Here’s your opportunity to make time and space for creativity in your life. Everyone can be creative in some way. Being creative has been shown to improve mental health, relieve stress, increase confidence, and improve problem-solving. You can find videos here on how to draw animals, write poems, as well as apps where you can have a go at digital painting, which is really easy, relaxing and so much fun.
Artist Harriet Muller’s YouTube channel is a fantastic source of ‘how to draw’ video tutorials. Really clear and easy to follow – no previous drawing skills needed. Why not have a go at drawing a squirrel or a dolphin… you’ll soon get the hang of it and it’s so satisfying to see the end results.
Grab a pencil and a piece of paper and follow these simple drawing tutorials – starting with how to draw faces. We’re convinced there’s an inner Da Vinci in everyone just waiting to get out!
Ever fancied writing your own limerick? Here’s your chance to learn the basics of this popular and humorous style of poetry. Give it a try – you might discover a hidden talent!
Local artist Pete McKee has produced these brilliant step-by-step cartoon drawing lessons for free. Learn from one of Sheffield’s best loved artists and you’ll soon be creating your own artwork to impress your friends and family.
Who remembers playing Consequences - the folding drawing game - as a child? We had a go and it hasn’t lost its appeal! Find at least one other person, a piece of paper and a pen…and then the only other thing you’ll need is a bit of imagination and a sense of humour!
The combination of an excellent tonal colour palette plus a selection of stunning designs has resulted in a fun, relaxing (and slightly addictive) colouring-in website. Perfect for creatively wiling away the hours.
Take a guided trip down memory lane using our ‘My Life’ booklet as a template. All you need is some paper, a pen, and some quiet time to reflect and remember as well as dream about the days ahead. Share with family members and loved ones – they might have known you for years but we bet there’ll be something about your life they never knew!
Try drawing a self-portrait without taking your pen/pencil off the page from start to finish. It’s useful if you have a mirror handy but if not, try and recall your face from the last time you looked!
Choose an interesting object in the room and look at it for 30 seconds. Have a go at drawing it without looking back at the object. Then try drawing it again with your eyes closed. It’s a good workout for your memory.
Create your own flag or Coat of Arms that represents you or your family. Think about dividing the flag into sections (they could be any shape) and the kind of things that could be included – e.g. where you’re from, things you enjoy doing, your work, birds/animals/flowers that you love or are synonymous with your hometown/country.
Draw a sketch from a joyful memory – it doesn’t have to be a whole scene, you could just focus on one element. Or you can try and capture it all. Keep your pencil loose and free in your hand and allow the happy memories to flow onto your page.
Stretch your imagination and have a go at designing something from the future – it could be transport, clothes, robots, homes… the choice is yours. Give your invention a name and don’t forget to sign and date it in case your futuristic idea comes to pass!
Have fun drawing yourself as a superhero – think about what superpower you would choose and how that would be reflected in the design of your costume. If not a superhero, then draw yourself in a profession/doing an activity you’d enjoy (astronaut/circus performer/footballer etc).
Create a timeline picture of your life to date, include key events and dates along your journey. You can either write about or draw these events, or do both. When you’ve finished you can look back and reflect on all you have done and achieved so far as well as think about those things you’d still like to do.
Draw around your hand and then decorate it with pictures and words that describe you as a person – things you like, things you’ve done in your life, your family, etc. If you’ve got pencil crayons, add a splash of colour!
Write a Bucket List of the top 10 things you would still like to do or achieve in your life. Illustrate your list with pictures of these activities. Bucket lists are a great conversation starter – they can reveal a lot about a person!
A superb, user-friendly digital painting app for your phone/tablet. An impressive range of brushes, colours and tools means you can achieve stunning results that will keep you coming back to this app again and again.
Who doesn’t love a dot to dot? This is a fantastic app – once you’ve completed the dot to dot, you can colour your picture with a super colour palette and a number of tools to choose from.
The ancient and beautiful art of paper folding can be enjoyed in the digital world – all the satisfaction of origami minus the paper cuts!
So may beautiful and intricate designs to choose from. Another painting by numbers app that will keep you happily occupied for hours.
Lovely paint by numbers app. Beautiful designs to choose from. The app highlights for you where each numbered area is in sequence – so this is for when you want to take it easy!
Learn to play the keys with this nifty piano app. You can select from easy, medium and hard and whether to follow sheet music or the easier waterfall technique. Plenty of free songs to choose from. Move over Beethoven!
Hands up who remembers painting by numbers? Here’s a great example of the digital world’s answer to this much-loved activity.
A highly popular and professional digital sketching, painting and illustrating app. All you need is some time and imagination...you’ll be amazed what you can do.
The Arts in Health team relies on the goodwill of our dedicated team of volunteers. We also regularly work with professional artists and musicians on a variety of creative projects across the Trust.