Day 4: No Phone, Just Art
Just a Grid
What a fun way to start my morning with all these messages about mark-making!
Patrice said:
I have a tablet and decided to make my marks today in Procreate. I didn’t feel up to finding paper, pencil etc. I did the marks in about 5 min, then decided to add color. It was relaxing and fun.
I love that she didn’t let that resistance get in the way of her desire to play. She made time for herself on what was wandy — her tablet! Genius!
I took your challenge yesterday but haven’t photographed it yet—lots of wavy lines, dots, crosshatching. I do like patterns but let my mind kind of “turn off” while I doodled. It was fun and definitely relaxing.
I like mark making. I did, however, add a couple of jewels to my ladies as they were living out loud.
This is exactly what makes this journey so special for me — each of us showing up in our own way, at our own pace, yet somehow creating something bigger together.
Though we’re each taking these five minutes alone, there’s a beautiful connection in knowing we’re all making space for creativity in our lives, specifically through lines, circles, and marks.
Today, we’ll use these elements to create something delightfully repetitive—grid patterns.
Today’s Prompt: Grids
Think of today’s grid as a collection of tiny canvases, each one a chance to play with the same simple shape or motif in different ways. Or you can choose different shapes arranged by color in a way that forms a grid.
Here are some ideas to approach this:
Choose one simple motif — maybe a leaf, flower, star, cat, or house.
Draw light grid lines to create your spaces (or not)
Let your chosen shape change as you fill each square
Keep it simple — stick figures and basic shapes are perfect
Let some squares be more detailed, others more abstract
Don't worry if your grid isn’t perfect — nothing is
Your grid can be as structured or as flowing as you like. You might find comfort in neat rows and columns, or you might let your shapes dance across the page. The joy is in the repetition and variation.
Your charge is simply to explore different ways to express the same basic idea.
Any tool works—pencil for light grid lines, then whatever you’d like for filling them: pen, marker, crayon. Even your finger dipped in paint could work for simple dots or swirls. In fact, you don’t even have to create a grid at all. Just start playing in a configuration that ends up looking like a grid arrangement.
Put your phone on Do Not Disturb for 5 minutes.
Let your hand move. Let your mind rest. Feel the rhythm of repetition, the dance of different sizes.
🎥 Here is my video for today:
Remember there is no right or wrong way of doing this. Your doing is the only thing that matters.
The Reply Ritual
After you’re done, if you feel like it:
Share a word that emerged repeatedly in your practice
Let your words meet the world — share a photo if you’d like
Or simply hold the silence after your grids have emerged
No rules.
See you tomorrow for one final invitation,
Mansi.
P.S. Want to keep this creative ripple going? I've created a special companion guide for paid subscribers, filled with bonus prompts and reflection exercises to deepen your practice beyond these five days. It's available exclusively during this challenge.
P.P.S. Missed a day or want to catch up? Find everything here.
