Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Mandala "stained glass" with wax paper and sharpies.

It always makes me sad when I see a lovely art project idea that actually requires drawing. I love beauty and can sometimes execute creative ideas with some amount of skill, but the form and perspective fairy skipped right on over me in the womb. ;oP

That's exactly how I felt when I saw this:
http://2me4art.com/2012/03/23/sophies-art/ (Girl's got SKILLS already! Way to go!)

Lovely in theory, impossible in practice for me.

So, thought I, let's just use printable mandala coloring sheets and trace the pattern that makes us most happy, and then color in with sharpie markers like the original idea! That's exactly what we did. :)



First, taped down the corners of large sheets of wax paper to the table (if your artists are prone to messiness, you probably want a plastic table cloth, too...we chose to tempt fate, as usual). Then, slide your printed mandala of choice under the middle of the wax paper and trace with a bold black Sharpie. 

(I ran a small fan beside the table, because the marker fumes probably aren't the greatest to inhale...in nice weather, an open window would do nicely.)




Then, we filled in the pattern with colored markers! (I own a ridiculous collection of Sharpies, but you could make a nice pattern with just three or four colors.) The trick is carefully coloring right up to the black line, but not crossing it, or the colors smear. Good fine motor skill practice, good concentration skill work.




(The very small of us used watercolor paints, since they wash out more easily...this is Grace's "Ocean with coral and lots of fish!") 

Lark chose a slightly less complicated pattern that suited her attention span. :)

Then, trim down your wax paper and tape to the window! Tada!
in the rain

in the sun

Not quite as cool as DIY artwork, but a fun thing to do on a rainy afternoon. :)

7 comments:




  1. Thank you for the info. It sounds pretty user friendly. I guess I’ll pick one up for fun. thank u






    Sharpie Marker

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  2. Brilliant and bravo for not letting your fears stand in your way! We don't need to have "fairy's" to give form to art! You only have to have the passion to create! And to pick Mandalas is even better! Blessings

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  3. I am going to try this! It looks like fun and it could end up being a window cover for a back bedroom that has a bad view.

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  4. I wonder if you could use the clear or opaque contact paper to make it a bit more permanent? I have seen people use that for other things for windows. I would think it would work for an application such as this too.

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  5. If you trace your design on one side, and ten color on the other, the black sharpie won't smear :)

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