Finding Calm in Color: Acrylic Markers on Wood

I’ve been enjoying experimenting with acrylic markers — a medium that bridges the freedom of painting with the control of drawing. They glide effortlessly across wood, glass, or plastic, bringing vivid colour without the mess of brushes or water. What I love most is their immediacy: you uncap, press gently, and colour appears — bright, opaque, and deeply satisfying.

Crafting memories with my children: Our colourful weekend project, creating and decorating wooden dice according to our feelings

In art therapy, each material holds its own rhythm and emotional language. Clay grounds and soothes through touch. Watercolour flows and loosens control. Pencil sharpens focus and detail. Crayons invite warmth and nostalgia, while pastels feel raw and expressive, responding to pressure and texture. Alcohol- or water-based illustration markers, often used in design or fashion rendering, bring smoothness and speed, offering clarity and precision. Acrylic markers, meanwhile, sit gently in between — structured yet expressive. Their soft resistance allows colour to glide and settle with texture, so you can feel the pigment as much as you see it.

Each medium connects differently with our senses and emotions. None is better than another — each simply opens a different door. Together, they remind us that creative materials, like human feelings, exist across a wide and beautiful spectrum of possibilities.

I’ve used acrylic markers personally to self-soothe, and with my children and clients to support gentle expression. On wooden blocks, each surface becomes a small world — one side holding a feeling, another a season, another a thought. For children who struggle with open-ended tasks, the cube’s shape provides containment; for adults, it becomes a mindful exercise in slowing down and noticing.

Working with these markers engages both sensory and symbolic levels of expression. The tactile resistance of wood grounds the body. The colours offer immediate feedback, helping to regulate attention and emotion. Psychologically, the process invites small decisions — colour choice, line direction, repetition — each building a sense of agency and control.

Acrylic markers lower the barrier to creativity. They’re tidy, vibrant, and forgiving — a mix of paint’s richness and marker’s simplicity. That accessibility can make art-making feel less intimidating and more about process than outcome. The simple act of holding, colouring, and rotating a block invites mindfulness — being fully present in the moment.

Versatile 2-inch wooden blocks, perfect for art projects and available at local art stores or online retailers.

If you’d like to try this with children, here are a few gentle prompts:

• “Pick a colour that feels like you today.”

• “Decorate each side with a different emotion, season, or memory.”

• “Let’s roll the block like a dice — whichever side it lands on, tell a short story about that colour or feeling.”

  
  

Afterward, take a moment to look together — not to critique, but to notice. What side stands out? Are there faces they want to show or hide?

Creating with acrylic markers reminds me how art can be both soothing and expressive. It doesn’t need to be complex. Sometimes, a small wooden cube and a few bright colours are enough to help a feeling find its shape.

Because acrylic markers are portable and low-mess, this can be done almost anywhere — at home, in classrooms, in therapy rooms, or even as a mindful distraction for a fidgeting child on a long-haul flight. All you need is a few blocks of wood, a few colours, and a few quiet minutes to see what unfolds. (Of course, sketch book and paper work too.)

Henri Matisse. (1910). Music [Oil on canvas]

“When I put down a green, it doesn’t mean grass; and when I put down a blue, it doesn’t mean sky. It means something that goes through me.”— Henri Matisse