Loosen Up Your Watercolor Painting—Here’s an Exercise to Try
Every time I lead a class or workshop, more than half of the participants mention the goal of “loosening up”. Here’s a skill-building exercise to help you move in that direction.
![Three loose little bottle sketches, done right on top of previous "test scraps". All the stray marks already on the page help you let go of "blank page" anxiety.](https://i0.wp.com/www.dragonflyspiritstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_2416.jpg?resize=300%2C186&ssl=1)
Every time I lead a class or workshop, more than half of the participants mention the goal of “loosening up”. Here’s a skill-building exercise to help you move in that direction.
Huh? Everything you read these days seems to extol the virtues of being “in the present moment”. I’m not questioning the value of being attentive, appreciative and aware. In fact, a few weeks ago, I suggested some ways to use art-making to deepen your appreciation for the beauty and wonder in your everyday routine and…
A lot of people have been asking about what pen I use for drawing in my journals. In this post, I describe the bottled waterproof ink and pen(s) I use in my Studio Journal, and a couple of alternative options if you prefer cartridges over bottled ink.
A couple of weekends ago, we had a beautiful 70-degree day with this year’s glorious fall colors just hitting their peak. On the spur of the moment, I grabbed my backpack and headed out to paint with a friend. I had forgotten to bring masking tape, so I couldn’t tape down my paper to keep…
The 30-Doodles-in-30-Days Challenge is drawing to a close, but one thing I have discovered is that everyone has enjoyed having a daily doodling suggestion (a “prompt”) as a creative springboard. Since I’ve been on a spiral kick myself lately, I invite you to create a “doodle” (or doodles) based on a spiral or spirals. (Remember,…
The biggest benefit of drawing is that drawing changes how you see. Drawing is a form of active meditation, a mindfulness practice, and a wonderful stress-reliever. That all sounds great. But what if you can’t draw? I have good news: the worse your drawing skills are, the easier today’s “drawing” activities will be for you! Back when I…
Do you ever make mistakes when you’re working in your journal? Or doodling? Ever put down a wobbly line? Smear some ink? Drip watercolor where you didn’t mean to? How does it make you feel? Perhaps a bit aggravated or disappointed? Do you ever want to tear a page out of your journal because it…
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