Mindful art

Day 4 of daily drawing and writing

Today’s drawing is ‘just a pretty little pattern’.

Pattern making (full disclosure – this is not a technical repeat, it’s an implied repeat; but it would not take me much to turn it into a full repeat), while it can and is a way to make money – is one of my go-to methods for decompressing. Whether on the iPad or using paint or paint markers in a sketchbook, it puts me in a zone that really calms me. Painting probably has the best in-the-zone, switch-off effect, but I can still get it from moments in a sketchbook or in Fresco.

Yesterday I worked fairly long hours (about 12, with only minimal breaks in between). The work is very enjoyable, and I don’t mind working extra long hours now and then (though the times that has to happen every day for a few weeks are hard), but it does give less time for the daily stuff that switches off work. I usually try to take a break for lunch and sit and read while eating, for example. Cooking and even tidying the kitchen (ideally with LOUD music on) is a great release. Going for walk... Sitting chatting to family and friends… Watching a bit of TV… And drawing or painting for pleasure. (When I’m super busy on client illustrations – laying down colour and details actually provides this calm and release, which is really useful when I have some crazy illustration deadlines.)

So, this morning, instead of coming up with a nice simple illustration to create for this daily practice, I just went straight to mindful pattern making. This is almost always stylised florals of some kind, and the simplicity or complexity varies depending on how much time I am taking and what my head is doing.

And then, when I looked at my Facebook Memories this appeared (from 2021)…

Today, I will make more time for those activities – even if I do also fit in 12 hours of work. Promise.

What are your go-to calming activities? Do you have any go-with-the-flow drawing or painting practice that lets you completely switch off?

Finished before 9 am today. But still taking more than half an hour. (BUT… I needed that more than half an hour for the pattern and its calming effect. I am now set for a full, and quite possibly, long day at my desk.)