First Attempt at a Mandala Using the Folk Art Dots Set

I love trying new-to-me craft materials. When using art supplies for the first time, the logical thing to do would be to read the packaging, and maybe even watch a tutorial, before jumping in and trying it. But that's not what typically occurs around here. I like to just give things a go and see what happens. Such is the case with this mandala, which was my first attempt using the FolkArts Dots Set (affiliate link here and throughout the post). 

Despite the numerous places where dots are uneven or have run into each other, I had a great time making this. More importantly, I learned a lot about how the Dots Set works and now I know what to do differently for my next projects.  

I started by drawing some concentric circles on the next empty page in my sketchbook, which happened to be on the lefthand side. This was Mistake #1. I should have done my first dotting project on a flat surface. I tried to work way too close to the binding. 

Mistake #2 was jumping right in with dots directly in my sketchbook, instead of practicing on scratch paper first. While the first few dots were perfect, many subsequent ones were not.... 

... particularly as I tried narrowing the distance between dots and making bigger dots directly on my project. (See blobs below.) 

I worked from right to left (so as not to drag my hand through the project), but it would have been smarter to have worked from the inside out. My dots would have been much more consistent in size if I'd done an entire ring at a time. And if I'd been working on a flat surface instead of in a sketchbook, I could have easily rotated the paper to avoid having my hand in the way.

This is my finished page (scanned rather than photographed). While it's easy to see mistakes, particularly where I started, overall I'm happy with it. 

I let the dots dry overnight, then added watercolor to fill in the rest of the page. 

This set is such a great addition to the Folk Art brand.  

I loved working with the FolkArt Dots Set and can't wait to try it again!