12 Nov Ganesha Yantra Painting – Updated!

Start of a Ganesha Yantra

I started this yantra a few weeks ago after one i painted for a silent auction fund raiser was sold. Jason’s father wanted it, but i told him i’d make one that more suit him (the other was black and silver – very heavy for him).

The purple is mix of oil paints that i’ve dumped into polyurethane, which i then poured onto the canvas in several layers. Each layer sat for a day before i added the next. This is what gives it the swirled texture, but also, a shiny gloss.

I’m still getting up the nerve to create the equilateral triangle that will encase the circles that will go in it. One mistake, and i have to start over.

This is a Christmas present, however, so i need to hurry up and get it done – since each layer takes 12 hours to dry, each must be done twice, and there will be at least eight more layers – i need to get cracking. Luckily, i can often do one layer over breakfast and the other over dinner as i spend most of my days at my desk… Then the clean up! Unfortunately, my masking tape is not holding in the bleed. Very frustrating. I’ve only got four sets of straight lines to go (the paths to the gateways, the double triangles and the outer triangle). Hopefully the circles will work out better.

I’ll keep posting pictures on flickr as it progresses…

Update : After several hesitant retries, i’ve added another layer of work… (11 dec 2011)