This mindful rainbow and circles exercise is a perfect way to have some creative me-time and relax.
Especially, as it combines two calming creative things: color blending and drawing circles.
One of the most relaxing and satisfying things for me is color blending. I love watching the colors mix together. It’s like magic.
Apparently, most of the time our brains prefer circles over squares. A circle represents unity and security and makes us feel safe. That’s why drawing circles is so relaxing and comforting.
This is also an exercise anyone can do because there is no previous creative experience necessary. Just grab some paint and start experimenting with color blending.
When you do this exercise try to focus on what you’re doing, what you see, what you smell. Just be in the moment!
Have fun with this mindful rainbow and circles exercise! Please let me know if you liked this one.
You can find a small video of this exercise on my Instagram @thecreativecooldown
Supplies used:
Watercolor paper 300gr (Strathmore 400 series), watercolor (Kuretake Gansai Tambi), paintbrushes (A10), circle template (M+R), fineliner (Copic), 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. However, while it’s certainly possible to blend colors with these, keep in mind that for most of them this works differently than watercolor.
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.
You don’t need a circle template or a Helix circle maker to draw the circles. Just use whatever round objects you have, such as glasses, cups, jars, etc.
Instructions:
1. Before you start, breathe slowly in and out a few times to clear your head. Tape down your paper and make sure you cover an equal part on all sides of your paper with the tape. When you take off the tape in step 5, you’ll have a nice white frame around it. Wet your brush and cover your page with a thin layer of water.
2. Now, it’s time to add the colors. I used all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. But please use whatever color you like. I painted them in a slanted way, but you can do it in a horizontal, vertical, or curved way as well. See what feels good. Make sure the first color is still wet when you add the next one. This will make your rainbow a bit more playful and makes the colors bleed into each other, which is always relaxing to watch.
3. Make sure your paint is dry before you continue with this step. Use a circle template or round objects to draw circles in different sizes.
4. Fill your page with as many circles as you like. I wanted to draw my circles in a kind of an upward motion and this is how it turned out. Try not to overthink it and just place the circles where it feels good.
5. Remove your (washi) tape.
6. Now you’re done with this mindful rainbow and circles exercise!
If you liked this exercise, you might like my mindful galaxy baubles exercise as well.
