In this mindful Valentine’s Day card exercise, we’ll do you some relaxing pattern drawing that you can turn into a card as well.
Why not have some creative me-time and get a card out of it as well? Two birds, one stone…
We’ll draw hearts and fill them with vertical lines and fill the page with small hearts as well. As with the other exercises, the repetitive motion of drawing the lines and hearts will get you in an almost meditative flow.
The perfect exercise to do if you’re a little stressed. It will make you focus on the present and you can relax for a while. You also don’t have to worry about a card for Valentine’s Day, because you just created one.
Have fun with this mindful Valentine’s Day card 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 (Paul Rubens), watercolor (Kuretake Gansai Tambi), water brush (Pentel), fineliner 1.0, 0.3, 0.1 (Copic), stencil with hearts (Happy Goods), 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.
If you don’t have fineliners, a pencil will work as well. Use heavy pressure to simulate a large tipped pen and slightly less pressure for a smaller tipped pen.
You also don’t need a stencil to draw the hearts, you can just freehand them.
Instructions:
Step 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 8, you’ll have a nice white frame around it. Also, add some washi tape in the middle of your paper. This will be the part where you will add lettering in step 7. I only wanted to add 1 word, so I just needed a small piece of tape. If you want to add more lines of words, make sure you add several strips of tape.
Step 2
Draw some hearts in different sizes on your paper. You can use a stencil with hearts as I did or just freehand them. Use a fineliner with a big tip. This will make them stand out.
Step 3
Grab something to color with and add color to the background of your paper. I like to paint the bottom of the page a bit darker and add more water as I go to make the color lighter at the top. Choose a color that you like or makes you feel good.
Step 4
Grab a fineliner with a smaller tip and slowly fill your hearts with vertical lines. Try what feels good. Do you like to start at the top and go down or the other way around? I always like to start at the top and go down. Your lines don’t have to be perfectly straight or perfectly spaced out. This makes it more playful and less stressful. If you like you can even try to do some breathing exercises while you’re drawing. Slowly breathe out as you go down and breathe in when you go up.
Step 5
Draw tiny hearts all over your paper. Make them really small. Go slow and remember, it’s about having fun and relaxing not perfection.
Step 6
Slowly remove the washi tape in the middle. Do it carefully to make sure your paper doesn’t rip.
Step 7
Add text to the white space on your paper. I used calligraphy for this, but you can use block letters as well.
Step 8
Slowly remove the rest of your (washi) tape. While you’re pulling, keep your tape parallel to the paper, this will prevent the paper from tearing.
Now you’re done with this mindful Valentine’s Day card exercise and you’ve created a cute card! Who will you send yours to?
If you liked this exercise, you might like my mindful rainbow and circles exercise as well.
