Learn Symmetry in Art with a Mandala Drawing

When you make a mandala drawing, one approach allows you to explore symmetry in art.  There are different ways to approach drawing a mandala, but in this exercise we will focus on geometrical reflection symmetry.

In symmetrical balance, like shapes are repeated on either side of a vertical axis, creating a mirror image.  With a mandala, the like shapes are also repeated on either side of the  horizontal axis.

Human beings are innately drawn to symmetry as the human body is essentially symmetrical. Symmetry gives one a feeling of permanence, strength and stability.

Mandalas symbolize a harmonious and balanced relationship between the self and the cosmos, a sense of  wholeness. The word comes from the Indian Sanskrit language and loosely translates to mean circle.  A mandala has a unifying center from which its structure radiates outward.  They have been used in many traditions worldwide as a spiritual tool.

You might discover that as you create your mandala, the act of mirroring and repeating the same geometrical pattern, working from the inside out, gives you a feeling a peace and balance.  So in addition to learning something about symmetry in art, you’ll be creating more balance in your life.

Materials Needed
drawing paper
graphite pencils
kneaded eraser
Your choice of materials for applying color – colored pencils, felt tip markers, watercolor or gouache paint
paint brushed (some very small) if using paints

Getting Started
Find a quiet space in which to work.
Turn off the television and radio
You might like to play some relaxing or even meditation type music.
Close your eyes for a moment and allow your inner vision to bring you shapes you might like to use.

Let’s Create

1. Using a compass or something round (jar top, coin, disc, etc) create your first and smallest circle.

2. Create a second, larger circle using the same center point as the first one.

3. Now lightly draw a vertical and horizontal line which cross at the circles’ inner starting point.  You can extend it all the way to the points on the second circle.  These line are the vertical and horizontal axes on which we will reflect our shapes around the circle.

4. Start working in the inner circle.  I started with a curved line in the right quadrant of the circle.

5. Next I repeated that same curved line as a mirror image all around the circle.

6. Then I decided to draw a petal like shape from the center out to the curved line.

7. Next I used  tracing paper to continue the mirror reflection of the shape around the circle.  First I traced the petal shape and the curved line with a 2B or darker pencil onto the tracing paper.

Then I flipped the tracing paper and placed it on the right upper side and then again on the lower left of the circle, being sure to line up the center point and the curved line.

Drawing on top of the tracing paper, the graphite pencil underneath transferred to my paper, acting like carbon paper. I continued all around the circle flipping the tracing paper, lining it up correctly to the horizontal and vertical lines and the center point, and tracing the lines onto the inner circle.

You might need to darken your lines once you remove the tracing paper.

8. Next I added spirals in the inner circle and started extending another curved line up to the perimeter of the second circle.

I continued to use the tracing paper to get my mirror reflections correctly and darkened the lines where necessary.

9. Then I added the curved flower-like shapes that touch the outer perimeter of the inner circle to the right quadrant.  I used the tracing paper method to create the mirror reflections all around the circle.

You might decide to stop here with two circles and fill up the space with your symmetrically aligned shapes.

10. I decided to draw two more circles, each one larger than before and always using the same inner starting point.

11. Then I filled in the shapes that you see in between the second and third circles, symmetrically aligned as before.

12. Next I extended the second set of curved lines up to touch the perimeter of the fourth circles, creating another, larger set of petal like shapes.

13. Oops!  I decided I didn’t like the diamond and oval shapes between the second and third circle so I erased them and drew another, larger group of curved flower-like shapes.

14. Oops – more changes!  I changed my mind about the first group of curved shapes in the second circle, and changed them to petal like shapes.   For all of these shapes I continued using the tracing paper method to draw the mirror image all around the circle.

You’ll notice that some of the original pencil marks are still showing.  Not to worry, as I’ll use gouache paint, which is an opaque water based paint, to paint in those areas.  The gouache will cover up the left over marks.

As I had reached the limit of my paper size, I drew a square around the largest circle to finish off the mandala.   In sacred geometry, this is called Squaring the Circle or the Marriage of Heaven and Earth.  Though I started working on a rectangular piece of paper, when I finished I cut the paper down to a square.  You can start on a square piece of paper if you prefer.

15. Then I drew over all the circles, lines,and shapes  with colored pencils.  This allowed me to erase the pencil marks which might have smeared once I started to paint.  As the colored pencils are oil based, they weren’t affected by erasing.

16. Next I started painting in the shapes with the gouache.  As some of the areas were pretty small, I used my Kolinsky sable brushes, which offer really good control over the application of the paint.  These brushes are a bit expensive but they last a long time.  I think the one you see here is about 20 years old.

17. After painting,  I used the colored pencils to trace over the lines again as they tended to get a little covered up and uneven from painting.

18. Finally I decided I wanted some more shapes in the outer circle.   So, using the tracing paper method again, I put the “diamond with a circle inside” shape on the right quadrant and then traced the mirror image all around the circle.

Now all I had to do was finish painting and bring back any lost lines with the colored pencils, and my mandala was done.   Here’s my finished mandala.

Now create your own mandala.  Work with the shapes that call to you.  Maybe you want to draw a flower or a star in one quadrant and then reflect it around the circle.

Remember – there are no mistakes.  Erase if you need to.  Either gouache or felt tip markers will cover up any marks you don’t want.  Watercolor is a little harder to use to cover up pencil marks as it’s more transparent.

Have fun and see how creating this mandala not only teaches something about symmetry in art but also perhaps affects your feelings of inner peace and harmony.

Read about how Tibetan Monks create mandala paintings with sand.