In this mindful agate stone exercise, we’ll do some relaxing watercolor blending combined with some lineart.
Did you know that agate stones stand for harmony, balance, and calmness? Let’s see if this exercise can generate the same feelings by just drawing one.
We’ll start with some mindful wet-on-wet color blending. Just watch the magic unfold when you see your colors blending together. It’s one of the activities that I find really relaxing.
Another activity that’s very relaxing for me is drawing patterns and lines. Agate stones have these beautiful wavy lines in them, which we’ll recreate as well. Drawing these lines always gives me a feeling of calm and being in the moment.
As no agate stone is alike, play with colors that you like and with your lineart. This is about fun and having some creative me-time. Just enjoy the process of creating.
Have fun with this mindful agate stone drawing exercise! Please let me know if you’ve tried this one, I would love to see it.
You can find a small video of this exercise on my Instagram @thecreativecooldown
Supplies used:
Glitter watercolor paper 300gr (Paul Rubens), watercolor (Kuretake Gansai Tambi), paintbrush no. 16 (CreArt), paintbrush 3/0 (Princeton), white acrylic marker (Ohuhu), washi tape, jar, paper towel.
Alternative supply suggestions:
You can use your kids’ watercolor paints. They may not have as much pigment as the ones in the art stores, but it’s definitely something you can start with at the beginning.
Of course, you can use crayons, alcohol markers, or watercolor pencils as well.
If you only have regular paper, please be aware that your paper cannot hold that much water and will probably warp. Try taping it down to prevent it from warping too much.
Instructions:
Step 1
Before you start, breathe slowly in and out a few times to clear your head. Take a wet brush and ‘paint’ a round or oval shape on your page. Choose a color you like or makes you feel good and paint part of your round shape with it. Make sure your stone is not perfectly round, it can have some bumps. Add one or more other colors or different shades of your color, while the paint is still wet. This technique is called wet-on-wet. Watch as these colors magically blend together.
Step 2
Wait until your paint is dry and add another layer of paint to deepen your colors. If you want, you can wait until this second layer is dry and even add a third layer of paint.
Step 3
Let the paint dry. Choose a slightly darker or opaque color and add an outline to your stone. If possible, use a smaller paintbrush to paint this outline. This will give your agate stone a more rock-like feel. I used an opaque gold color.
Step 4
When you look at your blends, you’ll see edges where one color blended with another one. These edges are usually wavy and playful because with the wet-on-wet technique the paint decides where it wants to go. This is the perfect guideline to start with your wavy lines. Use a fineliner or an opaque pen and trace these wavy edges of your blends. This will make your lines more natural.
Step 5
Now it’s time to fill your whole agate stone with lines. Add lines that are parallel to the lines that you’ve drawn in step 4 or are parallel to the outline of your stone. Enjoy the repetitive motion of drawing these lines, it can be really meditative. Continue until your whole stone is filled with lines.
Now you’re done with this mindful agate stone drawing exercise. Well done!
If you liked this exercise, you might like my mindful leaf pattern drawing exercise as well.