"Drawing On Anxiety" by Kate Sutton is a powerful guide that taps into the therapeutic potential of creativity. With simple yet effective exercises, Sutton empowers readers to find calm and self-expression through drawing. This book is a valuable tool for anyone seeking to harness their creativity as a means to manage anxiety and cultivate a sense of inner peace.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a great tool! I'm not at all creative but this was easy to use, and enabled me to see my anxiety differently, as well as taking myself out of my head.

I have had the pleasure of working with NetGalley since 2016. During the last 7 years I have been so fortunate to receive many books to both read and or listen to through the years. But this gem was definitely one I had to purchase. I have had anxiety as long as I can remember. This was such an effective tool being able to express myself artistically and to process and help with my anxiety issues. Creative art journaling at its finest! It’s something I didn’t even know my heart, mind and soul craved for and needed!

A HUGE thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this gem!! This was also one of the best gifts I gifted to myself!! If you suffer from anxiety or know someone who does definitively pick this up as it’s the perfect gift with such impact and power to ease your mind through drawing. Good or not, doesn’t matter! Be prepared to be calmed. Such a great self care moment!!

5 creative and amazingly awesome stars from me!!

This is a really beautiful, accessible book for those looking to explore and soothe their anxiety through art. With the amazing talent of Kate Sutton as author and illustrator, someone whose work I've admired for some time, it's a book that is part memoir, part self-help, part interactive art guide.

The handwritten style that Sutton is known for, alongside the warm, recognisable illustrations, gives the whole book a unique and welcoming feel. I would absolutely love a hard copy of this to work through and will be looking out for it in local shops. It gives such a friendly feel, even when dealing with something that can be so hard to work through.

The layout and the formatting of the book are really interesting and encourage you to add your own drawings and therefore experiences to the mix, which gives the reading experience another dimension. A lovely idea and one I look forward to seeing more of in the Drawing On... series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Leaping Hare for this ARC - as ever, my opinions are my own, honest, and freely given.

What struck me immediately on opening the book was that the font used gave the impression that it is handwritten. This felt like a personal touch, almost as if Sutton is talking to me personally. I wasn’t sure if this was intended but it definitely warmed me to this book. It is part of the Drawing On... series, a collection of creative guided journals which help readers explore difficult topics including anxiety and grief. Also available is Drawing On Grief, which explores the delicate and difficult subject of loss, and how art therapy can help us navigate this painful time. Here, Sutton is exploring anxiety. Built on art therapy principles Sutton draws on her own personal experiences to create a part memoir and part self-help manual, advocating self-care when dealing with anxiety. This fusion results in a warm friendly journal. The journal encourages you to be kind to yourself, take a moment and explore your feelings through the act of drawing.

I particularly liked that this journal was interactive and it drew out my anxiety while also inviting me to draw on and through my anxious moments. The introduction explains the premise of the book and it certainly fulfils what it says. It employs art therapy principles in a soothing manner, a veritable salve to ones’ fraught state. Did I tell you that Sutton herself is an illustrator and author? I found she uses these principles efficaciously in art therapy. While she does not claim this is a cure all she has compiled a list of helpful resources at the end of the book.

The beauty of this book is that one can jump in anywhere depending on how one feels at that moment. Ad when one is finished it is always there as a handy reminder. One could do these exercises repeatedly in a blank sketchbook. Think of what you might come up with. Or simply buy another copy. Or keep the original for reference and use a blank sketchbook from the start. The possibilities are endless. I also discovered I could do these exercises with mates as in a book club. Only mine was on Zoom where each of us chose our own exercise. One shared or didn’t share it was left to the individual. Ones journey is after all private. Doing it online together did foster a sense of community and togetherness. These feelings maybe heightened if done in a physical meeting.

One also learns the difference between anxiety, stress, worry and fear. While explaining how to use the book Sutton adjures us that there is only self-discovery and play. I’m delighted she has used the word play. To play is exciting, negating the mundane or boring. The whole exercise is much more promising. True the prompts and affirmations have a purpose, a playful purpose. I hunkered down to play. It could be a rainy, cloudy, cold or a bracing day. I could take my playbook and go play out my anxiety, stress, worry or fear.

The book heavily features Nature. This delighted the gardener in me. Sutton imaginatively asks her readers through prompts, affirmations, mindful drawing, to offload their anxiety to enable them to lead a fuller life. It spans all age groups from the very young to Seniors.

Bravo Sutton, job well done!

This is a super book with life-changing capabilities. As an artist who also has some anxiety, I felt especially connected to this one! I loved the exercises and hope I got from this book!

graphic novel styled autobiography /notebook/art journal/self-help book?

interesting prompts to help you through your rough spots

a list of additional resources to consult is included

Fun drawings paired with great advice and engaging activities—what’s not to love? As an artist as well as a reader it had exactly the right balance to keep you invested in yourself as well as the instructions guiding you along.

Title: Drawing On Anxiety
Finding calm through creativity
Written by: Kate Sutton
Pub Date: 17 Jan 2023
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group –Leaping Hare, Leaping Hare Press
Genre: Arts & Photography | Health, Mind & Body | Self-Help


This is the second work by Sutton that I have had the pleasure to read. In my opinion Sutton manages to write a self- help book that avoided being preachy simply by being honest about her own experiences, in a way that is not patronizing.

Sutton uses art to have the reader do mindfulness and other CBT (cognitive Behavioral Therapy) tasks. These feel far from work, dare I even say they are fun.

Some get the reader to look deep into what triggers their anxiety and others are just small fun tasks. It also helps that the book is not text heavy. (And I say that as someone who paid good money for a 300 page self help book that is currently gathering dust.)

