Mark making - mindfulness in drawing

Wassily Kandinsky, Analytical drawing after photos of dancing

How did a few paints and some neon colouring pencils turn things around?

For so long after art college I found it hard to make anything and even harder to share anything I did make for fear that it wouldn't be perfect or professional enough. But then I realised it could never be either if I didn't do anything.

I am not first person to fear the  prospect of the real or metaphysical blank page. Joan Miró famously "dirtied" canvasses before painting to avoid the pressure it held for him. But  we can also look at that blank page as a space that holds unlimited possibilities.

Picking up some kind of mark making tool - a biro, a child's crayon, your favourite blackwing pencil, some paints - and letting go of what should be on that page can be remarkably freeing. Sit for two minutes and taking five deep breaths to centre yourself before starting, then let yourself use up as many blank pages as you want. Don't judge.  Just play. It can be marks or free form writing.  Don't get attached to the outcome and try and enjoy the process. You never know what ideas might be unearthed by getting things moving.

When I picked up those neon pencils a few years ago I wasn't really planning on creating anything but suddenly two hours of a train journey had passed drawing shapes in a notebook. Graphic blocks that didn't really amount to anything in particular but started something.

Do you want a little support in getting your creative practice flowing? Sign up here and I will send you a week’s worth of creative prompts.