Today, I will show you how to free your mind and paint your feelings. In this exercise, you will create an abstract painting. The point of the exercise is to free your hand and mind from perfection and anxiety.
Okay, let me be upfront. I’m not a doctor or a licensed psychologist, so I can’t give you any medical claims. Nonetheless, I would like to talk about creating art as an outlet for releasing stress. I’m sure there is plenty of scientific evidence that can show you art therapy benefits. But, I would like to talk about my experience.
I like creating art because I feel better about myself afterward. I let go of stress because creating art is calming when I don’t try to please anyone including myself. A lot of times creativity comes when practicing being silly. In this exercise, I want to be silly, no overthinking or focus toward the final result. It’s so important to be playful and experimental with art. I can’t even stress that enough. We learn about ourselves and what we are capable of making when playing with art. By using this painting technique, I would like to show you how I free my mind and create for the sake of creation.
When painting like this, do not overthink about which colors to use. Instead, pick the colors based on your feeling at the moment without the analysis of what looks good.
Supplies Needed:
Watercolor paper
Watercolor colors or other water based colors
Paintbrushes
Spray bottle with alcohol (optional)
Coarse or fine salt (optional)
Painting Technique:
Add water all over your watercolor paper. Using a big size brush, paint any colors you feel like at the moment. Continue to add colors and paints (watercolor, gouache or acrylic). Fill the whole page with color. Experiment with different textures. Spray with alcohol, add sea salt granules or sprinkle with white gouache.
Try this technique out and when done analyze what you had created. See which parts of this abstract painting you like and dislike, and why. See if you would like to use any of the color combination or brush strokes in your next art project. Let me know and comment if this exercise was helpful in expanding your creativity.
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