Mandalas are everywhere — sketchbooks, art journals, index cards, etc. They are one of the things I started drawing when I got into art. I can’t imagine how many I’ve drawn. And they’re all different.

Love the challenge of puzzling out a solution and making fun little elements fit together! 🙃 Mine are free-form, hand-drawn, no plan, no rulers, no measurements, no precision, no algorithm, no method to my madness.

I don't think there's anything inherently magical about one form of art vs. another and I encourage you to follow your curiosity —> explore, experiment, and try whatever intrigues you.

Ahead, an assortment of free-form mandalas I’ve painted or drawn, plus some of my favorite pens for this art form. This reminds me that Creative Nudge Volume 2 includes a video tutorial for drawing 3 mandalas.

My starting point is usually a circle at the imaginary center and then I build outwards. They are happily imprecise and not all that symmetrical. You can create an analog mandala by painting, drawing, stitching, collaging, stamping, etc. I like to envision mandalas as different objects like dinner plates, flowers, interplanetary abstracts, sunbeams, concentric waves.

It’s helpful to devise some go-to shapes (you might think of these as forms, subjects, motifs, themes, things, etc.). The list continues to evolve - the shapes include arches, clouds, tear drops, dots, maps, landscapes, leaves, petals, flowers, knots, contraptions, etc. It’s good to be curious and interested in all sorts of things — makes life more fun! More on this topic in Zine № 19: Exploring Shapes, Motifs, and Themes.

When my kids were in middle/high school I taught several workshops at their schools — it’s such an inviting art form and always so much fun to see what the students devised! In teaching mandala art, I like to include some collaborative projects with many students contributing to a single mandala design.

What pens to use to draw mandalas & doodles?

If you’d like to draw mandalas or doodle mandala-like shapes, a pen or marker with a fine or ultra fine nib will allow you to add a lot of details and connect the lines. If you choose to color in your drawings or add color around your drawings, there are many options. Example: watercolor, gouache, Neocolor wax crayons, colored pencils, and PITT brush markers. I often leave my mandalas in black & white because it’s the drawing part that I like best rather than the coloring-in!

Here are some pens that I use to draw mandalas:

If you like fiber-nibs try the PITT brush nib, PITT XS nib, and Sakura Micron 01 or 005. Brush nibs can make all sorts of marks just by changing the pressure/angle.

If you like metal nibs, try the Uniball Signo 207, Uniball Signo UM-153 (fantastic white pen if you are drawing on an acrylic background), Sakura Pigma BB, Uniball Signo DX, and any Sakura Gelly Roll (my Gelly Roll Guide).

Examples of the lines that different pens make.