Mindful Mandalas: Botanical Doodling For Self Care

In this beginner friendly class, we will use real botanical references to inspire doodles and patterns which we will develop into beautiful, easy to draw Mandalas
We will explore 3 different compositional structures, paired with simple, easy to follow mindful drawing techniques to promote a sense of calm and connection to the present moment.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• We will start by clarifying what a Mandala is, and why they are so powerful physically and symbolically to use in mindful art-making.
• We will then gather inspiration from our natural surroundings - this may be from your garden, your walk to work, or even from your collection of pot plants. I’ll walk you through how to tune into your surroundings mindfully, so that you can practice mindful observation.
• We will record what we observe by creating an Inspiration Image Bank of photographs, which will serve as our inspiration as we move onto the drawing part of the class. Your Inspiration Image Bank will be a fantastic personal resource to draw upon, both within the class and beyond.
• We will use your Inspiration Image Bank to start creating a wide range of doodles, drawings, shapes and patterns, and this will become your Botanical Doodle Library which will be the foundation from which all our Mandala drawings are developed. This is another brilliant personal resource to continue to develop beyond the class in order to support an ongoing botanical doodling practice.
• We will explore 3 different Mandala styles, each one with a different compositional structure. I’ll explain how to approach each style, and give you lots of examples, and ways you can apply your botanical doodles, as well as suggesting a mindful drawing technique for each to try out as you draw.
• For each Mandala style, there are separate draw-along style videos, so that if you would prefer a little more guidance to create your Mandala drawings, you can draw along with me.
• I’ll give you some ideas for how you could continue to develop the practice beyond the class, so that you can incorporate what you have learnt into an ongoing creative practice.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

The materials for this class are very simple:

• A Pencil.
• A few sheets of paper.
• An eraser.
• A Pen.
• A few circular objects of different sizes or a compass.
• A camera or phone.
  

WHO THE CLASS IS FOR

This class is suitable for all levels - you do not need any prior experience with drawing, mindfulness, or mindful art-making. I will cover everything you need to know.

This class is perfect if you:

• Would like to start a simple drawing practice as a tool for self care.
• Are struggling with feeling creatively blocked or burnt out and would like some simple, easy guidance to start working through it creatively.
• Would like some ideas for how to incorporate mindfulness techniques into your drawing.
• Enjoy botanical drawing and would love some fresh new ideas for how to develop your drawings.
  
  

YOU WILL FINISH THE CLASS WITH

• A series of 3 experimental botanical Mandala drawings.
• A toolkit of mindful drawing techniques.
• A framework to continue the practice beyond the class (and ideas for how to adapt it going forward).
  

ABOUT MEL RYE

Hi! I'm Mel, a UK based multidisciplinary artist and teacher with over 15 years of experience. Im passionate about encouraging everyone to make Art, particularly those who think they can't (because I KNOW you can!). My catalog of beginner friendly online classes in drawing, art making for self-care and Adobe Photoshop offers structured, project based learning to build your creative skills.

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Do I need drawing experience to take this course?
No, you don't need any drawing experience at all - as long as you are able to hold a pen and make marks on paper you will be absolutely fine :)

Do I need to have practiced mindfulness or meditation before to take this course?
No, you don't. The course is structured in such a way that it is suited for complete beginners to both drawing and mindfulness. We will be exploring some simple mindfulness techniques and activities through all the different stages of the class, so you will gain a lot of different techniques by the end, but you could start the course having absolutely no knowledge of either.

How is the course formatted?
All my courses consist of pre recorded video lessons. There are also downloadable resources such as worksheets, reference photos, guides or other materials which will help support your learning.
All my courses are structured around a class project, which is a practical way of applying the skills taught in the course, and also means that you will have created something by the end of the course, as well as learning lots of new skills - I think this is the best way of learning!

How long will I have access to the course for?
Once you have enrolled, you will have lifetime access to the course, which means you can access it for as long as it exists on the internet. If any updates are made in the future, you will have access to those too.

Can I purchase this course as a gift?
Yes you can - there is an option at checkout to buy the course as a gift. All you need to do is enter the recipient’s email address and there is an option to add a gift message if you’d like to. The course will be sent directly to them with a link to access it, along with your message if you added one.

I have a question which isn't answered here
No problem - i'm always happy to answer questions, please get in touch with me here.