I loved that Sutton admitted that she too found it hard to do the things she was advising readers to do. This took that perfectionist presser off. Sutton tells her readers from the start that there are days they will not get up out of bed. Even more importantly she does not guilt the reader for this instead she validates them.

This book does not ask the reader fear failure, instead it asks the reader to try. To do what the reader can at that moment.

The author speaks plain English, there are no fancy terms or lingo, there is no mental health shaming and at the end of it you might just want to do it all over again. At only around 162 pages it is short enough to keep anyone interested but long enough to teach the reader good habits.

Even with 160 ish pages this book is not too text heavy, which is good if like me you find it hard to get through a lot of text when you are trying to learn something. In fact I'm sure if I had the book in physical form I would have finished it in about a week.

If you like,
Lists
Breathing exercises
Walks
Animals
Drawing
Meditation
Quotes
Tips
Dream records
Self-care
Motivation
Brain dumping

Even if you don't that might change if you read this book.. Honestly the only thing I disliked about my e-ARC is that I couldn't hold the book, fill it in by hand. or keep it when I was done.

Definitely something I will treat myself to in future.

Drawing On Anxiety by Kate Sutton was an excellent book and I loved. Drawing On Anxiety was a beautifully written with colourful illustrations throughout that I found very friendly with a brilliant art therapy journal to draw out, draw on and draw through in anxious times.
This book was part memoir, self-help and self care journal that you create daily which was full of friendly great prompt and guidelines and a positive tool for exploring your body’s natural response to stress. and how to deal with these.

The illustrator and author Kate Sutton has done a great job with this book especially as this was written from the heart. her
own personal experiences of dealing with her anxiety. she created a warm and friendly journal that encourages you to be kind to yourself, take a moment and explore your feelings through the act of drawing.

I was so impressed I went and purchased this book for my beautiful niece who is suffering from anxiety etc on a daily basis. This has helped her talk about what she is going through, how she is feeling with me and her mum regularly - she used to bottle it up and also be withdraw with the world around her. So Big Thank you to You Kate.

I highly recommend this book. I can't thank you enough xxx

I loved the variety of prompts in this book. Even though I read through the e-ARC, I could see how this book would be lovely on paper, and the drawing process would be very meditative.

"Drawing on Anxiety" is quite nice to look at and to interact with. Therapeutic art-making can definitely support a therapeutic process of those who live with anxiety. However, I found the content of this workbook/art journal a bit juvenile and incoherent. The author tries to introduce certain concepts, but this format doesn't allow for much nuance. I expected a bit more.

This was a really useful book tome, I suffer from anxiety and depression, so I can judge this openly and honestly with first hand experience. What I liked was the informality, the hand-written appearance and simple illustrations. It’s really appealing and looks approachable (in a book way) The exercises are constructive, fun , but also link to your anxiety and how to deal with it. I also liked the information about anxiety that is very supportive and helpful to the reader. If your suffer anxiety I would definitely add this to your tool kit

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I get to read a lot of books from Netgalley, and most of them are just fun to read, leaving me grateful to have been able to read (or listen to) them at no cost -- but some books just need to be purchased to be enjoyed, and this is one of those.

This sweet journal with its hand-written memoir, instructions, and ideas for journaling one's way through anxiety struck me as so delightful that I've ordered my own copy and am waiting for it to come in to my local bookstore (Odyssey Books). I don't actually suffer from anxiety, but I'm thinking I will give this as a gift. I understand this author previously created a book Drawing on Grief, which sounds like it would be an even better fit for me to keep for myself.

If you are interested in keeping an art journal or processing your anxiety through journaling, I'd highly recommend this book.

This book is not completely original...a guided journal focusing on drawing, but it is marvelous. The format is informal, with hand-written text (or a font that looks like it) and simple illustrations. Even the semi-blank pages for actual artwork are nicely framed with simple designs. There is good current information about anxiety that is very constructive in helping readers view their anxiety from new angles.. The exercises recommended in the book are constructive, sometimes fun, and very much linked with the sources of the reader's anxiety and ways to deal with it effectively. This book would absolutely be useful and appealing for an older child or certainly an adolescent in addition to adults.

This is a lovely book of prompts to help the reader/user explore the nature of their anxiety and perhaps ease it. The author's personal reflections before each activity are non-judgmental and not at all preachy -- and the art is designed to be non-intimidating, inviting participation. It's an appealing resource that encourages introspection. I received an ebook copy via Netgalley (thank you!) and simply used a paper book in parallel -- if that wouldn't work for you, buy the paper vetsion!

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It's interactive , relative and the perfect companion on a bad day. I absolutely cannot get enough of this book and highly recommend it to everyone that struggles with anxious thoughts. A brilliant read that's timely.

I love this book! Very straight forward with instruction which calms you because the only thing you have to think about is the activity at hand! Only thing I’m sad about is that I colouring couldn’t be completed on my IPad so I’m definitely going to purchase this book! I would recommend especially for times when you feel, worried, stressed or overwhelmed.

I received and advanced digital copy of this book through NetGalley.

I am not an artist. The idea of a self help drawing journal was new to me, and I had my reservations at first, but I was so pleased to find that the flow of this book and the freedom in the prompts actually gave me confidence in my artistic abilities. Sutton's words of encouragement and ability to relate to the struggles that come with daily anxiety were so calming, and quite charming at some points, that I was able to let go of my unease and draw until my anxiety faded away. I can see myself coming back to this book until the pages are too full to draw anymore. I look forward to purchasing a physical copy for my similarly anxious friends, artists and non-artists alike.

There was a good variety of drawing prompts to follow to help focus on the present. It doesn't matter if you're good at drawing or not, since the main goal is just to draw what the prompts say and focus solely on the action of doing it.