Take time to slow down your mind and fill your sketchbook while creating beautiful art! Join the Calm Creatives Art Challenge to practice mindful mark-making, through affirmations and painting. Let's create together. #calmcreatives #mixedmediasketchbook
Before starting the Calm Creatives Art Challenge, I invite you to use the affirmations to get your mind in the best possible state to make beautiful and care-free art. A peaceful mind and peaceful studio = healthy artist and happy sketchbooks.
Firstly, empty your mind and feel at peace
Self-care for artists and creatives is important as you have to look after your physical and mental health the best you can to produce quality work and meet targets.
To prevent suffering from stress, overwhelm, or burnout try saying these affirmations to yourself to improve your well-being.
Sit or stand in a quiet still place. Breathe deeply yet slowly and say the affirmations below to yourself several times. When feeling burnt out, stressed about deadlines or lack of inspiration give yourself permission to take time out and include positive affirmations as part of your self-help routine.
Let time stand still and inhale these soft words of encouragement.
Secondly, make your studio a calm and inviting place
Carve out a tidy and calm space to make your art. Let it be easy to work in. Organise your art supplies and have a bottle of water nearby (this always saves me time as I seem to drink loads more when painting and hate having to stop my work to get a drink). It doesn't need to be as tidy as the art space in the photo(!) but you get the idea. I personally like a bit of arty mess around me as it makes me feel free to just go for it but I still like it to feel organised and calm.
Let's begin the 1 week Calm Creatives art challenge
Use the following prompts to fill your sketchbook with art work that will still the mind of yourself and viewers.
Day 1: Use soft colours to make sketches and paintings in any media in your sketchbook. Choose a calming subject to paint such as a seascape or flower or just let yourself free and do whatever you please! It doesn't need to make sense.
Day 2: Dedicate some sketchbook pages to the act of blending colours together. Chalk pastels, watercolours and inks work particularly well for this. Let the colours flow and ebb across the page.
Day 3: Choose a quote that makes you feel at ease. Cover your sketchbook page in pretty colours and patterns for a background, then scribble your quote loosely over the top.
Day 4: Paint a seascape or landscape that shows a calming scene. For example, a sunset, gentle waves or flowing hills.
Day 5: Do a messy sketch. Don't be precious about how it looks: just feel free and create the image as you see fit.
Day 6: Choose music you find soothing and paint any subject with any medium while listening to the music.
Day 7: Paint anything you like! Got an idea that you're itching to get down on paper? Got a colour combo you want to try out? Fill your sketchbook with all your ideas to empty your mind.
Examples for the Calm Creatives art challenge
Here is some of the art work I did in my sketchbooks as part of the Calm Creatives art challenge:
