Intuitive Drawing- A Few Tips
For Art Block

What do we do when our creative battery is empty but our emotional outlet is art?

Most of us would be stuck in a rut where creating is impossible, blaming ourselves for our failures. The most frustrating thing is when you make a masterpiece one day, but the next, nothing works leaving you with a knot of frustration. That said, it is impossible to be 100% amazing every time we pick up a brush. That's not how life works but it shouldn’t be a war either.

So here we are, let's take some moments to re-centre ourselves and get back to the joy of creating.

So here we are, let's take some moments to re-centre ourselves and get back to the joy of creating.

Warming Up.
Start simple (Or not!) put pencil, pen or brush to paper and start making your marks. Let your hand guide you where it wants to go. Kind of like when you’re on the phone and you’re randomly doodling. Try swirling the pencil, dotting or just draw lines. Whatever comes, let it be. Let your mind wander.

Hirameki doodles…..kinda!
Note: This one is a bit messy. If you don’t want to have ink on your hands you can just put pen to paper.
With a marker colour in your fingertips. Be quick as ink can dry really fast on the skin! One by one create happy little splodges on your paper. When you are satisfied with the amount, grab a fineliner and bring your splodges to life. Make them into faces or animals, whatever you like!

Sketch With Non Dominant Hand.
When we work out, we always engage both sides so we don’t end up with one Hulk arm and one noodle arm. So why should it be any different when we do our art exercises? Not only are we working out our hands but our coordination and brain. So pick up your pencil in your non dominant hand, pick a subject and draw. Have fun with it and let the graphite flow across the page.

What’s your name?
Our personality and being is very much linked to our art style. So it makes sense that when we feel wobbly or empty, our art reflects this. Write your name in any colour in big, bold letters, block or bubble it’s up to you. Think of a positive word with the same first letter as your name. Add this word to your drawing in any location on the paper, you can add more if you like. When you’re done writing, pick your favourite colours and create a design inside the letters of your name.

Music Led Sketching
If you were able to put music on, why don’t you use the melody to create something else. If not, you can skip this one.

Take as much or as little time as you like on these exercises. I recommend around 15-20 minutes but it’s up to you. Hopefully you feel that the knot has released a little bit. We are not printers and we should remember this when we get down on ourselves.

Expression is art, so express yourself, whether you're angry, joyful, or apathetic. Whether you make mistakes or not, remember that Pollock did it so you can too.


Keep Scrawling!