Why Starting with Color Heals More Than Your Canvas

Jun 24, 2025

A blog post by Cathy Freeman | My Art Sisters & Grow Joy Creative Journaling

A colorful background wash can support more than just your painting — it can help clear your emotional fog and gently guide you into a more open, centered space.

Have you ever stared at a blank canvas and felt stuck — not because you lacked ideas, but because the emptiness felt like pressure? That’s exactly why I encourage starting with a layer of color. But this isn’t just a painting tip. It’s an emotional tool.

1. A Colorful Beginning Calms the Inner Critic

When we add a bold or warm tone to our canvas first (like red, ochre, or blue), we immediately shift from pressure to play. There’s no longer a need to make the first mark perfect — the canvas is already alive. This is the same effect as taking a deep breath or lighting a candle: it tells your body, “You’re safe. You can explore.”

Color sets the emotional tone. Red invigorates. Blue soothes. Ochre warms. Before you've even painted a flower or a face, your inner world starts to soften.

2. The Layers of Paint = The Layers of You

As you add paint — soft glazes, dry brush textures, bold highlights — something begins to shift within. Layering paint mirrors how we process thoughts and emotions:

The messy parts don't have to stay. Just like thoughts, you can revise and rework.
You’re invited to change your mind. A shadow can become light. A hard edge can soften.
Each brushstroke is movement. This physical action calms the nervous system and makes space for clarity.

You’re not just creating art — you’re clearing emotional clutter.

3. Beauty in the Process, Not Just the Product

We often think of art as the final piece. But in truth, the real gift of painting is how it helps us feel along the way:

Layer by layer, your thoughts quiet. You drop into flow. You breathe differently.
You feel possibility. Something is becoming, and you’re part of it.
You reconnect with what’s beautiful — inside and out.

4. What Paint Can Say That Words Can’t

Some feelings have no clear sentences. But color speaks. Movement speaks. Texture speaks.

When language fails — when emotions are too tangled, too raw, or too complex — paint offers a sacred alternative. Through brushstrokes, we express grief, joy, frustration, hope. A smear of crimson can hold anger. A soft blend of blue and white might whisper peace. A chaotic layer of textures may mirror confusion or chaos that has no verbal explanation.

This is especially healing for those who carry emotional weight but find it difficult to talk about. You don’t need to explain yourself — just show up with your paintbrush and let the canvas hold what you’re feeling.

Art gives you permission to release. Not with pressure, but with tenderness.

And each brushstroke whispers back: You’re here. You’re healing.

CLICK HERE to watch my short live demo

Try This: Next time you sit down to create,

🎨 A Grounding Creative Practice

1. Begin with Breath.
Before you pick up your brush, close your eyes and take three slow, deep breaths. Let the exhale be longer than the inhale. This helps calm your nervous system and bring you into the present moment.

2. Choose a Color Intuitively.
Pick a color based on how you feel, not how you want the art to look.

Red for energy or frustration
Blue for calm or sadness
Gold for hope or light
Let your feelings guide you, not your inner critic.

3. Cover the Canvas.
With wide strokes or even your fingers, begin covering your surface with that color. Don’t worry about it being even or perfect — this is just your foundation, a place to release tension and emotion.

4. Pause and Reflect.
Step back. What does that color feel like now that it’s on the canvas?

Does it energize you?
Soothe you?
Bring up memories?
Write down a few words or phrases that come to mind.

5. Add Texture or a Second Color.
When you’re ready, layer on a second color or texture. Use a dry brush, sponge, or your fingertips. Let this be expressive — even chaotic. This is where your emotions meet movement.

6. Keep It Simple.
Don’t worry about making “art.” Let this be a conversation. Each layer is a sentence. Each mark is a feeling.

7. Close with Care.
When you feel done (or even if you don’t), write one sentence in your journal:
✨ _“Today, I gave myself space to feel _____________.”

Optional: Share with a friend or in your creative group.
Sometimes saying “I painted today” is a quiet act of courage and connection.

And if you're looking for more creative ways to connect with your heart and clear emotional fog, come join us inside Grow Joy or My Art Sisters. This is more than art — it's restoration, one brushstroke at a time.

💛 With care,
Cathy Freeman