Soft Pinks, Marshmallows, and Hidden Feelings

(5 min sketching exercise for self-reflection)

Have you ever opened your sketchbook, reached for a coloured pencil or brush, and picked the colour without really knowing why? I recently noticed that I use pink soft shades of colour pencils — it just feels pleasant applying these colours on paper. Such small choices often go unnoticed — but they can hold quiet clues about what’s happening inside us.

For the years of sketching, I learned to notice these small details and, in this way, bring hidden needs or emotions to the surface. I am convinced that reflection (including reflection on colours or materials we use) is an important part of mindful sketching that helps me to grow and improve myself. Following these thoughts, I started digging into art therapy and learning about the ways colours are used in therapy.

In art therapy, colours become a way to explore how we feel, especially when we’re not sure how to say it. It works great with children who do not yet have the “adult” way to express their emotions. However, the same way it works for our inner children, for whom we usually do not listen. 😅 When we sketch (I mean, draw without aiming to produce a polished Instagram-looking result) - colour becomes the language for our inner child.

And to uncover the meaning of colours, we just need to listen to ourselves better and reflect on what the response is. In Art therapy, there are some common associations related to particular colour that we can use as a guide:

RED Intensity, passion, anger, urgency

BLUE

Calm, sadness, security, inner stillness

ORANGE

Creativity, warmth, overstimulation, change

GREEN

Balance, growth, sensitivity, renewal, ECO

PURPLE

Imagination, mystery, vulnerability

YELLOW

Joy, energy, anxiety, restlessness

BLACK

Protection, strength, grief, reflection

While there is this common understanding of colour meaning, sometimes a colour might mean the opposite for you, and that’s completely valid. For example, while yellow is often associated with joy and lightness, someone who, in childhood, stayed in a hospital room painted pale yellow might feel sadness or unease around that colour. In that case, yellow carries a different story — and that’s the one that matters most in your sketch, not the common meaning of yellow.

Exercise for self-analysis:

So the next time you sit down to draw, try this: don’t plan what to draw, choose a colour that feels right today and start sketching whatever is comming (It can be object next to you or imaginary thing, or doodles. For this exercise it doesn’t really matter what exactly you drew), take a moment to reflect: why this colour?

• What association do you have with this colour?

• What did it help you express today? Is this colour related to the events currently happening in my life?

Other questions that might be interesting to explore:

• How does this colour make me feel when I look at it?

• Does this colour remind me of a specific place, person, or memory?

• Have I used this colour often lately, or is it unusual for me?

• If this colour had a message for me today, what might it be saying?

• What do I need more (or less) of right now, and how might this colour reflect that?

• Would I choose a different colour if I started again right now? Why or why not?

Example

As I mentioned, I recently tend to use soft pink colours.

Why these colours? - Because they feel gentle and quiet, like a soft background hum instead of something loud or demanding.

What association do you have with this colour? - Both colours remind me of pillowy marshmallows that my mom was buying me in my childhood. Then I felt safe and that someone would take care of me.

What did it help you express today? - Maybe the need to take care of myself with the same love my mom did back then, when I was a kid… make a cup of tea or another treat (I do not eat marshmallows now), and spend the evening without rushing.

Is this colour related to the events currently happening in my life? Burnout at work, I feel that I have too much to do.

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