There is no doubt: mandalas to color are in fashion and more and more people are joining the fever of colored pencils and markers. There are many special books that you can buy, but we also suggest you find mandalas to print on the Internet for free.
In this article we tell you what mandalas are, how they are colored , what benefits they have, and where you can find free mandalas on the Internet.
What is a mandala and why is it fashionable?
In Spain and in many other countries the practice of meditation and “mindfulness” ( mindfulness ) has become very widespread . These practices are very ancient and have their origin in different cultures and religions of Asia.
The mandala is nothing more than a graphic construction that helps maintain concentration or mindfulness, or that can help to reach a meditative state .
There are many types of mandalas: they can be woven, drawn, or even built with sand . In fact, Buddhist monks who make such creations with sand later destroy the mandalas so as not to cling to them.
The most "practical" mandalas are those that already have the outlines drawn. You just have to color them keeping your attention on the task and enjoying the process.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the original mandalas have a spherical and symmetrical structure, but there are many other geometric drawings that can also fulfill the same function.
How do you color a mandala?
If you want to color mandalas to relax and forget about stress, it is best that you choose a suitable place and time for the task. Choose a smooth surface in a room with natural light and start coloring the mandala that you like the most.
During the process you can be completely silent or listen to relaxing music . You can color with pencils, markers, crayons, or even tempera and watercolors.
As a general rule, it is recommended not to start a new mandala if you still have one half. And if you want to save your creations, it's a good idea to write on the back the date you colored it. So you can see your evolution ...
How to choose the perfect mandala to color?
If you have a lot of stress and want to relax, choose a mandala with wide spaces and few details . If what you are looking for is to improve your concentration, try more complex figures, full of tiny details that require a lot of dedication.
Use the colors you want and let yourself be carried away by your inspiration. Don't be obsessed with a pretty result - enjoy the process and the color scheme will work better next time.
You can also decide if you want to start in the center and go out, or the other way around , or in random order. We recommend that you follow your intuition again on this topic.
Where to get mandalas to print or color?
Next we are going to make a selection of mandalas that you can download directly from the Internet, and we will teach you tools to create your own mandalas.
Download free floral mandalas for coloring
- On the 100% Free Mandalas website you can find a specific section dedicated to mandalas with floral themes. You can also download designs with leaves and other plant motifs , such as tree branches or roots.
- You can also download these very simple mandalas from the Korean site Amind. They have vegetable details such as fruits, and even a design with bamboo leaves .
Mandalas with animals to download for free
Mandalas with animals are designs that the smallest of the house like a lot. Many of these pictures have less detail so that children can easily color them.
However, you can also find a wide variety of creations designed for an audience with more skill (and with more patience).
There are two main types of mandalas with animals:
- Circular creations that have a drawing of an animal in the center . We recommend, for example, this special section of Mandala-4free.
- Drawings that are not exactly mandalas, but are based on animal silhouettes. Instead of coloring a circular scheme, you will have to fill in the different details "inside" the animal itself . You can find some very nice drawings on the Just Color website.
Special mandalas for cat lovers
Yes, we know that cats would fall within the previous section, but they deserve a separate mention. The Internet has always been "the world of kittens" and this has also been reflected in the fashion for mandalas.
You can find all kinds of mandalas to color inspired by cats: from compositions with several felines to drawings of puppies with hundreds of details.
The term "catdala" has even begun to be used to talk about these designs with coloring cats. In fact, there is a book with that title ...
If you want to download mandalas with cats to color, we recommend the special section on this theme in Best of Coloring.
Non-circular coloring designs (similar to mandalas)
Although we have already mentioned that the original mandalas are circular and symmetrical, there are many other options available for coloring. You can print, for example, geometric figures with different details, or drawings with mosaics, or “square mandalas” ...
We recommend several pages where you can download these designs for free:
- Super Coloring has a section dedicated exclusively to coloring with mosaics. You will find different shapes and schemes, but all of them are characterized by having many small squares, like the tiles of the mosaics .
- Also interesting are the designs known as "zentangle" ("zentangles"). This term is used to classify complex and detailed drawings, of any subject , intended for adults to color. Many artists entertain themselves by drawing these creations from scratch, but you can also download them ready-made. We recommend you try Tangle Patterns, a website with hundreds of zentangles to download and instructions to draw them step by step.
Where to download colored mandalas to print
You may be thinking that coloring is not for you, but you still like mandala designs a lot. Luckily, there are many pages from which you can download full-color drawings to print and hang on the wall or paste wherever you want.
In Drawings.net, for example, you can download thousands of mandalas already colored by other users.
Tools to create your own free personalized mandalas
As we have already explained, an alternative for the most creative people is to draw the mandalas from scratch. That is to say: instead of coloring ready-made designs, we can create the contours and silhouettes to our liking.
If you are not very good at drawing or do not want to spend too much time on that step, you can use some tools to achieve it.
Create and print your own mandalas with Mandala Creator
One of the most popular services today is the Staedtler brand Mandala Creator . Through its website you can design the mandalas to your liking, step by step. We tell you how to do it:
- Access the Mandala Creator website and start a new design.
- Select the plane in which you are going to start designing (plane 1 is the closest to the center).
- Choose the design that you are going to put on that level. There are many patterns available - from those created by the Staedtler brand to those designed by artists around the world.
- Regulates the different options for that element. You can change the size, orientation , and increase or decrease the number of repetitions.
- Continue through all the planes until you have the finished mandala to your liking. In each plane you can also change the orientation of the elements (rotation) and their distance from the center.
- When you've finished your design, you can save it to your computer or print it instantly . Use the buttons in the lower right corner ... and you're all set to start coloring!
Color Mandala, a simple interface to create basic mandalas
From Color Mandala you can also design your own free mandalas to print and color. Once inside the page, you can add elements with the “Add shape” button .
Each time you add a pattern, a box will open with options very similar to those found in Staedtler's Mandala Creator. You can select, for example, the number of times that element is repeated, its size or its position.
The most interesting feature of Color Mandala is that it allows you to “warp” the different patterns so that they look different from different angles. Using the values of "Start", "Middle" and "End", we can change the size of the upper, lower or central parts of the designs.
The option to duplicate the design we have already created is also very useful. This allows us, for example, to create a mandala based on different modifications of the same pattern.