Mandala
Introduction
A mandala is a symbolic representation of the universe, combining color, geometry, and allegory into a drawing whose radial symmetries and concentric scaling shapes are conducive to internal, personal psycho-physical practices, such as meditation.
Hidden behind the geometric and organic forms of the drawing is an underdrawing of chalk, a geometric structure that controls what is visible.
Traditional mandalas overlay this structural geometry with sand, a deliberately ephemeral material that is intentionally and ritually swept away once the mandala is complete.
In the case of a digital mandala, we replace the grains of sand with pixels—and we might argue about the ephemerality or durability of digital media!
Like the traditional mandala, your drawing will be symbolic and represent the elements of nature and the universe, but unlike the canonical assignment of color to elements found in Tibet, your representation will be idiosyncratic.
Objectives
After completing this project you will be able to:
- use the visual elements of color and texture
- recognize and use visual principles of transparency, proportion and ratio, radial reflective symmetry and concentricity
- translate the techniques of gesture drawing into Bezier curves
- work with geometry as a visual, constructed phenomenon
- use Illustrator layers and geometry to predict composition, give structure to form, and create visual metaphor
- create different states of output by controlling visibility of layered content upon export