Reflections Project Introduction

At the beginning of the year, we were asked to ask ourselves, “Who am I?”. This question shaped our projects as we learned Zbrush and Maya in animation, or deepened our skills in Illustrator and After Effects in Digital Media.

My Personal Mandalas

One of these projects was the Mandala. We were specifically told to make something that we could connect with or that represented ourselves. Then, we would have those digital files ever so kindly printed for us on a real surface for us to keep.

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I made a mandala with Illustrator using different kinds of brush types and line weights. Each part of my mandala represents a different part of me. Specifically, I showcase elements of a moth, tiger, and a dragon. I also have some elements of fruit, specifically oranges, here and there. For my mandala, I wanted to make something that represents myself (hence the unit “Reflections”), and the animals I have listed are the animals I find myself “relating” to the most currently. I don’t really want to go into more detail about what my mandala represents within (up for interpretation after all), but the outer part of the mandala is how I present myself, and the inner is how I feel.

I wasn’t able to use my brush since it was, not working correctly, so I used a mouse instead. It pretty much gave me the same result I would have made anyways but without the brush complexities. To give my lines weight, I kept changing my brush shape and size. I learned how important line weight and different distinctions are in a mandala, otherwise your piece looks very flat and boring. You have to give your art some focus!

My favorite part of my BW mandala is probably the tiger and the moth. I think the lines flow really well together and the flames look like they are catapulting the moth, which isn’t what I was going for initially but it turned out to be accurate to myself!

mandala reflection

introduction to mandla build video