Art therapy doesn’t require special tools or prior experience. All it takes is a little space, time, and openness. These exercises help you reconnect with yourself, slow down, and observe what’s happening inside – through colors, shapes, and movement.
1. Gesture Drawing with Closed Eyes
- Choose music that feels good right now.
- Close your eyes and let your hand lead – with a single, uninterrupted line.
- Observe: what was the movement like? Energetic, gentle, fragmented?
This exercise helps connect the body with its inner rhythm.
2. Choosing Color by Feeling
- Look at your colors (pencils, paint, markers – whatever you have).
- Don’t overthink – just pick the one that “calls” to you.
- Create a color patch or fill a surface with it.
Color choice often reflects our current emotional state.
3. Collage to Inner Voice
- Cut out images, words, shapes from magazines or old papers.
- Don’t plan – just place side by side what resonates with you now.
- Glue them onto a sheet and observe: what does it say about you?
Collage helps reveal what’s inside through free association.
4. Free Writing – “What’s Inside Me Now?”
- Set a timer for 5 minutes.
- Write continuously, without stopping – anything that comes.
- It doesn’t have to make sense. It doesn’t have to be beautiful. It just has to be honest.
Writing helps release, clarify, and arrive.
5. “Me Now” – Self-Portrait from Feeling
- Create a self-portrait – not based on appearance, but on inner feeling.
- It can be a symbol, a color patch, a shape – anything that represents you right now.
- Look at it: what does this image reveal about you?
The self-portrait acts as an inner mirror – it’s not about how you look, but how you are.
These exercises don’t require artistic skills or special tools. The goal isn’t to create something “beautiful,” but to get closer to yourself. If you feel like it, try one — and notice how it affects you. It might help you better understand what’s going on inside, or simply offer the joy of creating.
You can download these exercises, pin them to your wall, and return to them regularly — especially when you feel emotionally full or overwhelmed.👇🏻
CREATIVE • STUDIO 