Nurture creativity and mindfulness with step-by-step drawing lessons, relaxing exercises, and instructive practices

Today, many people look to cultivating creativity as a means to improve one's quality of life, to unplug, to alleviate negative conditions like stress, anxiety, and depression, and to build resilience and enjoy the present moment. Adjacent to such practices as meditation and journaling, drawing is an accessible and personal medium that can facilitate both creativity and mental and spiritual health.

The sample projects in this book are designed to be approachable and manageable in a short period of time. They are not intended to be a rigorous course of study toward mastering complex skills, but, rather, are designed to offer the reader exercises that will help them enjoy time spent working creatively, and develop some technical skills and master simple concepts along the way. Readers should find that daily creative practice and being more open to observing the joys of the world around them can help build qualities of patience, confidence, calm, connectedness, and bravery.

About the Author

Patricia Watwood is a visual artist known for her realist drawings, oil paintings, and portraits. She has exhibited at the Beijing World Art Museum, the European Museum of Modern Art, The Butler Institute of American Art, and her work is held in public and private collections around the world. Her commissioned portraits hang in institutions such as St. Louis City Hall, Washington University, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard Art Museums. Watwood earned her MFA with honors from the New York Academy of Art, and was a founding member of the Water Street Atelier. She has been a professor of drawing at New York Academy of Art and has written for and been featured in American Artist and Fine Art Connoisseur, amongst other publications.

Reviews

'An art instructional book on cultivating creativity and drawing as a practice of mindfulness.' - Realism Today

Book Information
ISBN 9781580935661
Author Patricia Watwood
Format Hardback
Page Count 232
Imprint Monacelli Studio
Publisher Monacelli Press
Weight(grams) 1012g