Mindfulness & the Art of Drawing

A Creative Path to Awareness

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Pub Date 14 Apr 2020 | Archive Date 06 Apr 2020

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Description

Filled with brilliant insights and creative drawing excercises, this invaluable guide to mindfulness in drawing teaches us how we can achieve self-growth and mental and spiritual development through the practice of putting pencil to paper.

In this essential work, Wendy Ann Greenhalgh explores how drawing creates a deeper connection with ourselves and the world around us, and is as natural to us as breathing. 

Through mindful creative exercises and personal anecdote, she reveals how artists can rediscover the playful pleasure of drawing, and doodlers can experience wellbeing through mark making.

Chapters in this book cover:
  • Just Drawing - From our early childhood, we all enjoy the simple pleasure of making marks, and this section investigates how the act of drawing allows all of us to connect both to our minds and our bodies, making a start on the path to mindful drawing. 
  • Still Life - Exploring the relationship between subject and object, this chapter teaches us how to see mindfully so that even the most ordinary and everyday can become extraordinary, and beauty can be found in all things. 
  • Landscapes and Cityscapes - Whether you are lost in nature or wrapped up in a bustling city, encircled by silence or surrounded by motion and noise, this section teaches us how to develop our sense of place, including excercises on how to capture time in drawings and the Japanese art of Wabi-Sabi drawing. 
  • Portraiture and Life Drawing - In this chapter, the mindfulness of drawing promises a new way of encountering the human body, and how through this natural empathy we can also develop our capacity for loving and kindness. 
With fresh materials of perception, flow, and instinct, an insightful author shares how we can all experience the mindful joys of drawing.

This book is from the Mindfulness series, a range of titles dedicated to exploring the mindful lifestyle, including The Art of Mindful Walking, The Art of Mindful Gardening, and The Art of Mindful Baking.
Filled with brilliant insights and creative drawing excercises, this invaluable guide to mindfulness in drawing teaches us how we can achieve self-growth and mental and spiritual development through...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781782407706
PRICE $12.99 (USD)
PAGES 144

Average rating from 17 members


Featured Reviews

There are a lot of these mindfulness books in this series, all focused towards one group or another. They seem to follow the same format and contain basically the same information. As an individual you only need to by the ‘Mindfulness and .........’ for you. As a library that could me 20 copies of basically the same thing with a slight twist ’Mindfulness and the long distance runner’ ‘Mindfulness and the hairdresser’ ‘Mindfulness and the dog walker’ the list goes on!

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This book embraces drawing as a medium to connect with our mindfulness. It reminds us that everyone can draw, no matter the perceived “skill” level. While there are exercises, this is not a how to draw book. The exercises all combine mindfulness and drawing. There is a breakdown on the properties of mindfulness and the Zen Buddhism philosophy that mindfulness is based on, so that one has a better understanding of this term we hear so much lately as a way to connect with ourselves in a world of constant disconnect.

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I received a complementary copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This text, whilst basic, is well-written and easy to read. It provides step-by-step exercises in mindfulness and drawing for readers to focus on the subject; with sections focussing on targeting 'Your Inner Critic' and Still Life, it provides interesting perspectives on the place of mindfulness drawing.

Highly engaging but somewhat basic. Would recommend, 7.5/10

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This slim volume is perfect for quarantine--or any time. Greenhalgh takes the reader through a series of exercises to assist in unlocking the brain from daily concerns and into a space of pure creativity. This sounds very philosophical, but the exercises are practical and easy to start.

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I really do not like a book that has no art or art demonstrations.
When the cover says the word 'art' i have certain expectations.
The mindfullness that is mentioned is an easy guide to follow.
The book gives you assignments.
The author shares their experiences with the reader, they give you an insight to their process.

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