DOMESTIKA COURSE - ISLAMIC ART - TRANSFERRING THE DESIGN Following yesterday's session in the studio where I created the first version of some design tracings, I had time to think about how it was working out. I realised I wasn't happy with it, and decided to start the tracings again with a different…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - ISLAMIC ART - TRACING AND BIOMORPHS I have skipped the final task in the previous unit because of time constraints. I've had a busy week, and I want to take advantage of the afternoon daylight in the studio for drawing, and not waste it sitting at the laptop in the…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - ISLAMIC ART - BIOMORPHICS AND GRIDS Looking for botanical patterns Continuing with the preparation stages of this course, Esra, our teacher, instructed us to find patterns featuring organic motifs, and to sketch a single motif. She suggested going to a museum to find things to sketch, but this wasn't possible…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - ISLAMIC ART - CONTINUING WITH INK PRACTICE Esra, our teacher, suggests we practise daily with the brush and ink. It's a question of training one's hand and eye and brain to get used to this unfamiliar technique until one perfects it. It is difficult! However, several days in, I think…
BEGINNING A NEW DOMESTIKA COURSE - INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC ART At the beginning of this month, I began a new Domestika course. This one (full title: "Introduction to Islamic Art - Creating Biomorphic Patterns") seemed a natural follow-on from the mandala drawing course. Lots of pattern, repeated elements and so on. I am…
ISLAMIC ART - FIRST ATTEMPT, AND A NEW COMPASS In advance of the new Domestika course on drawing Islamic art, I decided to have one or two "dry runs" to get my hand in. I have been fascinated by the complex geometric patterns in Islamic art for decades, and have several books on…
THE REDEMPTION MANDALA DOMESTIKA COURSE - THE ART OF MANDALA DRAWING - COMPLETING THE PROJECT The final stage of drawing the project for this course was to add the shading. It always amazes me what a transformation shading makes. It turns a flat line drawing into something that springs into life and seems…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - THE ART OF MANDALA DRAWING - DRAWING THE DESIGN The pencil sketch Having drawn the basic grid for the mandala, the next lesson in the course was to make the pencil sketch. This gives you the chance to try out different ideas, and to correct mistakes, before committing the drawing…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - THE ART OF MANDALA DRAWING - MAKING THE GRID FOR THE FINAL PROJECT We are now on to the two final units of the course on mandala drawing. Having done a lot of preparation, we are now ready to start the drawing that has been the ultimate destination of the…
DOMESTIKA COURSE - THE ART OF MANDALA DRAWING - BEGINNER PRACTICE SHEETS The second part of the preparation unit continues with drawing practice. Having done the shading exercises, we could now move on to do some actual mandala drawing. Sheet 1 - mandala elements Lizzie, our teacher, had prepared some sheets for us…
