Personal Digital Mandalas

We will first learn about mandalas, their history, their purpose, and how artists create them.

Students will bring in items to photograph as a still life. They will need to incorporate the elements and principles of design successfully.

After they have arranged and photographed their still life, they will select their most successful composition and then print out a minimum of 8 copies of their work. This may be done in color, sepia, or neutrals.

Using a compass or circular patterns, these images will be cut into "pie" shapes, and then each one will be divided into 8 pieces of pie.

The mandala effect is achieved by students taking two adjacent pieces placing them back to back rather than in their "natural" order.

This creates a fabulous kaleidoscope effect.

Each one of these mandalas created in different sizes, are then used to create a larger collage or design.

I have also had students add other media (sometimes the very things they photographed).

Students write a self-assessment as well as discuss their progress with the teacher and other students. I encourage my students to critique and make constructive suggestions throughout the process.