Feel the fear… and draw a picture of it.

Making art inspired by our emotions can be a powerful way to better understand what they’re trying to tell us, and to move through them. This week, we’re going to play with this idea.

I’ve been thinking about the phrase ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’, which is why I’m suggesting fear, but if you’re feeling something different, feel free (pun intended) to explore that instead.

As usual, use this however you wish - think about it, write about it, make art inspired by it. There are no right answers and there's no way to get this wrong. If you're going to make some art inspired by your emotion, you'll need something to draw on and with. Anything you have to hand is great.

What follows are suggestions - take them or leave them as feels useful to you.

It might also be good to start with a feeling that's not too big. A little fear, a smaller worry. Also know that you can stop this process at any time if it starts to feel too much. Come back to it later, or scrunch up the page and stop completely. Both are good choices!

So how do you draw a feeling? Feelings are kind of abstract.

First, hang out with your feeling for a bit. Notice the nuance. Is it a scared feeling? A worry? A kind of pervasive anxiousness?

If your feeling had a colour, what might that colour be?

Now you have a colour… what shape might this feeling be? A scribble? A box? A never ending circle that goes round and round?

Does it have a texture? Is it rough? Smooth? Spiky? Slippery?

How fast is this feeling? Does your hand want to go slow, or quick, or somewhere in between?

Is it still the same colour, or does it feel like a different colour now?

Keep exploring your feeling in this way until you feel like you have a handle on it. Trust the part of you that knows how to do this - there's no way to get it wrong.

Next, see if you can find out what this feeling might need from you. Does it have a message it's trying to convey?

You might like to keep drawing, or perhaps you'd like to write any thoughts or ideas you have about what this feeling is about.

Often when I draw feelings that are a little on the uncomfortable side, like fear, they need containment, which helps them feel less huge and overwhelming, more manageable. So perhaps I will draw a border around the page, or draw them in a bowl or a nest so they have somewhere to rest.

Perhaps you'd like to have a conversation with your feeling while you're drawing. Talk to it, either out loud or in written words, and see what it might want to tell you.

There are so many directions you could take this, as you might be starting to see.

So where does this stop? How do you know when you're done? Mostly, you feel it.

There's a sense of 'that's enough', of completeness. Or, if you like, you could set a timer for five minutes or half an hour, and go until you feel finished or until the time runs out.

At the end, take a moment to consider what you've learned. Perhaps thank your feeling, if that feels appropriate.

And then have a rest :)

This art journal prompt is inspired by this week’s blog post. If you’re interested, you can read it here: https://www.ellenmay.com.au/blog/feel-the-fear-and-make-it-a-cup-of-tea