Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Pumpkins get the mandala treatment

It started innocently enough. I had picked up a couple of small pumpkins to use as decorations and one night after dinner I caught a glimpse of the top of one and thought, "Hm...mandala shape..." One Sharpie marker and 15 minutes later...I was hooked!

A combination of my pumpkins mixed with Barbara's.

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My sweet friend (and partner-in-mandala-obsession), Barbara saw the Instagram I posted and was all in. So last week when we met for Mandala Monday the canvas of choice was this:



My local friends who also know Barbara will not be surprised when I tell you that she arrived at my house last Monday with her art supplies and her stash included blue paint. Only Barbara would think to add blue to a fall craft...

Seriously? SO pretty! Made me want to put a dab of blue paint on every single pumpkin I mandala'ed after that!



I thought about creating a tutorial but every one of these pumpkins is so different. Here are a few tips:

* Wash and dry your little pumpkins before you begin drawing.

* I start at the top using the pumpkin stem as my center, then start drawing mandala-type designs this way and that.

* The pumpkins take acrylic paint really well, Sharpie markers not so much. We did use a Sharpie paint pen and the ink worked well on these.

* The white on these pumpkins was drawn with a chalk marker. It's nice and bright but rubs off if you try to rub it off. I won't try. ;o) Besides, these won't last forever anyway so the chalk marker did the trick. I did try a white paint pen but it wasn't as bright as the chalk marker.

* The pumpkins look better when they have lots of friends! After Barbara left my house that night and took her pumpkins, my little collection seemed sparse. I've created a few more since last Monday night, and so has she! :o)

* Last, and most importantly, there's no right or wrong way to draw a mandala so don't get too hung up on where your lines and shapes land. The beauty of a mandala rests in the process of creation, not in the final piece. Although, I'm pretty sure that once you're done you will love the piece as a whole.


Fun, yes?
I'd love to see your creations if you mandala some pumpkins!
Tag me on Instagram (@paperturtle) and use #MyYogaFriendDeb

10 comments:

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

I love these! The mandala patterns work perfectly on the little pumpkins. And the blue? Genius!

helena said...

these look fabulous and I can imagine they are addictive to create

scrappyjacky said...

They look wonderful.

Linda said...

oh wow! These look gorgeous! I am going to show this to my daughter, she has a friend coming over for pumpkin carving tonight:) Have you seen Alisa Burke's blog? She mandalas everything too! (Hope you got my email now, sorry I mistyped your email address the first time!)

alexa said...

They do look so pretty en masse... Your intricate designs suit the shape so well. I did some a few years ago and loved it. I think I painted the pumpkin with acrylic paint first, and used puffa paint dots to make the patterns, following Alisa Burke's idea. Glad you've found another outlet for your lovely mandalas!

Patio Postcards said...

WOW factor in spades! I like the blue on orange. This is much much more fun & prettier than craving. I think on my trip out to the shops today a few mini pumpkins will be in my basket. Oh I just had a thought, the Dollar Store has ugly fake pumpkins that could use some loving creative touches ... uummmm

Barbara Eads said...

OMGosh! Those are gorgeous! I would love to take some sort of class, but have never heard of anything in the Nashville area. I keep admiring your work, but would not know where to start!

Maria Ontiveros said...

So what pens do work well?
Love these and may make a few tonight!
Rinda

Karen said...

GORGEOUS!!! They remind me of Alisa Burke's creations. Do you follow her blog? If not, here's a link: http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/
I don't know that I've ever seen mandalas on her site, but many of her sketchbook creations made me think of her when I saw your amazing pumpkins.

Anonymous said...

Oh are these ever neat looking! I'm a bit late in reading this so I think I'll save it for next year when I will have more practice doing mandelas. :)

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