90 Creative Art Therapy Prompts for Healing, Relaxation and Joy!

Art as Therapy

Whether or not you’re a talented artist or just beginning, art and art therapy prompts are a great way to get into a constructive creative habit. We’re not therapists, but as creators and artists, we can speak from our personal experience of transformation through creation.

Besides our own personal experience and that shared by our readers and community, all agree that creativity plays a significant role in health and wellbeing. The more you create, the more you can create and the better you tend to feel about yourself and the world in general.

Creating daily is a free practice with tremendous benefits and the more you employ it the greater the benefits.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

Set Aside Time to Create Each Day

THIS is your “ME time”. Creating is restorative, relaxing and inspiring. To create daily is a part of your daily self care regimen for stress relief and peace of mind.

Regularly engaging your creative self is emotionally uplifting and can reduce stress and you don’t need to be a creative professional to get started. Create for pleasure and stress release and the pure joy of creative expression, no matter the outcome.

It doesn’t matter if you’re looking to decompress after an intense day at work or looking to find new ways to get creative with the family. Art is for anyone and everyone.

Don’t let artist block hold you back. Commit to improving your well-being by giving yourself a daily escape with drawing prompts like these art therapy prompts that anyone can use and enjoy.

To create daily is a part of your daily self care regimen for stress relief and peace of mind.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

Art Prompts for Inspiration and Relaxation

Interested in de-stressing with artistic therapy, but not sure where to start your creative practice? Our graphic ideas will help you cultivate creativity and lower stress through daily practice. 

How to Use These Art and Art Therapy Prompts

Don’t Overthink It

Stretch your imagination and get ready to play. Don’t overthink it. Don’t go for perfection, (unless that inspires you most). The goal is to playfully get your creative juices flowing.

Do one… or do multiple rapid iterations. Relax, breath into it and explore color and shape… meaning and nothingness… just play!

Create One Thing Each Day

Draw, sketch, paint or write about any of these. If you’re ready to gift yourself the space to create daily, just start with the first one and then the next, doing a new one each day.

Even if you have only 5 minutes, go with that and give it your all. But ideally aim for more time for your creative self, even if you need to get up half an hour earlier to claim that time.

If You Want to Create More

If you want to do more than one each day, you might try another version of the same prompt.

Consider how your artistry will improve by creating daily for 90 days… and how you’ll feel about yourself as you flip through the pages of your creations!

Share Your Creations

We would love to see and share your creations! Send them to us with any notes about your experience of creating it and we’ll share it to our social media and also publish it in an article of prompt submissions. If you have a social or website link you’d like us to link to, include that as well.

Okay! Let’s get started!

90 ART & ART THERAPY PROMPTS

Thanks to Angie Carel of SimpleDailyDrawing.com for her contributions to this article.

10 Weird Art Prompts for Your Far Side

Have fun letting your childlike imagination out to play. In fact, do this with your children if you have them around!

1. Alien Vampire
2. Cactus Dream
3. Upside Down Selfie
4. Snake Swallowing Shoe
5. Sneezing Dragon
6. Strutting Spider
7. Turn a ‘Y’ into an Animal
8. Mushroom Montage
9. Creature on the Bottom of the Ocean
10. Mouse with a Tiger Mask

10 Art Prompts for Anxiety

Take a deep breath as you take pen, pencil or brush to paper. For best, most relaxing results, nostril breath through your nose and not your mouth. Feel free to substitute a favorite relaxing scene, setting or thing for any of these that you’re not feeling.

1. Gentle Breeze
2. Gently Turning Watermill
3. Babbling Brook
4. Sunset Over the Mountains
5. Forest Mist with Sun Peeking Through
6. River Through the Desert
7. Sleeping Baby (or pet)
8. Favorite Flower
9. Palm Trees
10. Ocean Waves at the Beach

10 Fun Art for Laughter

Get ready to draw images you’ve probably never drawn before.

1. Gorgeous Goose
2. Dancing Dinosaur
3. Fox Mask
4. Bicycling Squirrel
5. Monster Handstand
6. A Robot Slipping on a Banana Peel
7. Draw an Apple with Your Non-dominant Hand
8. Macaroni Necklace
9. Angry Alligator
10. Marching Band of Ants

10 Art Therapy Prompts for Depression

Find healing through your creativity.

