New Mandala!

I started experimenting with the theme of the four elements, water, earth, fire and air. In keeping with the traditional idea of the outer circles of the mandala being earthly and the inner circles more heavenly, I decided to start with the sea in the outermost ring, followed by earth, fire and air. Inspired by rune symbols and Japanese stylised waves, I created simple patterns for the rings, dedicating more focus in the earth and air areas of the mandala.
Using the pen tool, I designed a leaf pattern for the earth area of the mandala repeated 12 times to mimic a clock and using colour to display the four seasons. I also used the blend tool to change colours from green, to red to autumn and red to brown for winter etc. and removed and added leaves according to the season displayed.

For more detail in the earth area of the mandala I used the pen tool to create birds. I used the live paint tool to colour them based on birds such as robins and swallows. To create variety on the work I altered the size of the different birds in the picture.For the centre I used multiple semi transparent interlocking circle patterns to create a sense of open space and perpetuity.

Research

For a theme for my mandala I have chosen to begin with a music theme, specifically looking at the piano and its inner workings. The different of a piano (strings, hammers, keys etc) can easily form intricate patterns, which I can use as inspiration for the mandala.
I began using piano keys as a solid border to the mandala. I decided to give a slightly softer appearance to the border by including the f-holes of a cello in the outer pattern.
From the research I did I was inspired to create a pattern based on the piano strings, which are nailed to the piano. I used the pen tool and vertical brush to imitate the twists in the strings. However, when the picture was copied around the madala the angle of the brush did not remain constant and a gap became visible in the picture. I also decided the strings were dominating the work too much, making it hard to create anything closer to the centre.

Illustrator Trials

For the first few weeks I experimented with the pen, blob & shape tools in Illustrator to create shapes, pictures and patterns. I used the settings in Illustrator to change the line and fill colour and manipulate the texture in some of the trials.

I also experimented with the copy and paste options in Illustrator to create what I think looks a bit like a hippy flower and another circular pattern.