Preparing for your journey.
Welcome to your journey of
ESSENTIAL DRAWING
Please find below your prep suggestions.
Much Love, Nalini X
Preparing Your Creative Space
Before each session of Essential Drawing, it can be helpful to take a few moments to settle into your space. Creativity often flows more easily in an environment that feels clear, calm, and intentionally set up.
Personally, I like to arrive to a space that feels clean and uncluttered—free from the activities of the day or the week before. I use a clearing spray or sometimes light palo santo or a smudge to gently mark the beginning and end of a session. These small rituals help me create a boundary between daily life and creative time.
I also keep specific boxes for storing my drawings. Watercolors, once dry, go into simple but beautiful paper boxes that I store on a shelf. This helps me keep the space organized and treat the work with care.
There’s often an emotional or energetic intensity that comes through in the creative process—something we’ll speak more about during the course. What supports me in staying grounded is making time for quiet in between sessions. I allow space to rest and reflect so that I can process what’s moved through me without holding onto it in an ongoing way.
My working table is usually organized with the materials I need, along with a few objects that feel meaningful or inspiring to me. Right now, I have a painting by my grandmother, a moon calendar, and a few stones I picked up on a walk. There’s also a small shelf nearby where I might place a favorite watercolor or book—things I like to keep within sight. I change what’s on the shelf from time to time, depending on the season or how I’m feeling.
You’re invited to set up your space in whatever way feels right for you. Whether it’s simple or elaborate, what matters most is that it supports your attention and helps you feel present. Let it be a space where your process is held with care and attention.
On Journaling
I know journaling can feel intimidating. For many of us, it carries the weight of old stories—maybe school assignments we didn’t enjoy or pressure to write things “the right way.” So I want to gently offer a different relationship with journaling: one that’s soft, creative, and completely your own.
I’ve kept journals—both daily and dream journals—for many years. I don’t write every day. I write when something asks to be seen, processed, remembered, or shared. And I keep the practice simple.
One thing that draws me in is choosing tools I love. I write on paper that feels good under my hand, with pens I enjoy using. This tactile pleasure really matters. My entries are often very short, sometimes no more than a few lines—almost like a poem. I don’t need to write pages. Some days, I sketch or doodle alongside my words. I keep a small pouch with a handful of colored pens that I like to use, and I store it right next to my diary.
I have one larger journal that stays at home, and a small one I travel with. That way, I can keep the thread of the practice wherever I am. This small structure helps me stay connected to it.
But this is just what works for me. A close friend of mine prefers to record voice notes while walking in the forest—she rarely listens to them again, but the act of speaking helps her release what’s inside. She also makes little digital sketches on her phone.
There are so many ways to journal. You don’t need to follow any rules. Just have something—whether paper, a notebook app, a voice recorder—where you can catch your thoughts, sketches, and inspirations as they arise during this course. And yes - your journal can be your sketchbook!
Let it be a space just for you, for you to find pleasure in your creative process. A space to listen, to witness yourself gently, record your processes and to stay in touch with what moves through you as you draw.
Body & Mind Care
Caring for your body and your mind is an essential part of working with the creative force. Over the course of these nine weeks, we’ll explore different ways to support this care, but I’d love for you to consider starting now with a simple daily practice—something that grounds you, opens you, and helps you shift gently between intensity and rest.
This could mean:
• A short meditation practice—even just a few minutes a day to come back to yourself.
• A gentle movement practice—stretching, walking, dancing, or anything that helps you stay present in your body.
Sustainable creativity asks for a container—a way of living that supports you. A rhythm that allows you to enter creative depth and return to silence, to integration, to rest.
Each module will include a meditation or body-based practice you can return to daily if you wish. These are there to support you, to hold you, and to remind you that creativity doesn’t need to be extracted—it can be tended to with care.
Let this be an invitation to soften into the creative process, with your whole self—body, mind, and spirit—fully welcomed.
On Resistance
Resistance is a natural part of any creative process. Often, it shows up just as we’re about to step into something new—something that could bring beauty, growth, or meaning into our lives. But change, even welcome change, challenges the habits of the ego and the structures we’ve built to feel safe.
You might notice resistance as:
• Procrastination or distraction
• A sense of dread or tension
• Very convincing reasons not to show up
• Fear, self-doubt, or overwhelm
Please know: this is completely normal. Resistance isn’t something to fight or overcome. It’s something to listen to and move with, gently. One of the most powerful tools we can cultivate as artists and humans is the inner observer—the part of us that can watch these patterns arise without getting lost in them.
You are invited, during this course, to notice your resistance with curiosity. To witness it, hold it with care, and choose—when you feel ready—to move forward anyway. We will return to this theme often in our weekly live sessions, and there will be space for reflection and support as you navigate whatever comes up.
This path is not about pushing through. It’s about learning how to meet ourselves where we are, and to walk alongside all parts of us with compassion.
Creating a Rhythm
To support you in building a safe, nourishing container for your creativity, I invite you to create a rhythm—or even a simple ritual—around the moments when you engage with the work of this course.
This doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be as simple as:
• Choosing a time of day when you feel most connected or quiet
• Preparing your space in a way that signals to your body that this is creative time
• Lighting a candle, playing soft music, or taking a few breaths before you begin
• Closing your session with a walk, a warm drink, or a short reflection
These small gestures can help mark the space between the outside world and your inner creative process, allowing you to move more fluidly inward. They can also help your nervous system feel safe enough to express what wants to come through.
This is completely personal. We’ll also talk more about how to shape this rhythm together in our live sessions, where you can share what works for you and hear from others.
Let this be a time and space that belongs to you.
MATERIALS
..that I Love (and Recommend)
Firstly let me say that if you are on a budget or want to start slowly start with buying one chosen kind of paper, one sketchbook and minimal pencils and charcoal, start with this and then you can add as you progress and as needed. This course can be completed with this very minimal setup. That said, it is fun to have different materials to explore and play with and below are some suggestions.
For the course I would recommend you choose at least two cardrige (or shading) pads for pencil work and two watercolour pads. My recomendations are for your inspiration but feel free to go to an art supply shop and choose what you feel most drawn to. This is what I do.
For pencil and soft pastels I use any quality off white cardrige paper, medium weight and/or shading paper
For watercolour my favourite is Saunders Waterford natural white smooth cold-pressed paper, it is pricey but worth the price. I also love Arches square rough watercolour pads. Fabriano offers a cheaper but still quality watercolour paper.
I would love you to have a sketchbook for the duration of the course as well. I would choose one you can use with both watercolour and pencil, so a rougher thicker paper
Pencils: 2b and or 4b
One charchoal pencil or soft pastels any colour (I love ochra/red and brown)
Optional soft pastels of medium quality
Optional coloured pencils
Waterclours - I love Qor watercolours, they are amazing to try even just buy one or two colours online you feel drawn to. My second favourites are japanese Kissho Gansai, any size will do. It is important to have good quality materials but again, your choice.
For brushes I would recommend a french brand called Leonard (or similar) I love working with natural bristles of medium thicknesses depending on the size of the paper I choose.
scissors
glue
folders or boxes where to neatly file your works in between and after sessions
Optional: a small altar space with meaningful objects, natural elements, or textures and poetry books
Tools for meditation (blanket, bolster, eye pillow, headphones)
for the module dedicated to nature you will need a bag to bring out and about to hold your tools, a canvas bag or backpack will do
BOOKS
(These are optional — they can enrich the experience, also if someone wishes to return to the course later in the year.)
Reawakening of Art by Meera Hashimoto