It can be easy to get stuck in a rut with day-to-day life. However, getting into your creative side can help stimulate your mind and even help you feel better emotionally! Even if you don’t feel like you have any artistic skills, there are LOTS of ways to use art supplies and techniques to blow off a little steam. Plus, the creative process and feeling of accomplishment when you’ve finished can be addicting significantly! Below are a few art therapy projects for the unartistic to get you started:

Paint Pouring
Paint pouring is a beautiful painting technique that always comes out unique! It is done by mixing paint colors with pouring medium in several small containers. Then, you slowly pour small amounts of each color over a canvas. You can choose to pour them over in any quantities or order you want—the important thing is to have fun with them. Just be sure you have the canvas set on top of something smaller than it to act as a platform so the paint can drip down and off the edges. Laying out a tarp or some newspapers to catch the drips is also a good idea.

Tools For Paint Pouring:

• small cups (at least as many as you have paint colors)
• stretched canvas on a frame
• a sturdy platform smaller than the canvas
• pouring medium
• paint (acrylic works great)
• stirring sticks
• tarp or newspapers

Coloring
This activity is not just for kids! These days, there are lots of options for adult coloring books. You can get a children’s coloring book if you want a little nostalgia. I’m partial to Tinker Bell coloring books, myself. 🙂 The most important thing is that it’s a coloring book with a theme that makes you happy. Coloring is a free way to be creative because you can decide how you want every page to look!

Tools For Coloring:

• a coloring book of your choice
• colored pencils, markers, paint, crayons—whatever you prefer to color with

Photography
When this is done purely for your enjoyment, you don’t need a fancy camera to do it! All you need is your phone or a disposable camera, and you’re on your way! Take pictures of the things that make you happy, or even of things you want. Maybe go on a nature walk and snap some pics of incredible trees, pretty flowers, or animals you come across. Photography has no rules (just as long as you don’t take pictures of other people without consent.) Using your phone, you can also play around with photo editing apps to make your pictures even more unique!

Tools For Photography:

• a camera of any kind
• photo editing apps (optional)

I hope these simple ideas for art therapy projects for the unartistic have inspired you to maybe edge out of your comfort zone a bit. Here’s to discovering new possibilities and creativity through art!

Until next time, try therapy projects, and keep the faith.