Mandala: Island Fury

[evansd2]

My seventh mandala:

Blue cardstock glue-up layers, gold acrylic ink on the top layer.

Previous installments:

Mandala: Fully Loaded

Sixth mandala exploration: [image] [image] [image] Back to cardstock glued to BB, with a really vivid color scheme. The rear layers (difficult to see in this light) are bright turquoise blue shades.

A Good Day to Mandala Hard

For my fifth mandala exploration I went smaller. [image] This time I wanted to try to paint the edges but not use a brush. So I tried thinning acrylic paints and dipping the layers to try to keep the detail from getting gummed up while also getting coverage. I’m the end the coverage wasn’t great but I kind of liked the effect. It’s possible that I might have better luck with proper primer instead or just watered down acrylic paints, but quarantine measures are in effect and I certainly can’t…

Mandala: Fury Road

[IMG_3373] Continuing my exploration of different ways to decorate mandalas. I’ll give away the secret in a minute, see if you can figure figure out what I did here. Previous installments here and here and here. A few notes: Start with flat materials. Warp is more of a pain to deal with than you might think at first. Registration pins are also clutch, I use brass rods, but you can use dowels or what have you. I like the 1/16" brass because the holes are really small and easy to cover up…

The Mandala Ultimatum

[image] So, this is my attempt at a first-surface painted mandala. I wanted to try to achieve a gradient from a pure blue to a pure green, I think it went well. I’m fairly new to paint mixing and color theory, so this has been an interesting learning experience. This is the third mandala in this series, links to the others are below if you haven’t seen them yet. It’s different from the blue one in that I didn’t paint the edges, I’m trying to find that sweet spot between vibrant custom co…

The Mandala Strikes Back

[image] This mandala is made of BB plywood with various shades of purple cardstock glued to the face prior to the cut. Thanks to @arh2 for the idea to try gluing up cardstock to a wood backing, it was a great idea and I think it worked very well. Notes: Glue your cardstock evenly and thoroughly. I used plain old elmers PVA glue, applies with a speed ball ink roller. -use a squeegee or a roller or something to be sure the cardstock is firmly glued to the wood. let the glue dry, mask your c…

Finally got to a layered mandala

[image] [image] 9 layers of 1/8” Baltic birch plywood. Total size is 10.9 x 10.9” x 1.125”. Integrated keyhole hanger in back. Aligned with 0.0625” brass pins through the bottom 8 layers. Top layer glued on manually to hide the pins. Painted with matte acrylic. Each layer is progressively deeper blue. Final topcoat of matte clear acrylic sealer to protect the paint. Side note: painting the edges of something like this is the worst. Takes forever. Maybe the key is an airbrush but prev…

[geek2nurse]

I guess I’m just going to have to either find the box with my card stock in it, or order some more!

[shogun]

This one is also a real beauty. I need to try the card stock too.

[raymondking32]

What do you do with them when you’re done?

[Aloha]

These are great! Do you have a shop vac next to your laser to clean up the bed?

[geek2nurse]

I’d love to peek inside @evansd2’s house. I got rid of EVERYTHING before we moved, and I’m already filling my parents’ windowsills up with the stuff I’ve made since we’ve been caretaking here.

[evansd2]

@raymondking32

What do you do with them when you’re done

This one is a commission and will go to its new home shortly.

[evansd2]

@Aloha

Do you have a shop vac next to your laser

Not a shop vac but yes a vacuum. I manually take the big pieces out and save them to give to friends that have kids, and Hoover the rest. It’s a mess.

[cynd11]

It’s lovely. I’m a big fan of that bright gold against the subtle blues

[aohnstad]

For this and your others, I just love the color you get from cardstock glued to wood. Just wonderful.

You’ve probably answered this elsewhere, but how many sheets of plywood are you typically using to make one of these?

[PrintToLaser]

Striking! What is the scale? About a foot?

[evansd2]

8 layers. I get two layers per sheet of ply, so 4 bed-sized sheets.

[evansd2]

@PrintToLaser

What is the scale?

9.25” diameter, so two layers will fit pretty comfortably on a single sheet.

[PrintToLaser]

You could probably build another configuration with the box of cut-outs!

[ovm.steve]

Absolutely beautiful. I bought a couple of pads of coordinated color cardstock at Michael’s yesterday to try this myself.

[arh2]

Really like the gold pop!

[polarbrainfreeze]

Georgous! I love the colors.

[beerfaced]

Well that is just beautiful!

[sue1001]

AAahhhhh so you glue the cardstock on your wood before you cut it. Could you also please tell me which kind of masking tape you use, that would be so gentle on paper? TIA

[evansd2]

This stuff

Cheapest 12" wide masking tape

Like @jbmanning5, I get perfectear plus from signwarehouse.com for $40 for a 300 foot roll, shipped. I’ve used both perfectear and transferrite, I prefer perfectear, but they aren’t that different. I was also tipped off to this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085635HFN