Start with Mark-Making

For when you don’t know where to start making something

This is a short expressive arts practice for moments when beginning feels difficult, when you feel blank, hesitant, or unsure how to start. You don’t need an idea or intention. This practice begins with repetition and movement, allowing something to emerge through the act of making itself.

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Time & materials

Time:
10 minutes total

Materials:

• paper

• two colours (pens, pencils, markers, or crayons)

• scissors

Step-by-step

1) Set a timer for 8 minutes
When the timer ends, the practice ends.

2) Start with your first colour
Place the pen on the page and keep it there. For the next two minutes, try not to lift it from the paper.

3) Repeat one simple movement
Using your dominant hand, make the same mark again and again — a small curve, line, loop, or gentle back-and-forth motion.

Let the repetition continue without trying to make an image for two minutes.

4) Switch hands
Without stopping, move the pen into your other hand and continue the same repeated movement for another two minutes.

Let it feel different. Keep the pen moving.

5) Let the movement travel
Still using your non-dominant hand, allow the mark to move across the page, travelling back and forth and crossing the centre.

Follow the rhythm rather than directing the outcome.

6) Turn the page and respond with a second colour
After four minutes, rotate the page (upside down or sideways).

Pick up your second colour and add a response to what you see from this new orientation.
You might trace, layer, highlight, interrupt, or leave space.

Let the response be guided by the image as it appears now and continue for four minutes without lifting the pen or stopping.

7) Stop when the timer ends

Closing the practice

1) Rotate the page slowly.
Turn the page in your hands and notice how the image changes as you shift its orientation.

2) Choose the orientation that feels right.
Pause when the page settles into a position that feels right for now.

3) Find a section that catches your eye.
Let your eyes move around the image until one area draws your attention.

4) Frame it
Draw a simple frame around that section — a square, rectangle, or loose outline is enough.

5) Cut it out (optional)
If it feels right, cut out the framed section and set the rest of the page aside.
If cutting doesn’t feel right, you can simply leave the framed section as it is.

6) Title it.
Turn the cut-out piece (or the page) over and write a title on the back — one word or a short phrase.

When the title is written, stop. The practice is complete.

This is an invitation, not an exercise to complete. You can return to it, adapt it, or let it go.

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Curious to explore expressive arts further?