Mural, Mural on the Wall...

Last week I finished this mandala mural at Duniway Elementary School. I am so pleased and proud of the finished product! The design was totally created by the kids that took my four-week after school class. There were 17 kids in the class, ranging from third - fifth grade.

During the first class session, I showed a slideshow of mandalas. Then, I put a large piece of paper down on a table, on which I had drawn several concentric circles. I had the kids come up one at a time and, starting from the center of the circle, they took turns adding layers of patterns until they had filled up the paper.

I took this large paper to Kinko's and had it reduced down to fit on an 8.5 x 11 transparency.

I then projected the design onto the wall and drew it on the wall with a pencil.

By the time of the second class session, we were ready to start painting!

While waiting for a turn to paint on the wall, the kids sat on the floor and worked on their own watercolor mandalas.


Here's a great picture of the whole group:
By the last class session, we were able to have several kids painting at the same time. They did an amazing job and got most of it done. Afterwards, I touched it up, added some second coats, and outlined the entire design with black.

Then, I used black latex paint to freehand this funky background shape:

Finally, I took all their lovely watercolor pieces (which parent volunteers had helped to cut out and mount on squares of colored construction paper) and hung them all around the mural.
This is me, very happy with the finished mural:
The school principal has given us permission to expand as much as we like down that same hallway, so I will be offering another mural class (this time for little kids - 1st - 3rd graders!) starting in late February, and hopefully we'll do more in the fall as well. I'd love to make this whole hall become one big, gorgeous "mandala tunnel."