Intricate art on dark canvas

Artistic mandala showpiece

Set against black canvas, this piece of art will add a real touch of glamour to your home. The gleaming metallic colours combined with subtle shades (such as moss green and elegant midnight) create a sophisticated look, making this the perfect picture to display in autumn or wintertime. edding acrylic markers contain opaque ink to help create awesome works of art – not only on white canvas and paper, but also on black backgrounds, as demonstrated here in our striking example. You can arrange the dots, lines and teardrops absolutely any way you like. This gives you endless licence to play with different colours, shapes and layouts. In fact, the possibilities are limitless!

Category: How to paint with acrylics
Products: Acrylic range
Materials: Canvas
Difficulty: A bit more challenging
Downloads: Images (ZIP)

Step-by-step

Step 1

For this design, you'll need a set of edding medium acrylic markers in festive colours. The set contains an assortment of five edding 5100 medium acrylic markers in moss green, berry, elegant midnight, rich gold and silver.

Step 2

To create the intricate pattern, start with the pencil and draw a series of circles inside each other. Round objects such as plates and cups make good templates for drawing round. Symmetrical circles give a really pleasing effect, but anything is possible, so go ahead and arrange them in whatever way you wish.

Step 3

For the smaller circles, use rolls of Washi tape or any other object in the right size.

Step 4

Before you start colouring, activate the markers as follows: shake the marker with the cap on until you can hear the mixing balls rattle inside, then carefully pump the nib up and down until ink appears in the tip. Test the marker first on a piece of scrap paper. Starting with the small circle in the middle, gradually work outwards one circle at a time, filling them in with dots, lines and teardrop shapes.

Step 5

For an overall more elaborate effect, add the dots, teardrops and lines in a four-way symmetrical pattern.

Step 6

Other design elements can be added to create beautiful highlights. Don't worry if your image isn't absolutely symmetrical – the acrylic ink is opaque, so if you're not happy with a particular section, you can simply colour over it.

Step 7

To finish off your piece of art, frame it with an attractive edge. You can also decorate the bottom half of your design by adding ornate patterns in a similar style.

Step 8

An alternative idea is to place 3 smaller canvases close together and draw one large mandala across all three in the same way as described above. Once dry, separate the canvases and hang them up randomly as a split image. The result is a piece of art with real impact.