Exploring shells and pebbles at Destress drawing

15 July 2021

At our Destress drawing and doodling group we had a theme of being along the coast, looking down at shells and pebbles 😁 It was a joy just having the time discovering and doodling the varied shapes and textures of things from the shore and sea. 

Blair’s collection inspired the group and we also had some photos to look at too. It was a soothing and inspiring summery theme. We doodled with different materials such as pencils, pens and brush pens. Blair guided folk and there was time to explore, and we listened to some coastal poetry from Kenneth White. 

Please check our Events page for the next date for this group.

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art

Soothing meandering lines and relaxing ripples

3 June 2021

Our May De-stress doodling (on the third Wednesday each month) had a theme of flowing soothing water, with currents and ripples twisting along riverbanks.

It was a chilled zoom group with a happy atmosphere (with folk joining from North America as well as the United Kingdom mainly), some of us using pens, whilst others had coloured pencils, a graphite pencil, or watercolours. Most of us doodled water ripples and meandering rivers, some from imagination or using the images and artworks Blair provided for inspiration.

We embraced the delightful energy of water in our drawings and discovered it was a really nice theme to settle down with and relax. The Yellow Flower River poem excerpt from Wang Wei (see picture) captured the mood and guided us also.

See the next event date

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art

Edges, spikes and curves of leafy patterns

4 May 2021

We had a spiky and swirly theme of leaves and pattern, as more green leaves and blossoms have been appearing outside to joyfully greet us 😁 

It was a friendly small group and a relaxing time doodling some funky leafy shapes. We had some warm up drawings to get us going before Blair read some poetry, talked about the theme and season, and then we had time for a free piece. Thanks to participants for sending your photos below.

Our short poem tonight by Basho about the season –

this time
expressing thanks to the blossoms
alas farewell

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art

Doodling spring joy and growth at Destress

1 April 2021

At our Destress drawing and doodling group we relaxed with a theme of Spring growth and new life and energy emerging! 

Blair had some daffodils and shoots and buds to look at and we had photos too for inspiration. Some of us drew with pencils or coloured pencils, and others with pens.

We had a mix of very loose doodles and some time for longer drawings, it was free for folk to doodle and develop pieces as they liked. Everyone enjoyed and said they found it therapeutic and fun!

Please have a look below at the participants lovely and energetic spring artworks.

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art

Cosmic doodling at the Destress drawing group

1 March 2021

We had a theme of night over the horizon – the deep spaces of the night sky above the city or landscape, with the vast space of the cosmos and stars and planets.

It was a very chilled out relaxing group with participants working from images Blair sent them as well as from some poetry and images Blair talked about to help folk feel the atmosphere and settle into the artwork, and just enjoy doing their own thing.

Shooting stars and planets were popular! Please see some pictures by participants below.

We each had different materials, some folk had pencils, other pens or a mix of these. Blair did some small demonstrations now and again of ways of doodling and drawing he thought would be nice to share, one of them was a loose colourful picture of the northern lights, using art brushes which are a really nice flowing and soft type of brush pen to make marks with.

Our next online session by Zoom↓😉
Monday 17th March 7.00pm – 8.30pm UTC+0
https://de-stress-drawing-group-march-2021.eventbrite.co.uk

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art

Doodly relaxing with snowy and icy winter shapes 

2 February 2021

At our Destress doodling and drawing group we had an easygoing time with a seasonal wintry theme of snow lines and icy shapes and patterns to inspire us.

Folk who joined us used whatever they had to hand, such as a pen or pencil or coloured pencils or felt tip pens. 

After some laid back doodles of lines and shapes (and some bird and animal footprints!) Blair talked a bit about wintry walking by the river near him and the experience of being outside and enjoying the spaciousness and patterns and cooler subtle and silvery colours of the season – after this and listening to some short poetry we drew some more and had plenty of time to explore our doodles more and bring in some more colours too. 

Drawing in this way gave us freedom and a supportive space to just enjoy making each piece without judgement or worry, a great way to de-stress. Thanks to those who wanted to send their pictures for sharing.

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art

Time to doodle and relax with the changing season

14 December 2020

At our comfortable and easygoing Destress drawing group online on zoom we started with some gentle free doodles, such as flowing lines and zig zags, before making our own patterns to colour. See some of the pieces participants worked on below, very varied ✨

Blair said some words about the season and we imagined gazing up through twisting branches from a forest full of golden leaves, up to a glowing moon, which helped us to doodle some more and find our own fun creative paths. He read some poetry by Ryokan also, here is a snippet:

We had a friendly group with a nice atmosphere, and folk didn’t have to show any works they were doing, so there was no pressure to be creative or come up with anything specific, this group is more about enjoying the doodling and drawing process , finding calm and connection and the sensory meditative side of drawing.

Our next session↓😉

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art

Relaxing and immersing ourselves in autumnal lines

8 November 2020

At our De-stress drawing group on zoom we enjoyed a slow paced, peaceful doodling time with a loose autumn theme. To start we relaxed with doodling zig zags and curves, before taking a moment to notice the pattern and feel of the changing season 😊 

We loosely sketched some leafy shapes, inspired by simple outlines and curves, points of leaves, and also took in some different hues of autumn  🍂

Bringing in a meditative and mindful approach with a light heart, and a little poetry too for inspiration, we could find some freedom and ease in the drawing without having any worry about what the result would be. And of course we had time to explore and work on anything we fancied which was fun. Thanks for sending your images. ✨

Our next session↓😉

Category: Art Groups Tags: De-stress therapeutic art