drawing

iColorama Experiment

| theintrovertedhermit

I wrote before about buying the iColorama app for my iPad.  I haven’t had much time to learn its features, but I have spent a few moments here and there mucking about in it.

I know that many people color digitally, so I want to make my coloring mandala designs digitally friendly to appeal to as many customers as possible.

I took one of my Mandala Monday designs and colored it in with my Procreate app.

Mandala 10 Colored ProcreateHere’s what it looks like straight out of Procreate.  I just used the color bucket drag-n-drop feature to color in the various pieces.  I like the way it turned out, but I wanted to see if I could add to it using the iColorama app.

So I opened the colored mandala in iColorama and then started playing around with various options.  I had tried the paper texture previously and liked it, so I started with that.

Mandala 10 Paper Texture iColoramaI really like the paper texture – I can almost feel the ridges of the paper under my fingertips when I look at this image.  It still seemed kind of flat, though, so I kept trying other filters and options.

This is what I ended up with:

Mandala 10 Final iColoramaI wanted to share what filter I used, but I didn’t note it before I saved the image, and now I can’t remember. 😦  Getting older has its downsides. 😛

Even though I can’t remember what filter I used, I’m happy with the final result.  The image now pops and the paper texture I used makes it look like a photo of a physical art piece, which is pretty cool.

I’m definitely going to have to carve out some time to watch some tutorials on iColorama, because I think it will be an amazing tool to use with my designs.

Mandala Monday 9

| theintrovertedhermit

Mandala_9I can’t believe I’ve already done 9 mandalas for Mandala Mondays!  I mean, I’ve drawn way more than that, but it seems like the weeks have flown by lately.

The older I get, the faster time seems to go.  Which is ironic, since in my experience older people tend to move slower.  Maybe they think they’re going fast, since time is relative? 😛

This mandala is kind of a mish-mash of things.  I was trying out different elements and seeing what I liked, what I didn’t, what I was good at drawing, and what I wasn’t.  The ones I create for Mandala Monday tend to be simpler and not as ornate as the ones I’m drawing for coloring pages (for obvious reasons).

I can sit down in front of the TV while my husband watches football and draw.  It’s actually relaxing and I can usually get at least 2 done in the course of one game.  I’m looking forward to challenging myself to keep this up as long as I can.

Consistency is key!

Mandala Monday 8

| theintrovertedhermit

Mandala_8This mandala is a little different than the ones I’ve been drawing before.  I’m trying to experiment with various motifs and elements.  Some I like better than others.

I like the interior pieces of this design, but I’m not as happy with the elements towards the outer edge.  Ah, well, that’s why I’m doing this – experiment, experiment, experiment!

You’ve heard that old adage about needing to practice something for 10,000 hours before you’re good at it?  I’m not anywhere close to 10,000 hours yet, so it’s okay if it’s not exactly the way I want it to be.  It gives me something to strive for, and that’s something we all need, I think.

Happy Monday!

Mandala Monday 7

| theintrovertedhermit

Mandala_7Again, more experimentation with variations of shapes, rather than the more traditional circular mandalas.  I think I started off thinking about a feather motif and then it morphed into more leaves and flowers.

That’s all part of the process, I think.  Getting into the feel and flow of creating the mandala, rather than being focused on forcing into something preconceived.

I haven’t actually drawn one just for fun in a while, as I’ve been concentrating on producing ones for a coloring book.  I think I need to draw a couple that are just for fun – find my mandala mojo again!

 

Digitally Coloring Mandalas

| theintrovertedhermit

I’ve been playing with various options with the mandalas I’ve created so far.  I’ve made a bunch that I’ve posted here on my blog, but I am also working on others that will hopefully go into my Etsy store for sale as digital downloads.

I wanted to see what some of my designs would look like if they were colored in, to make sure that the designs were intricate enough to be interesting to color.  I also experimented with different ways to color them in, since I want to give people options.

I took one of my favorite mandalas so far (Mandala 6) and tried a few ways.  I’ve been using my Procreate app on my iPad to create these mandalas, so I wanted to see what they would look like if I colored them in using Procreate.

I know many people have coloring apps on their phones and iPads, so I thought this would be a good way to see how well my designs worked doing so.

Mandala 6 Colored ProcreateI’m pretty happy with the results.  I think there is a good amount of detail in the design and that it works well coloring digitally.  I can see where I’ve made some mistakes in creating the design, but since these designs weren’t specifically created for coloring, I’m not going to worry over it too much.

It would probably look even better if I had used a variety of colors rather than sticking with a blue scheme, but I had a reason for doing that, which you’ll see in a later post.

I am also hoping to offer the option to purchase my mandalas (together or separately) as stickers, so I need to test out coloring them on sticker paper as well.  If nothing else, I’ve had a lot of fun creating the mandalas themselves, so I’m calling all of this a success! 😀

Mandala Monday 5

| theintrovertedhermit

Mandala_5I have been playing around with different shapes of mandalas and wanted to try one that wasn’t completely circular.  I like the snowflake-like shape of this one, but I’m not sure I put enough detail into the outer layers.

I have been searching the interwebs for inspiration for design elements, but I find many of them too similar.  So I have also tried incorporating some elements from zentangles to fill in details.

Regardless, the process of drawing the mandalas themselves has been fun for me.  So it shall continue!

Mandala Monday 3

| theintrovertedhermit

Mandala 3I’ve been playing around in Procreate and creating these mandalas.  The symmetry and lines of mandalas are appealing to me – so much so that I’m hoping to create (and finish!) a project with them.

I love to color while I’m watching TV or feeling stressed, and intricate images like mandalas are a favorite of mine.  I’ve also been experimenting with adding zentangle tile patterns into some of the mandalas.

I did some internet searching last week and found all kinds of uses for mandalas – wall stencils, wall decals, car/phone/laptop stickers, coloring pages, and more.  Who knew?