Magnificent Mandala painting

James Paterson creates beautiful mandala patterns with Symmetry Painting in Photoshop, then blends them with photos for gorgeous results

- James Paterson

THE MISSION Paint a Mandala pattern, then blend it with a photo in Photoshop

Time needed 20 minutes

Skill level Beginner

Kit needed Photoshop CC

Photoshop’s Brush tool is full of hidden delights, and in this project we’ll explore one of our favourites to create an eye-catching effect. Simple yet ingenious, the Symmetry Painting feature lets you paint in several places at once. There are several types of Symmetrical Painting options to experiment with, but the most enjoyable is Mandala. Often found in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism, Mandalas are geometric patterns organized around a single central point (in fact, ‘Mandala’ is Sanskrit for ‘circle’). The Mandala brush setting in Photoshop lets you create these sorts of designs in seconds. You can also choose how many segments for your Mandala design, which essentially determines how many places you can paint at once. It’s simple to set up, creative, and easy to lose yourself painting circular Mandala patterns.