Mandala

This is the first mandala I've ever attempted. I'm not really sure what its supposed to be. It looks like the inside of an eyeball or a jelly fish wearing a doily, perhaps. It was a little hard to get started at first. Didn't really know what I wanted to draw but then I just jumped in and started doodling, not thinking too much about any particular end result. My pen took a journey through scribbles and circles spiraling across the page til confronted at bordered areas of harsh jagged strips, barring the way.I lost myself in the process of making marks, dots and lines and before I knew it, the hour I alloted myself was up. I was rather pleased with the final outcome, although I guess I could have made the circle look more, well, circular.

The dominant feature of this piece is line. Put a pen in my hand and give me nothing better to do and this is what I tend to come up. Tedious patterns serving as some sort of strange channeling of anxiety...remnants of my awkward, bored adolescence, spent sitting at IHOP, 2 in the morning, sketching. Didn't know I could bring it all back again just by drawing nothing in particular.