I really wanted to do something abstract and simple today. Something that I could zone out to and not get caught up in details, styles, or perspectives. A mandala came to mind. Mandalas are an ancient concept that has many meanings to many cultures. I was aware that a mandala’s creation can be a form of meditation, and I definitely let my mind go as I created – which felt great.
Here’s Wikipedia’s page for more details on mandalas.
While I was making this mandala in Adobe Fresco, I did happen to be listening to the Giants vs. Dodgers game on the radio, which inspired the color scheme. I’m sorry they lost, again, to the stinky Dodgers, but I still love them. Go Giants!
I still really am enjoying Adobe Fresco, but I may have come across a limitation. All of these shapes I created with the shape tool, but had to be conscious of the single layer I was working with. In Illustrator you can simply move vector shapes between layers individually, as almost anything you create in Illustrator is an independent object. In Adobe Fresco however, without creating a whole new layer for every additional shape, that layer is constantly flattened. In other words, that square you just created is now one with the whole, and it cannot be moved independently any longer. Oh and it also obliterated anything beneath it. Once I got used to this I just had to be careful about the scale of shapes I’d choose next.
Also, as those shapes are not independent, I could not find any tool for alignment. Which is like my best friend in Illustrator. Granted I understand that this is a simplified version of a combo of Photoshop and Illustrator, and in order to keep it simple, for the sake of the user, you have to lose some features. But I almost would object to losing the alignment tools and keeping vector shapes independent.
Of course these things, alignment and independence of objects, you get in Adobe XD, which is lovely. Maybe my next doodle will be with Adobe XD.
All that being said, I still really enjoyed creating this Giants mandala!
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