In this mindful organic shapes exercise, we’ll discover the calming power of organic shapes.
Organic shapes look like shapes we know from nature, such as clouds. The gentle curves of these shapes feel familiar and comforting. No sharp corners anywhere. Also, the fact that they’re asymmetrical gives them a creative and playful feel.
As we saw in previous exercises, different shapes have different effects on the brain. Just like circles and horizontal lines, organic shapes make us feel calm and safe.
So in this exercise, we’ll use the comforting and playful feeling of organic shapes to relax and get energized at the same time. Let your brush or pen flow over your paper and see what kind of shape comes out.
Have fun and relax with this exercise and get some well-deserved creative me-time.
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:
Watercolor paper 300gr (Fabriano), watercolor (Kuretake Gansai Tambi), paintbrush (Da Vinci), fineliner no. 0.3 (Copic), acrylic marker black (Posca), acrylic marker white (Ohuhu), fineliner no. 0.05 (Winsor & Newton), washi tape, and a paper towel.
Alternative supply suggestions:
You can use whatever supplies you have for this exercise; colored pencils, markers, gouache, and crayons.
Even just a pen or pencil is good enough.
Instructions:
Step 1
Before you start, slowly breathe in and out a few times to clear your head and get more relaxed. Put washi tape around the edges of your paper. This will create a nice border around your painting.
Choose your medium of choice; watercolor, colored pencils, crayons, etc. Then choose some colors. Pick ones that calm you or fit your mood.
Now slowly start by drawing or painting an organic shape on your paper. Organic shapes have a soft feel to them as they do not have any sharp edges. Just create a flowy figure on your page. As long as it’s flowy without any sharp edges, you’re good to go. Draw or paint a few of these with the same color.
Step 2
Now, grab some of your other colors and add some extra organic shapes to your page until it’s filled with them.
Step 3
After drawing or painting your organic shapes, add some details to decorate them. How you do this is up to you. Use lines, dots, shapes, etc. Do what feels good. I started by putting dots around my yellow shapes.
Step 4
Now, we’ll add some details to the organic shapes of your second color. I filled them with curved lines. As the shapes are curved as well, I thought it would fit perfectly.
Step 5
Continue to add details to your different organic shapes. You don’t have to use the same pen for every pattern, use what you like. For my dark green shapes, I thought a white acrylic pen was very fitting because I like the contrast between the colors it creates.
Step 6
Continue until all your shapes are filled with some details. I filled my last ones with circles and dots. If you like, you can add color or a pattern to your background as well.
When you’re done, slowly remove your washi tape. Keep the tape parallel to your paper when you remove it, this will prevent your paper from tearing.
Now you’re done with this mindful organic shapes exercise! I hope you had fun.
If you liked this exercise, you might also like my mindful colors and lines exercise.