NO RULES FEELING-ART

It's our nature to want to know the rules and then decide if we want to follow them!
If the rules are easy to follow, make sense, and keep things organized we like them.
If the rules are hard to follow, don't make sense, and end up creating anxiety, forget it.
We rebel, try to find a way around them, or suck it up, based on priorities in life.

So what are the No Rules for Feeling-Art Therapy?

Do what you feel like.
Just start.
Keep going and see what happens. Let every feeling find expression.
Fix it a little if you want to. Leave it if you don't.
Don't waste time erasing, unless you use a pencil and feel like doing that.
Nothing is a mistake. Include it in your finished piece. It's all yours. Love it.
Give yourself permission to screw up... whatever that is.
Love your inner child. Be patient with yourself. Compliment yourself as you go.
Stop when you feel like it. Finish if you feel like it. Do more if you feel like it.
There is no such thing as done unless you say so.
It's your Feeling-Art. Cry if you want to. Laugh if you want to. Treasure it or trash it.
Do it for fun or do it to explore or express your feelings. If you feel like it.

Feeling-Art 1

I can't tell you where I start most doodle art full page drawings. Sometimes I just start where my hand is resting on the page in a comfortable position. I start where I feel like starting. No rules.

I sense in my spirit whether I feel like more boxy, structured shapes and designs, or soft and scrolly ones.

You can see all the triangular pie shapes in the lower right corner, which is where I started this one. I worked my way up the right side of the page and decided I wanted to incorporate some curvy shapes instead of carrying on with the triangle theme.

But I like to contrast square shapes next to round ones. My favorite part is the one that looks like a backgammon board! That wasn't planned.

HERE'S A BIT ABOUT THIS ONE...

After finding a blank page in my practice book, I suddenly had the feeling to do something big and curvy. I drew an "S" shape that touched the two sides of the lower right hand of the page. I then put the circles in the ends of the "S". This left a little corner to fill in. I drew some faint lines that followed the "S" and began to fill in the lower right hand. It was looking too soft and plain and kind of faded. so when I got to the top line that curves with the top of the "S" I decided to change my design.

I love making squares and then filling them in for a checker board pattern. It really looks solid and dense. But I didn't start at one end and work across so I screwed up where the white lines are and ended up with two white squares next to each other. Oh no... what to do? Make it into the pattern. I just repeated it as I went down and did it on purpose. Except that it isn't happening in the top of the "S" and to the left of the one line in the bottom there's another screw up. Who cares.

Then I didn't feel like filling is all in and left those empty squares to the far left of the bottom of the "S". But it follows the shape of the "S", which I did want. All OK.

I don't often make a sketched design of the entire page like I did here, but I felt like it. I had enough of squares at that point and wanted to come out from the middle of the "S" with designs similar to the end of the "S" where the circles are. Once I drew that and saw that it created a triangle, corner shape, I decided to repeat it in the upper right corner.

At this point I had somewhat of a plan for the entire page with lots of little spaces to fill in. I have my favorite patterns, or designs that are common for doodle artists. Some of them are inspired by the shape and some by the size of the space. Some of them are connected to my mood and what I'm doing if I'm listening to teaching, music, or interviews.

This means that if I feel like it I will make smaller designs that are more detailed and take longer to fill in because I'm only part way through what I'm listening to. See? It's still what I feel like doing. I don't usually like leaving it unfinished and it's hard to put down to go make dinner when I'm on a roll and in the mood.

This is the finished Feeling-Art. You can see how I ended up filling in the spaces and which areas I did quickly and which I took more time to do... Oh, now that I'm looking at it for you I can see a place I missed! It's second row from the top of the boxes with the "Xs". And in a ways from the left. Since I have the originals I can go and fix that. No big deal if I don't.

I decided to repeat the black and white checked design but the boxes are more like skinny rectangles and the lines follow the shapes they touch. When it starts to look too busy, messy, or complicated, I will leave some white space as a little breather. For me and the art!

I have made a little practice of putting round designs next to linear ones. Circles next to squares. And one little trick is that if it's too muddy or soft, or blending in too much I will go back in and add outlines, or little marks that look like shadows. That's the case in the lower right hand corner where all the little black triangles are. I have found that it's easier to fill in smaller spaces than ones that are too large without getting bored or having my hand cramp up. It's all okay!