This week’s exercise was inspired by a birthday card with a lion I made for my brother-in-law. It got me thinking about all the fun stuff you could do with it’s mane. I started experimenting and this is what I came up with.
It is a great exercise to escape negative and worrying thoughts in your head, but it is also an exercise to express your feelings and emotions creatively. Use colors that speak to you or reflect how you feel. Let you mind and energy flow and see what patterns you can think of. Sometimes it’s hard to put into words how we feel, expressing yourself creatively can help with this. There is no wrong way of doing this exercise. If you are angry and would like to scratch the paper, please do so if it makes you feel better. Let it out!
It is not necessary to draw a detailed lion’s head, but you can if you’d like. You can even draw a simple circle with smaller circles for the eyes and nose and a line for it’s mouth. The mane is the essential part of this exercise.
The most important thing is to have a good time! Let me know if you have tried this exercise, I’d love to know how it turned out.
Supplies used:
Winsor and Newton Bristol paper (A5). Winsor and Newton promarkers: Apple, Yellow, Rose pink, Cyan, Gold, Sandstone, Ivory, Tan, Cool Grey, Cinnamon. Micron fineliners 03, 05, 08.
Alternative supply suggestions:
You can use any scrap of paper that you have lying around, such as the margins of a newspaper, a magazine, the back of a grocery list. Please keep in mind that if you are using alcohol makers, you do need special paper, such as marker paper or bristol paper.
Instead of a fineliner, a pencil or a regular pen is fine as well. If you want to add colors, just use what you have (crayons, water color, markers, colored pencils) or use a pencil to add various grey tones.
Instructions:
1. Draw a basic shape of a lion. Focus on it’s mane. Make sure there are enough sections for you to draw in.
2. Color the face of the lion. This step is optional. You could also leave the face blank.
3. Add color to the mane. Choose colors that speak to you or express how you feel.
4. Fill all the sections with patterns of your choice. It’s up to you to decide if you want to use a different pattern for each part of the mane or if you use the same pattern multiple times.
