Tag: doodle art

The Sheep Rock

painted rocks for women's retreatIt’s been a long minute since I’ve done any rock painting. The last big batch of rocks that I painted was for a women’s retreat hosted by my church. That was several years ago. Each rock featured a faith-related word and some featured a simple design as well.

I have painted a rock on occasion since then. Those usually related to my word of the year (rest, grace, and listen, respectively).

My favorite rock is one of my very first. It has a large chip, so it wasn’t suitable for giving away, and I intended it to be a sample to show a friend to help them understand what I was trying to explain to them. It is my sheep rock.

rock with painting of a sheep, grass, and sky, with a purple heart over its headThis one simple image carries so many layers of symbolism for me. It calls to mind the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. I also remember that “we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3). It also calls to mind the imagery of Psalm 23, and it makes me think about the story in Luke 15:4-7  of the shepherd who leaves the flock of 99 sheep to go in search of the one who has wandered astray, to bring it back to the fold.

Above all these things, it reminds me that I an a child of God, and the Good Shepherd watches over me. If you’re a child of God, He’s watching over you, too.

Faith Coloring Pages

It took me a very long time to feel comfortable calling myself an artist. It’s taken me even longer to get to a place where I felt I could sell my work. I believe the latter has a lot to do with the fact that my art, much like the artist, is not perfect. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever created anything that didn’t have some flaw in it somewhere. And because it wasn’t perfect, I didn’t feel like I could sell it.

I finally learned that when you’re making things by hand, there probably is going to be something somewhere that just doesn’t come out perfect, and that is okay, especially with things that are hand-drawn. I have come to prefer a little bit of wonkiness in my hand-drawn work. It feels more honest and organic to me. And so, after many hours spent clutching a mouse (often until my hand ached) to digitally clean up scanned images of art I’d originally hand-drawn (ink to paper), I opened an Etsy store and listed some of my doodle art drawings as coloring pages.

Set 1 at Etsy - FaithThese pages are all available for purchase as a downloadable set of 5 that you can print yourself, or as individual downloadable pages. If you purchase and download the file, you may print as many copies as you want. I am asking, however, that you not sell the printed pages (though you may give the printed pages away) nor resell the downloaded file or give it to anyone else.

I picked up doodle art in dealing with some trauma I’d experienced. It has been very therapeutic, and at times, it has been a way for me to stay present and grounded. Drawing these pieces of art have been an excellent way for me to practice mindfulness. Coloring them could be beneficial in that same sense. If it’s been years since you spent some quality time with crayons, colored pencils, or markers coloring, why not give it a try? There are many other artists selling their coloring pages on Etsy as well. Sometimes simple pleasures can have a big impact.