How to make a mandala in Adobe Illustrator

Hey guys! Here comes another tutorial on concentric, mandala-like illustrations made using Adobe Illustrator. To do this tutorial you’ll need to download my “Psychedelic face elements” (that’s my free vector stock) or you can use your own designs.

The other thing I’ll be using is the resulting image from my previous tutorial. You can download it here or make one of your own following the instructions from “How to create concentric elements in Adobe Illustrator” tutorial.

So let’s start!

Step 1

First you should fill the black gaps inside the ornament. We are not going to feel each gap – just making the concentric ornament look more solid.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Take few elements from “Psychedelic face elements” pack and arrange them somewhere between existing “shrooms”.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Step 2

Use Direct Selection Tool (A) to drag the points of the elements to the desired positions.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Rotate 2 copies of the modified box – one 90o and another -90o. Adjust their size and position.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Step 3

Group the new elements (Cmd+G)

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Use the technique described in my previous tutorial to make a circle of these groups.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Step 4

If you are not using the resulting image from the previous tutorial you can skip this step otherwise select all (Cmd + A) and rotate by 5.625o.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Add another circle of elements (long ears in my case) to fill the blacks inside the azure circle.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Step 5

Make all the elements a bit bigger and add a snaky element in the top left corner.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Add more snakes! They all should be under the circle. Select all of them and press Cmd+Shift+[ (Send to Back).

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner
Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Step 6

Now add some eyes to fill the black gaps between the snakes.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Step 7

Select all the snakes and all the eyes and group ’em (Cmd+G). Make a copy of this group (Cmd+C then Cmd+F). Right click the copy > Transform > Reflect > Vertically. Move the copy to the top right corner. Select both snake-groups and press Cmd+G. Go to Align panel and align the resulting group vertically to the middle of the art board. Make a copy of this group, Right click > Transform > Reflect > Horizontally. Move the reflected copy to the bottom of the art board. Select all snake groups and group them once more (Cmd+G), then align them horizontally to the middle of the art board.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

Step 8

If you are not using the resulting image from the previous tutorial you are done! Otherwise select the circles and rotate by -5.625o.

Psychedelic vector mandala tutorial by Andrei Verner

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