I would recommend anyone to try the new craze of the Adult colouring lots of abstact and mandala in the books.
I tend to flit from starting one and then end up having more on the go at the same time stops me getting bored doing the same one all the time and I prefer to work in felt tips than crayon as the colours are more vibrant but its all down to personal taste.
I tried loading more than one picture but it doesn't let me do it or I don't know how.
Mandy(**,)
What a coincidence. I've just returned from visiting a dear friend who's utterly worn out from intense chemotherapy but has received encouraging signs of hope this week.
So she's started making positive moves, one of which is adult colouring. She showed me her colouring books and the first picture was an elephant, almost identical to yours ! She described it as 'incredibly calming & uplifting'.
I think there are loads of things which we're forced to 'grow out' of which we'd all secretly like to do but daren't. Last summer I was leaving the park with my daughter when we were delighted to see four elderly folk turn up and start swing round the maypole, with some gusto, and laughing their heads off.
It was hilarious, and quite charming, but also pretty sad that they'd had to wait 'til the place was deserted to have some innocent fun.
So glad you're finding pleasure in colouring Mandy ; love the elephant & its vibrant colours ( I prefer felt-tips too). xxx
Hello Cat,
long time to speak but keep popping in now and again 
I am sure your friend will find great pleasure in the colouring I only wish I had something like this when I was in hospital for 2 months.
Love the story about the oldies, but occasionally we all should do something a little crazy at times......
I have my moments when I just blurt something out and could not careless whether they like it or not.
Mine happens while driving as the drivers over here are oblivious to others on the road and that's just driving in the village I live....
I call it my Tourettes moments......hahaha
Mandala looks so much better in felt tips than pencils like you say vibrant and stands out more.
Mandy(**,)x
Hi Mandy,
Great work :). Very colourful, I like.
Like Cat was saying about it being calming and uplifting, I can agree with.
I would probably have a go myself at the adult colouring books but the thing is i am normally dong my own colouring or drawing.
When I am drawing, I am in my element and feel quite calm and confident.
I used to say that after I had a couple of hours drawing my brain/head would feel so thick and my eyes would be quite heavy. It felt like my brain had been replaced with a house brick :).
But now I have purchase a small bottle of Frankincense essential oil which I inhale straight from the bottle about once or twice a day. It really does clear my head and make me think clearer at times.
Essential oils are very very good for the body.
But back to the drawing or even the adult colouring books, both of these methods is creativity and creativity id good for your brain.
Keep up the good work :).
Take care,
MJ
Forgot to add.
I like felt tip pens but I find that the fibre from the paper comes away from the paper easier this way.
When I decide to colour my drawings in, I usually use good quality colouring pencils. Prismacolor is the first brand of pencils I use. They are soft and oily and look good on the paper but I find that the lead can break easily.
Faber castell is the other brand of colour pencils I prefer. This brand isn't as a soft and oily finish but the lead is harder which I like.
When I jave finished applying colour, I use a blender marker pen which is similar to a felt tip pen but it uses a clear alcohol which mixes with the colour and smoothes it out.
The colour can sometimes be mistaken as felt tip.
Take care,
MJ
I know the final article requires sealing to prevent smudging, but I love drawing with oil pastels for that very reason ; their oiliness means they can be blended so easily to create realistic light & shade & tone.
I started using it when I did A level art many years ago and always preferred it to oil paint or watercolour. xx
I used to like using oil pastels. I would always use them like crayons and I have seen other peoples beautifully blended paintings using oil pastels and always wondered how they got it to blend together beautifully.
I now know that they use terpentine or something similar but over the years I have stopped using oil pastels and gone onto using graphite and colour pencil, much cleaner to use.
Oil pastels were pretty clean to use and I also liked using regular pastel but that could be messier to use.
You can get pastel pencils which I might have a go at sometime.
I prefer watercolour pencils over painting with watercolours. I like to see a watercolour painting but I could not make one though.
In college was when I first used watercolour pencils and enjoyed them. Fill area with colour and wet it. Pretty simple but effective.
I have some watercolour pencils here at home but rarely use them. It makes me wonder why I got them now :). I think I just get too wrapped up using graphite, I love it.
I agree Matt...................it's sort of addictive using graphite. And I actually prefer the appearance of B/W images. xx
With b/w images, it brings out the shading more and I have always loved shading since I was little.
Have you used charcoal? I have used it a few times and although you can make your work look really goo, it can be messy.
I have got some charcoal pencils but I don't use them much.
They are cleaner to hold but I just feel it can make a mess on the paper.
Yes, charcoal is messy but you can get pretty dramatic effects with it.
When my kids were small I left a block unattended & my 4 year old had a ball with it using up page after page of large, expensive drawing sheets ; could've been worse................ the wallpaper for example ! xx
How bizarre you mentioned the essential oil Frankincense I was only talking to a colleague at work yesterday about this oil.
So you would recommend me trying it?
Funnily enough I have a set of Faber Castell felt tips which I find the best to use ,but I've got quite a few cheap brands they sell here in Cyprus.
My next ones I'm going to try are the metallic ones to add a bit of variety and going to see if I get some gel ones as well.
This is an old hobby from my childhood I used to love colouring,painting and drawing using some pencils from Switzerland in a special tin box had them for years.
Know what you mean with the felt pens and the bloody paper fibres,but I love the vibrancy of the colours especially with the Mandala pictures.
I actually took some into work with me last night to do during the quiet period between flights.....lol
Toodle pip
Mandy
Yes, I would recommend you try Frankincense essential oil. Actually I recommend any of us brain injured survivors try it out.
Essential oils are great for the body and according to some sources, Frankincense essential oil is good for brain injuries/disorders.
Do some research on it and apparently the oil must be either '100% therapeutic grade' or '100% pure essential oil' or it is likely not the correct stuff.
Frankincense essential oil should only be inhaled straight out of the bottle or with cold air diffuser. I wiff it out of the bottle.
Frankincense sends more oxygen to the brain, which it needs. I learnt not long ago that a man with a BI treated his injury with some sort of oxygen treatment.
As the oil is pure, strong stuff, I take one deep breath of it before bed. It certainly helps with sleep :).
And like I mentioned before, it helps me with my concentration/fatigue.
I am on a mission though. I have a slight right sided paralysis, mostly noticable in my face and my right eye has permenently turned inward and my smile is weak and so on.
I am wondering if I contiually breathe in Frankincense essential oil, would it end up correcting my weakness?
Only time will tell. I am keeping a diary of this and I have been using the Frankincense for a few months now and no major changes just yet.
But
Patience is a virtue :).
I'm going to buy some from my local health shop.................today !
xx
I just read something not too long ago about the adult colouring books said by psychologists that they are a great alternative to meditation.
I always pictured meditation as sitting on the floor with legs crossed but through some things I have read, meditation can be basically relaxing.
You can slump on the setee/couch and call that meditation haha. I guess though if you were watching tv that would break the meditation.
So be warned couch potatoes, you might sit around watching tv most of the day but that is not exactly meditating :).
Progress slow speech therapy 
Post Concussion Symdrome
You might find this funny. I did
What when there is NO solution?
Stop calling it a headache!
