Art as a mechanism for healing
Creative Grief
Exercises
Art-based exercises for processing grief — inspired by the 365-painting project behind the documentary. No art experience needed. No right way to do them. The process is the point.
“One of the counselors said grief needs to find a home. The canvas was that home — where I wanted that grief expression to find its place.”
— Preston Zeller
Before you start
You don't need to be an artist.
These exercises are about expression, not skill. Stick figures count. Scribbles count. The uglier it is, the more honest it probably is.
There is no wrong way.
If an exercise says “paint” and you want to use crayons, use crayons. If it says 30 minutes and you need 10, stop at 10. Adapt everything to what you actually need.
The 30-Minute Mess
Materials: Cheap paints, paper or cardboard, brushes or hands
Set a timer. Use whatever colors feel right. Paint however you’re feeling — no plan, no judgment, no erasing. When the timer goes off, stop. Sit with it for a minute.
Set a 30-minute timer.
Pick 3–4 colors without overthinking.
Paint whatever comes. Abstract, messy, aggressive, quiet — all fine.
When the timer goes off, put the brush down.
Write one word on the back that describes what you made.
From the project
Preston started every painting session this way — no sketch, no plan. “Go get some cheap paints and just make a mess. Even if you think you’re the dullest creative person on the face of the planet, you’ve got it in there somewhere.”
See Day 14in the mosaic →The Color Forward
Materials: Acrylic or watercolor paints, small canvas or thick paper
Paint something — anything — today. Tomorrow, carry forward one non-primary color from today’s painting into the next one. Repeat daily or weekly. Over time, you create a visual thread of continuity through your grief.
Paint freely today. Any subject, any style.
When done, choose one non-primary color from the painting.
Tomorrow (or next session), start with that color on the palette.
The carried color must appear somewhere in the new piece.
Repeat. After 7–30 sessions, lay them out in sequence and look at the thread.
From the project
This was the core rule of Preston’s 365-painting project. Each painting carried one non-primary color forward, creating a visual thread of continuity through the entire year of grief.
See Day 60in the mosaic →The Mirror Painting
Materials: Paint, a canvas or large paper
Paint what you see when you look at your grief today. Not a portrait of the person you lost — a portrait of the feeling itself. What shape is it? What color? How big is it compared to everything else?
Sit quietly for 2 minutes with your eyes closed. Notice what grief feels like right now.
Open your eyes. Without planning, start painting that feeling.
Focus on shape, weight, color, and scale — not representation.
When it feels done, step back. Look at it like it’s someone else’s.
Write on the back: what surprised you?
From the project
“When you have something visual in front of you, it acts as a mirror of sorts. The hard thing about talk therapy is you go, you talk — and then you just forget what happened.”
See Day 150in the mosaic →The Unsent Letter
Materials: Paper, pen, and optionally paint or collage materials
Write a letter to the person you’ve lost. Say the things you didn’t get to say. Then, if you want, paint over it, collage over it, or tear it up and rearrange the pieces. The letter doesn’t have to survive — the writing is the point.
Write freely. No editing, no audience. Just you and them.
Say the hard things — the angry things, the grateful things, the unfinished things.
When you’re done, choose: keep it as-is, paint over it, tear it up, or burn it.
If you paint over it, notice what colors and shapes you choose to cover the words.
The words are underneath. They’re still there, even if you can’t see them.
The Before and After
Materials: Two canvases or sheets of paper, paint or mixed media
Create two pieces side by side: who you were before the loss, and who you’re becoming. Not who you are now — who you’re becoming. There’s a difference.
Divide your workspace in two.
On the left, paint or collage “before.” The you that existed before the loss.
On the right, paint “becoming.” Not where you are today — where you feel yourself heading.
Notice what’s different. Notice what carried over.
Leave the middle space between them empty. That’s the gap. It’s supposed to be there.
From the project
The mosaic itself is a before-and-after — the dark core at the center is the origin of grief, and the expanding color represents growth. You don’t leave the dark behind. You grow around it.
See Day 240in the mosaic →The Grief Map
Materials: Large paper, colored markers or crayons
Draw a map of your grief journey so far. Not a straight line — grief isn’t linear. Include the detours, the dead ends, the circles, the unexpected views. Mark where you are right now.
Start with a dot somewhere on the page. That’s the loss.
Draw the path from there to now. Use curves, spirals, dead ends — whatever is honest.
Color-code different stretches for different emotions.
Mark the moments that shifted something — a conversation, a realization, a breakdown.
Put a star where you are today. Don’t draw the rest of the path. You don’t know it yet.
The Daily Mark
Materials: A sketchbook, one pen or marker
Every day, make one mark in a sketchbook that represents how you feel. That’s it. One line, one shape, one scribble. Over weeks, the pages accumulate into a visual diary of your emotional landscape.
Keep a small sketchbook by your bed or desk.
Each day, open to the next page and make one mark. One.
It can be a dot, a slash, a spiral, a scribble — whatever feels right in that moment.
Don’t label it. Don’t judge it. Just make the mark and close the book.
After 30 days, flip through and see your month.
From the project
Preston’s discipline was one painting per day — no skipping, no catching up. The consistency created a container. This is the smallest version of that idea.
See Day 330in the mosaic →“People who watch the documentary don't consider themselves creative — and then they go paint. When you're in a creative mode, it does something different to your brain.”
— Preston Zeller
See where it all started
365 paintings. One year of grief.
Explore every painting from Preston's year-long project — or watch the documentary that captured the entire journey.