 Welcome artists to Monet Café. I'm artist Susan Jenkins and I've created this video for you because of so much that's going on in our world and this lesson will not only be relaxing and fun, but it's also a way to get your creative juices flowing. Have you ever had a creative block? So join me in this lesson where we will de-stress and release our inner child through some creative doodling and spontaneous scribbling I call it. This is a lesson that I am actually doing for my Patreon page for there I call it P.E. Patreon Education Day on Fridays, but I'm opening up this video for the main Monet Café channel because I know so many of us need to relax and find our inner child again. I'm sure some of you have heard of the term art therapy similar to music therapy and this is similar to that, but just really a great way to de- stress, have fun, get creative or get your creative juices flowing. Also the tools that you're going to need is simple sketchbook, some markers. I recommend a thick and a thin marker and you can color it if you like at the end. So the first thing we're going to do is make a creative scribble. I'm going to show you how to do that and we're going to look for objects or interesting shapes in that scribble and then we're just going to play and have fun. Now this is one that I started before I started filming so I'm going to just talk to you a little bit about the process and how you should approach this while I finish this spontaneous doodle. And just so you know, even though I'm providing this on my YouTube channel, which is primarily for artists, this is an exercise that's great for everyone, non-artists, even kids, and it's a great way to decompress and relax and have fun. The first thing you'll do, which you'll see me do, a whole brand new one of these, is you're going to make a very loose scribble and you can use your non-dominant hand if you want. And I'm going to talk you through this when I do the other one. But from that scribble you're going to look at it and find any shapes or forms that look interesting. This all began with a scribble and then you add on to it. And also just so you know, if you feel like, man, I don't know what to do or how to start, I'm providing a link in the description section of this video of a woman who has a YouTube channel and she goes through her little doodle spontaneous sketchbook, whatever she calls it. And it is just so imaginative and filled with such creativity. So that should get your creative juices flowing, you know. And of course you've got some of my craziness going on here too. All right. So let's get started. Here we go. Other than your sketchbook, all you'll need will be some markers. I recommend two sizes. I like this Posca acrylic marker, but you can use any marker that you have on hand. So I'm using a thick marker and a thin marker. The Posca is the thicker marker. The thinner marker I'm using is a micron marker. I love these markers because they're water friendly. If you wanted to add watercolor, you can do this on watercolor paper, by the way, if you'd like and do a watercolor afterwards. Now with my hand I'm just showing I want you to keep a free, flowing, loose, almost musical stroke when you sketch. And you might want to use your non-dominant hand. It might cause a little bit more spontaneity. So I'm using my non-dominant hand, even though I do draw sometimes a sketch with my right hand. And I'm just doing kind of a crazy little shape. And what you're going to do after this, you're going to look at it, you know, just kind of examine it. And you may want to turn it around and look at it from different sides. And when I turned it over, I instantly saw a figure of like someone sitting down. I decided to make it me, myself. So my sketch is going to be about me dreaming of relaxing. You'll see how it evolves. And these things, I didn't think of it right away, but that's the therapeutic part about this is you start kind of imagining and playing as you create and as you doodle. And so again, this is the fun thing about this is anyone can do it. You might, again, need to get inspired with some ideas of what to do, maybe some interesting little shapes you can do and things. But this is all yours. And the end result doesn't matter. Do a lot of them. And like I said, you may want to add color when you're done. I think they're kind of fun, just black and white. But I decided, again, to make this of me holding a book. And it looked like, you know, she might could be holding up a book or something. And I can't even remember what I wrote. I used my smaller marker, I think, to write once upon a time, Susan got to relax. And just so you know, that's one of the main reasons I did this. I needed to decompress. I've been doing so much artwork for my art business. And even though it seems like being an artist would just be, oh, the most carefree, easy life. If anyone's seen my a day in the life of an artist video, you can see there's a whole lot that goes on to being an artist, especially when you have a YouTube channel and now the Patreon page like I have. So I needed this art therapy and spontaneous doodling. This is something I used to do with my kids. I actually used to do it when I was a young girl. I would just doodle something and just come up with, you know, creating something out of it. And then I started doing it with my kids when they were little and it was a lot of fun. So I think this is going to benefit you. Even if you're a serious artist who, I mean, sometimes we might think, well, we don't have time for that. I want to do a serious painting. But we really do need to just relax. I equate this to almost like doing a puzzle. You know, when you're doing a puzzle, you can't really think about all the stresses in your life because you're just kind of in the moment and you're just looking for the right piece. When you do this, you're not only zoning out from the real world, but like I said at the beginning, you're getting your creative juices flowing. Your brain is actively engaged in thinking about creativity and shapes and designs and patterns. And again, it really does relax your spirit. And once again, I highly recommend putting on some relaxing music, maybe getting yourself a cup of tea. You might even want to do this outdoors. If the weather is nice, I really feel that getting outdoors really does give us a connection with nature, which is also healing. Plus, sunshine's really good for us. Now, I'll speed this up just a bit, put on some relaxing music myself if you want to watch the process or just get some creative ideas yourself. And once again, be sure to watch that video that I'm putting in the about section. Her work is fascinating. And the presentation is actually relaxing in itself. So enjoy this. I hope you do your own. If you're a patron of mine, you know that's your homework assignment over the weekend. So whatever you do, feel free patrons to share it in our homework album. And if you're not a patron or you don't know what a patron is, patrons are people who support this channel through the Patreon website. And I'll put a link to my Patreon page. In case you want to support this channel, it's only $5 a month. A lot of people just support the channel just to keep these free art lessons coming to a hungry artistic world. And goodness knows, we need that right now with everything going on in our crazy world. But also, my patrons receive extra content, extra instruction, and a lot of fun. Like our PE days, we have story time, it's all like a school education theme. All right guys, enjoy this. Relax, do your own spontaneous doodling. And I hope it blesses you with peace. I can absolutely say that totally relaxed me. I actually want to do more now after making this video. So here's my final spontaneous doodling with lots of fun craziness going on. And I think I'll actually add color to this now, which will be equally as relaxing. And again, you can do this on watercolor paper if you want with markers and then use watercolor. Now this is the first one that I did that I didn't film at the beginning. I pictured this one as like me, as this creative thing shooting out creativity, but inside of me is trapped, all of this stiff art that's like stick figures. I thought I'd continue with the creativity and add some filters and Photoshop. So I hope you guys try this. I do hope it blesses you and gives you a sense of peace during this trying time in our world. So thank you so much everyone for bearing with my craziness sometimes and happy painting and creative doodling.