In this playful pastel powder exercise, we’ll discover that making art with your fingers is not just for kids; we, as adults, can also benefit from it.
Making art with your fingers can feel playful, liberating, and soothing.
It can help you get in touch with your feelings and express yourself. An excellent tactile experience!
When practicing mindfulness and being in the moment, paying attention to your senses is essential. For example, using your hands and feeling the texturing of your paper and powder makes it easier to focus on your sense of touch.
Dragging your fingers through all the powder and seeing different shapes appear is fantastic.
Experiment with different hand movements and pressure. Play!
Find that inner child and enjoy being entirely free for a moment.
So get your fingers dirty and enjoy some well-deserved creative me-time with this exercise!
Have fun with this playful pastel powder 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:
Soft pastels (Toison d’Or from Koh-i-Noor), Pastelmat paper (Clairefontaine), washi tape, scissors.
Alternative supply suggestions:
Try it with crayons, oil pastels, or colored pencils.
Don’t have these? Try finger painting instead.
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.
Put some old newspapers underneath your paper. This will help with cleaning up later.
Grab a sharp object, such as a knife or scissors, and slowly scrape some pastel powder unto your paper.
Step 2
Use colors that calm you or you like, and add more pastel dust to your paper.
Step 3
Now, the fun part starts. Use your fingers to spread your powder around. Make shapes with it, press it into your paper, slightly tap it, or whatever you want. It’s your art: experiment and play. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Concentrate on how the powder feels on your fingers and what you see, smell, and hear.
For some people, it might be challenging to get their fingers dirty. Is that you? Try to let go of that thought and concentrate on your art. If you know it’s a problem, put some water and towels next to you, so you can clean up when you’re done. That way, you already have a solution for cleaning up, and it might be easier to get rid of the fear of getting dirty.
Step 4
Keep adding powder if you like, and continue spreading it around.
Just let your fingers guide you and see what comes out. There is no wrong way to do this.
When you feel like you’re done, slowly remove your washi tape. Keep your tape parallel to your page when you remove it to prevent tearing.
Slowly tap on the back of your paper to remove all the residue. Small tip, do not blow on your paper (you’ll thank me later).
Now this playful pastel powder exercise is done! I hope you had fun.
You might also like my mindful cotton clouds exercise if you liked this exercise.