Art Prompts
Below I offer a selection of art directives designed for self exploration and expression. I would love to see what you create in your session! Please note, I find it incredibly helpful to journal about your experience upon completion of the project and have included writing prompts for reflection. Writing engages different parts of the brain, allowing you to deepen your experience. You may find it helpful to designate a journal specifically for this purpose.
Color Associations
Many people move through the world only aware of their most obvious emotional state at any given time, or perhaps unaware completely. Self awareness is an important part of mental health as it becomes a good starting point to address maladaptive thinking patterns, employ coping skills before emotions escalate to an unmanageable level, or simply savoring the moment by reflecting on positivity and happiness, peace, connectedness, noting it so in darker times the memory of better moments, reminding us that the present state of distress is a passing cloud, not who we are.
This activity could be done every day with a different result. It is a visual take on our emotional state in a particular moment in time.
Tips for deepening the experience are available should you wish to revisit it.
Most people have both conscious and unconscious associations with color. Some are personal preference and some are cultural. For example, some people associate the color red with anger, others with passion and love. Please follow the steps below to complete the directive!
Suggested Mediums: For this activity I recommend a minimum of 8.5 x 11 paper. Medium is flexible but should be able to get good, vivid coverage fairly quickly. Oil pastels, chalk pastels, crayons and colored pencils are all excellent choices, generally 8-12 colors are best, but you can use as many as you like. A marker is also helpful to create the design but pencil or pen are also workable.
Step 1
Download and complete the color association worksheet. Sometimes clients struggle to name emotions, if you find yourself stuck page two gives examples of emotions, but you do not need to use these at all.
Tip: Many people fall into the pattern of naming things instead of emotions. For example, blue labeled "ocean." If you notice this in your responses, go back and consider the emotion. you associate with the thing, ie "the ocean makes me feel calm." Therefore, the emotion of blue is calm.
Step 2
Using a marker or pen, create a stained glass style outline filling the entire page. That means every shaped is a contained shape, without orphaned lines. All lines should touch either another line or the edge of the paper (mistake lines indicated in red). Some people find a word or name to be a useful guide to complete this section but feel free to approach this as creatively as you like, if you use a word it does not need to be legible!
Step 3
Now return to the key you created and consider each shape you have created. If you selected blue as calm, consider "how calm am I right now?" Sometimes a scale of 1-10 is helpful. If I feel very calm, maybe an 8. Now look at your outlined image, which shape represents large but not largest of the options? Fill that shape in with your blue. Move on to each color the same way. If you do not feel that emotion at all, don't include it. If you find you have more spaces than feelings or not enough, revise your outlined image to create more, or fill in extra shapes to indicate the color you feel deserves more space.
Color Key Example
Outline Example
Step 3
Once you have completed your piece, consider your finished product. Anything surprise you? Consider where you placed the colors in relationship to each others, is there any significance? Are there any emotions you would like to cultivate more of in your life? Looking at the positive feelings, what brings you them? Noticing and observing these aspects of self is an important example of mindfulness, one of the cornerstones of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills.
Self as an Object in Nature
Many times our environment, people, events and thoughts can profoundly influence our perception of ourselves and how confident we are in our ability to influence these things. In this activity you will explore an artistic representation reflecting on the environment that surrounds you and it's connection to your emotions.
If you find yourself struggling to get started, consider looking at landscape paintings and asking these same questions. What do you think the artist was representing about themselves and their environment? Here are a few paintings to consider:
Suggested Mediums: For this activity I recommend a minimum of 16x20 paper. Medium is flexible but should you choose to use markers or pencils the activity may take quite a while. Oil pastels, chalk pastels, crayons, all types of paint, or even clay are all excellent choices.
Step 1
Take a moment to pause and reflect on what events, pressures, relationships, activities, people and general energies surround you in this moment. Are they calm, peaceful or tumultuous, chaotic? Are things moving quickly or are you striving to achieve?
Step 2
Now imagine a landscape that expresses these concepts. If you were a tree for example, would it be in full bloom, offering fruit or barren? Are there other trees nearby or other objects in nature? Is the tree set in a field? A forest? On a mountain? A deserted island? What is the weather like? Sunny skies, dark night, stormy, tornado, snow? Think about the colors, are they vibrant or faded. Are different features different colors or intensity? What about lines, are they rolling and gentle or jagged and angular?
Step 3
As you work reflect on details that may enhance your idea. Allow your work to transform as you go, noticing ways that various aspects of your image have other meaning, consider how close elements are to the object representing yourself. Sit with your work and take breaks to allow new ideas to come. Consider using references if you wish to develop specific details or perspective assistance tools should you wish to give your image a more 3D effect.
Step 4
Deepening and Meaning Making- consider journaling the following points:
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How does the object represent you?
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Why did you choose the object?
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What was this process like for you?
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Did you learn anything about yourself?
Inside Out Drawing
An inside out drawing involves consideration of the version of self you present to the world vs the person you feel you are inside. In some cases, there may not be much difference, in others, it can be radially different. This activity explores aspects of self and ways in which we present ourselves to the world.
Suggested Mediums: For this activity I recommend a minimum of 8.5 x 11 paper. Medium is flexible but should be able to be used to draw. Markers, crayons and colored pencils are all excellent choices, as many colors as you wish. This is also a wonderful opportunity to use collage! You may need to use words to express some of your ideas, which is okay, but do you best to find a symbolic way to represent you idea where ever possible.
Also consider making "windows" with scissors, for example, if you feel the world sees you as someone who loves the ocean, perhaps consider drawing it on the inside and removing the outside fold over to reveal the inner self showing through to the outer self.
Step 1
Holding your paper horizontally, fold the left and right sides to meet in the middle. you paper will now have something that looks like double doors. See steps here.
Step 2
Now reflect on the self you present to the world and reflect it visually on the "outside" of your folded paper, ie the doors as if closed. As mentioned previously, consider ways in which your inner self are "open" and what aspects of your inner self are "closed." See example here.
Step 3
Once you have completed your project, it's time to reflect:
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How was this project for you to complete?
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What feelings and emotions came up through the process?
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What are some of the representations that appear on both the inside and outside? How do you feel about them?
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Are there aspects of either your inner or outer selves that make you proud? Name three ways you might be able to strengthen these aspects, what feeds them? What gets in the way of greater expression?
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Are there aspects of yourself you want to change? Name three ways you might do so.
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If you were to do this project in a year, do you think it would change? If so, how?
Vision Board Collage
A vision board is a collage of your hopes and intentions for your future, using photographs, cut outs, tickets, anything that speaks to you as meaningful. It is something that you can place somewhere you can see it regularly to inspire you to make small moves every day in the service of your intentions.
Suggested Mediums: This project is best in large format, consider using a poster board or, if not available, a large piece of cardboard will do. You will need magazines, print outs and collage materials, scissors, glue/tape and I recommend a layer or two of mod podge to seal your work. Your final project can also be a living document of sorts, adding, layering and changing it as you go.
Step 1
Collect your materials! You may want to work on this project over a couple of days to gather enough images and words to work with before you begin. Try to collect a variety of sizes, colors and images that represent various concepts rather than literal images but both are fine.
Step 2
It's helpful to collage in layers, setting an interesting background and overlapping other sides of images over that background. Consider shapes and color in balance as you begin to lay out your piece, if you have repositioning tape it's an excellent tool for early lay out before commiting.
Step 3
Once you have completed your project, it's time to reflect:
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How was this project for you to complete?
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What feelings and emotions came up through the process?
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Are there any themes you observe?
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If you were to do this project in a year, do you think it would change? If so, how?
