Drawing to Calm Anxiety
Dear Wonderful, Creative Y'all:
Whether y'all are quarantined at home, or an essential worker going out into the globe to make sure the residue of us get our needs met, most of united states are feeling broken-hearted, out of sorts, and generally unsure of what to practice with ourselves, at least some of the time. I talked in my last post almost some coping skills that have helped me conform to life in quarantine, and how fine art is a role of that. Merely I desire to share specifically today about using drawing to calm anxiety with something I telephone call slow drawing.
Why should you boring draw? What is it?
It's possible that others define this a bit differently, but for me, slow drawing is a mindful practice whereI move my pen at a slower stride than usual and actually pay attending to the procedure. It's a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is simply paying attention to what you are doing in the moment.
And so when I tiresome draw, I take an intention to find the procedure with curiosity. Curiosity is a wonderful skill because it disengages judgment, and engages presence. When we can stop thinking about what we should be doing, checking the phone, worrying about what will happen next and just be nowadays to what we are doing right now, information technology'due south a relief. This kind of singular focus is an splendid mindfulness practice. (It's as well corking for usa artists, trying to go the inner critic to accept a intermission so we can explore with our fine art materials.)
One of the reasons I recollect art lends itself to mindfulness practice so well is because it'due south a sensory experience. As I slow depict, I am watching to see how the lines announced on the folio. I observe the slight bumps that appear, especially every bit I'grand warming up, or how the line is impacted if I exhale a certain way. Rather than trying to perfect or judge a slow drawing, I'k but curious about what'due south going to happen side by side, and what the experience is similar.
I go curious well-nigh how the pen feels in my manus – is it smooth? Warm or cool? Is my grip light, or can I feel the difficult side of the pen pressing into my finger? I listen for the sound of the pen moving across the page. Can I hear it?
And every bit I tune into the process of cartoon a simple, repetitive pattern, and noticing the process through my senses, something astonishing happens. My animate slows downwardly. I feel my muscles relax. I kickoff to enjoy the process of watching the lines appear, getting playful and curious about what would happen if I made this or that small change. I love to watch the lines become darker as the ink overlaps on itself, and run across what happens as a line ventures into uncharted territory on the page.
Intentionally slowing down is a powerful procedure. There is then much telling u.s.a. to bustle upwardly, be productive, even in this fourth dimension of quarantine. I love having an invitation to go as slow equally y'all wish; it'due south a relief.
Benefits of Tiresome Cartoon
+It's an agile meditation, which for many of the states is easier than closing our eyes and focusing on the breath. We shed worries while nosotros draw. It's of import to have a break from all the stress and worry right at present.
+Y'all have permission to focus on the procedure, not the product of drawing. Sometimes nosotros need permission to let become of perfectionism and just do something because it feels good. That's a good quarantine coping skill in my book.
+You can work in serial,which allows you to experiment and endeavor lots of variations. This will helps you discover what you similar artistically, and improve your skills. Working a series also helps because you don't accept the force per unit area of coming upwardly with a new idea each day.
To help folks learn this process, I did a Slow Drawing + Watercolor Bursts workshop last week, and we practiced irksome drawing many unlike variations on a unproblematic grade. If you missed the replay window, or you but want to do the visualization, drawing and painting again with me, I'm making the slow drawing classes available at CoronaCoping pricing for just $fourteen and so that equally many folks can have advantage as possible. (Normally a video class this length would be $39.)
I'd love to hear near your experience with slow drawing and how it'south helping you cope.
Creatively Yours,
Amy
Source: https://mindfulartstudio.com/drawing-to-calm-anxiety/
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