Mindful Drawing: how to draw a mandala

From local artist Mark Dennis 

Nothing brings me to a peaceful present focus than drawing mandalas. They are deceptively easy to create and have an endless variety of ways to do them. All you need to have a go is a compass, protractor, pencil and paper – basically one of those little geometry tins that you got back in school is perfect.

First, find the middle of the page and then use the protractor to divide it up into any number of slices you want, like a pizza! 4 is the minimum but I would recommend people try starting out with 8 or more. From there just start drawing out from the centre, drawing the same shape on every slice of the pizza. This is where you can use the compass to draw guide circles which help you keep everything aligned as you work outwards. Other than that it’s really up to you to get lost in creating different shapes and seeing what you can come up with!

Here are some of Mark’s mandala artwork to inspire you: www.markdennisartist.com/gallery

Here is a useful Youtube tutorial to get you started:

By sharing our stories and the different way we stay well, we can learn from each other and inspire one another to take positive steps to look after our mental health and wellbeing. If you would like to share your wellbeing story on Eastspace, email us at eastspace@health-in-mind.org.uk.