1. Gratitude
2. Smiles/smiling face/s
3. An Achievement
4. Calming Colors
5. Rainbow Beyond a Storm
6. Good Luck Charm
7. Your Dreams (or an aspect of it)
8. A Postcard (of a future place you’ll visit
9. Painter’s Palette
10. Something magical

10 Joyful Art Prompts

You’ll have a smile on your face as you work on these creations.

1. Jumping High Five
2. Celebration
3. Enchanted Garden
4. Dance Party
5. Playing Hopscotch
6. Colorful Bouquet
7. Sprinkles
8. Spiked Starfish
9. All Four Seasons
10. Floating Otters Holding Hands

10 Art Therapy Prompts for Stress

Stretch your body and then your mind as you de-stress with these thoughtful ideas. Inhale, Exhale deeply through the nose.

1. Early Spring
2. Seaside Sights
3. Kicking Back
4. Your Pet (past, present or future)
5. Roasting Marshmallows
6. Seashells on the Shore
7. Favorite Scent
8. Writing in Sand
9. Colorful Stones
10. Your favorite activity or hobby

10 Healing Art Therapy Prompts

Draw people, places, things and ideas that represent healing and a healthy lifestyle to you.

1. Paradise
2. Meditative Mandala
3. Sparkling Gemstones
4. Singing Your Favorite Song
5. Star Constellation
6. Image of a Friend
7. Sandcastles or Sand Art
8. Crackling Campfire
9. Your Happy Place
10. Water Fountain Wishing Well

10 Art for Peace Prompts

Nurture your nature with these natural and peaceful scenes and symbols.

1. Tree Branches
2. Night Sky
3. Bunny Rabbit
4. Rock Circle
5. Cozy Blanket
6. Butterfly
7. Olive Branch
8. Hoot Owl
9. Giant Peace Sign With Floral Decor
10. An Image Depicting a Favorite Song

10 Love Art for the Heart

Fill your heart and your page with love.

1. Wish Upon a Star
2. Create heart shaped art
3. Field of Wildflowers
4. Moonlight
5. Rainbow
6. A hand over the heart
7. Kisses / a kiss
8. A hug (or holding hands)
9. A Candle or Flame
10. Fill a page with colorful hearts

5 Journals Good for Art Therapy

Daily journaling is a good habit that’s positively addicting. Not only in healing through art therapy, but also in the development of your artistic abilities, through daily practice. Seeing your progress and the consistency of your commitment is naturally uplifting, and you will never regret making time for your creative muse to come out to play.

To help you with that, here are five different kinds of creative journal ideas to help you in creating daily (or regularly).

• At SimpleDailyDrawing.com you can purchase monthly sketch pads with drawing prompts for every single day! They can be purchased as a subscription, or individually.

• iCreateDaily has a series of art prompt journals: iArtDaily 30 Day Intuitive Art Journal, using quotes as conceptual prompts that can help exercise your intuition through reflection and creation.

• Just a beginner? Check out this art book with 30 Minute Drawing for Beginners exercises.

• Wreck this journal is an inspiring art journal for coloring and painting.

• Writing is art, too! Check out A Year of Creative Writing Prompts.

Share This With Family and Friends

A popular activity that took off during Covid-19 isolation is to do Zoom video conferencing art sessions with family and friends. Imagine going to an art class or art party where everyone is creating together. Only difference is your face to face via Zoom rather than in the same room.

Creating with family and friends strengthens bonds and creates memories to cherish, plus you’ll come away with art your made and and more joy in your heart!

And remember…

“Creating is the oxygen mask for your day.”
~LeAura Alderson, creator iCreateDaily.com ®

Contributing Writer

This article was a collaborative effort with iCD community member, Angie Carel, who has created her own monthly creative challenge and journals. #WAY!

Congrats to Angie for seeing a need and combining her entrepreneurial and creative spirit… the artist entrepreneur, into an entirely new project and endeavor. In addition to managing a household of 6 and running a marketing agency, (!!!) she has a thriving community of creators going through daily art prompts.

Thanks to Angie and her team for sharing with us.

Written by Angie Carel, founder SimpleDailyDrawing.com, and LeAura Alderson, founder iCreateDaily.com®