In this mindful spiral circle exercise, we’ll discover how calming spirals can be.
We’ve talked a lot about how calming circles are, but did you know spirals can also be calming?
When you pay attention, you can see them all around you: in nature, architecture, and mythology. It symbolizes turning inwards or outwards, depending on the direction of your spiral. It also represents development and growth.
You can draw spirals in two different directions.
When you spiral inwards, you go to the core, but also the core of yourself. This can be pleasant or not at all. Moving outwards can feel free-ing, but for some people, it can also feel scary and out of control.
Try both directions and see which one is the most comfortable for you. Draw circles within circles instead if spirals do not feel good.
Always listen to your emotions.
I hope you have some well-deserved creative me-time with this exercise!
Have fun with this mindful spiral circle 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:
Bristol paper (Hahnemuhle), alcohol markers (ohuhu), fineliner 1.0 (Copic), fineliner 0.05 (Winsor & Newton), white gelly roll pen (uni-ball signo), 2b pencil (Bruynzeel), tortillon, circle maker (not pictured), washi tape.
Alternative supply suggestions:
You can use whatever material you have for this exercise, such as colored pencils, crayons, watercolors, etc.
If you don’t have a circle maker, you can use any round object, such as a glass.
Instead of a tortillon, you can use a cotton swab.
Instructions:
Step 1
Before you start, slowly breathe in and out a few times to clear your head. Then, add washi tape around the borders to create a frame around your drawing if you like.
Draw a few circles on your page. You can decide on the number and size of your circles.
Step 2
Choose colors that calm you or you like and color your circles. Try to move in one direction while coloring, making it more relaxing.
Step 3
The next step is filling each circle with a spiral. Try starting at the edge of your circle and spiraling inwards towards the center. Then, try starting at the center and spiral outwards towards the edge. Please pay attention to how you feel when you draw them. Which one was the most comfortable?
Next, fill the other circles with your preferred way of drawing a spiral. If both motions do not feel good, fill them with circles within circles. Don’t force yourself to draw spirals. Always do what feels best for you.
Step 4
Trace your spirals with a soft pencil. Then, grab a tortillon or cotton swab and slowly go over your pencil lines to blend them. This will give your spirals some extra depth. Plus, it will provide you with an additional opportunity to draw some more spirals.
Step 5
Lastly, we will add some background color and some extra shadow. Choose a different color than the ones you’ve used for your circles. Remember to go slow and color in one direction.
Now, we’ll grab a slightly darker shade of the color you’ve used for your background and add some shadow. Determine where your ‘imaginary’ light source is coming from. I pretended the light was coming from the left side, which meant the right side of my circles would have some shadow. Add a dark line on the side of your circles where your shadow would be.
Slowly remove your washi tape. Keep your tape parallel to your page when you remove it to prevent tearing.
Now this mindful spiral circle exercise is done! I hope you had fun.
You might also like my mindful spiraling exercise if you liked this exercise.
