Mandala Monday: How to "Track" your Colors

 Completing a coloring book page is a relaxing pastime that need not be finished in one sitting.

But how do you keep track of colors when you finish a session? Many people jot down the pencil number on a scrap of paper like my dad has done in this illustration.

I keep track of my colors by making little charts and remember them by name instead of number.

I keep trying to make the perfect chart but always run out of space and end up with bunches of these scraps.

So when I created my own coloring books I added a color palette to the left of each coloring page (along with interesting facts, stories and symbolism about the mandala art).

These palettes can be used to help you remember the colors you used so far. The next time you open your book you can simply look up the colors by number or name and continue coloring. See the "Love Birds" page below.

But what if your pencils aren't numbered?  I have mentioned "Twistables" as an affordable alternative to Prismacolor pencils before, but they have no markings on the barrels what so ever.

 I recommend you take a little extra time and number or letter your set of "Twistable" pencils so you can use the palettes in your books. I  mark a piece of masking tape and wrap it around the top of the pencil. With all that money you just saved it's worth a little extra time to make them serviceable.

Prismacolors are numbered and named. You have to mark the "Twistables" yourself.

"Prismacolor" pencil sets of 48 pencils are about $37 on Amazon. "Crayola Twistables" sets of 30 are about $7 at Target. Twistables are a good set to START your coloring experience with.

Dad and I working on our Easter Pages. Dad's page from Merry Mandalas

Check out my "Merry Mandalas" and more sophisticated "Meditative Mandalas" in my Etsy Shop: MsMoffatt.etsy.com

#MsMoffatt #Coloringbook #AdultColoringBooks #JudithMoffatt.com #howtocolor #MandalaMonday

Mandala Sunday: A trip to Santa Fe

I got a great package in the Mail from the fabulous Sandy Steen Bartholomew last week. Inside I found two lovely little books loaded with her inspirations from the the animated movie "The Secret of Kells", and her art journal from a retreat she taught at in Santa Fe.

Sandy also has a great blog. She blogged so glowingly about The Secret of Kells I dashed out to find a copy. It was indeed a movie jam packed with wonderful visuals. Lucky us, Sandy has put all her inspirations from the movie in one handy book.

My Package included a caricature of herself, a cool post card with Kokopelli and the Insect Kiss, and a couple of her illustrated Santa Fe  stickers (that I already stuck!). Above is my sketch book page inspired by Sandy's.

The books are an adorable 8 1/2 x5 1/2 portable size packed with Sandy's deconstructed patterns that are so easy to follow.

Sandy is a master at showing people how to take complicated designs and break them down into doable works.

You can find her many wonderful books in her shop at Bumblebat.com.

After all my sketching Thursday night, I thought I was done. But  Friday night I found Mandala ideas floating around in my head (I like to sketch at night while I half watch TV).

So back to my sketch book, "The Tangles of Santa Fe" and my IPAD with the Internet connection.

Sandy suggests in her book, if you would like to know more about Southwestern designs, the Internet and local library has tons of info and pictures to look at. So I looked and I sketched and this is what I ended up with!

I am in the process of planning two new Mandala coloring books. I think this may be the start of one of my pages.

Visit Sandy's website here!



#Mandalas #MsMoffatt #Bumblebat  #MeditativeMandalas #Merry Mandalas #JudithMoffatt