Color, Color and More Color - Color Wheel Mandala Day

Well, there were a total of 8 of us, drawing in the heat of the approaching summer this past Sunday, in my studio in Santa Rosa  CA.  As the weather heated up, so did the vibrancy of color that emerged in everyone's mandalas.

Here we all are at the beginning of the morning, as we began our day.  Not everyone is shown here.

In the beginning stages of creating mandala's, drawing with white prismacolor pencils on the black paper, using the scale of light to illuminate the essence of the image, 

out from the dark ground of the paper.  Always so, powerful!

In the afternoon, we began to add color, and our images heated up 

along with the temperature of the room.  

Often times it takes an act of bravery to add color to the already developed black and white mandala, which is always so stunning.

But it is always worth the risk, and takes everyone to a new level of engagement and satisfaction.

I love watching the image and colors emerge and how excited everyone becomes as their mandala's come to life.  Here they are in the beginning stages of emergence, as color starts to blossom.  We place them on the wall periodically, to stand back and view them, giving our eyes, hands and bodies a chance to rest from this very detailed work.

This is a small Virgin of Guadalupe mandala, that Sue, drew along side her larger one, to honor an image  that she photographed recently.

Almost complete.

Working with the color wheel is a simple yet powerful way to create a beautiful mandala, that allows spirit to come through in a striking way.

This is Patricia's mandala with all the color down, now she will develop it more fully.

This is my mandala, I didn't get too far on the day of the workshop, I was feeling under the weather, and worked slow and since the workshop was at my studio, I had the luxury of taking an extra long lunch break and a nap that day.  I will post its development in later posts.

This is Lake's mandala, also still in process, I am so drawn to the quality of energy and movement in it.  I look forward to seeing it as she puts more time into it.

Yes! So powerful and with such a wonderful sense of movement.

I love how this process, transcends peoples early art woundings, and allows people to see their creative potential.  This mandala was done by Rusty, who didn't think she could create something new. What a stunning and expressive mandala.  She left feeling renewed and ecstatic about her creative possibilities.

And lastly Sue's mandala, I love how the energy emits from the hand, radiating out in all directions. After initial hesitations about the hand, it worked out so perfectly.  

So thats it for now.  If I get images back of completed mandala's I will post them here, as well as my mandala as it progresses.  Blessings to all.