can enjoy at home. You don't have to be an artist or a Buddhist to enter the fantastic world of mandalas. And it is something you can do alone, with family and even with friends. For children it is great because it is not a literal representation of reality, they can design and color as they please but still following a circular pattern that will calm them down. For adults, if you have a head full of thoughts spinning around and around, creating and coloring a mandala will empty it completely and you will enter a state of calm and contentment. Even for the oldest, it helps to exercise memory and focus. As you can see, the art of mandalas only brings wonderful things and that is why we want to share a super easy guide to know how to draw and color mandalas. And we assure you: once you start, you will only want to do more! But first we are going to know a little about the meaning of this well-known symbol. Its word in Sanskrit means circle and it is a spiritual and ritual symbol of the Hindu and Buddhist cultures that represents the universe and the unity of the cosmos. Life never ends and everything is interconnected. Mandalas are good for meditation because by focusing on them, thoughts disappear and the creative part of the mind is unleashed. Thus, an alpha state is entered in which the barrier between the conscious and the subconscious is opened and then the inner transformation can take place.

Are you ready to draw your first mandala? Here we go!

1. With pencil and ruler, first draw a square, the size you want your mandala. The bigger, the more details you can design.
2. Join the vertices and the halves of the sides.
3. Draw the circles around the center point of the square. The easiest is with a compass but if you don't have one just do the following: create equidistant marks along the lines and then connect the marks by joining them with a curved line. If you don't get perfect circles it's okay, but if you want to make sure you draw a good arc you just have to create more diagonals in the square to have more union marks. The number of circles is entirely up to you. You can always create more or not use them all as you progress. The mandala is a journey of improvisation where you just have to let yourself go!
4. Start your designs respecting the line of each circle. It is better to continue with the pencil in case you need to make changes. Use your imagination or/and use traditional motifs such as petals, leaves, squares, drops, suns... Repeat the pattern using identical distance and shape. Symmetry is very important so that a balanced mandala is left and can thus transmit harmony and tranquility.
5. Follow an order of creation. If you start a pattern, finish it by completing the circle and decide if you are going to create from the inside out or from the inside out. In this way your interior will also enter a spiral movement, forming peace and calm.
6. When you are satisfied, trace the lines with ink (pen, pilot, marker, rotring... preferably black) and erase the pencil. You can play with different thicknesses depending on the detail and depth of your designs.
7. Color your mandala. Choose the colors that instinct asks of you and simply guide yourself by circles, by shapes or by zones. Try to follow an order and complete in a circle. Discover the meaning of colors here.