Abstract paint-by-numbers: who would have thought that this activity could relax? This activity, initially considered useless, turns out to be an excellent way to detach oneself from the problems of the outside world. It requires a model such as a colouring book, pencils, concentration and a little time.
Far from media consumption, one can communicate with oneself in an analogue way. Analogue hand-colouring activates areas of the brain that ensure flow and relaxation and allow one to feel one’s self again. Many patterns in the universe are fractals and appear on both a small and large scale. Reproducing patterns is therefore not pointless, but connects us to the larger patterns in the universe. Drawing numbers also strengthens other abilities. We no longer just see the dots, but can connect the dots to form a picture, just as in reality. The individual fragments do not make sense, but the whole makes sense, a pattern.
Isn’t this what we see in other areas of the world? Isolated points and interventions are surreal, contradictory and questionable. But there are people who can explain these specific points to us, who try to see beyond the isolated points and recognise a structure. The result is as frightening as it is fascinating, and we suddenly realise that many stories no longer fit this image, this pattern. Another model suddenly unfolds on the terrain of reality. Who would have imagined it?
In this sense, abstract paint-by-numbers is a good exercise in searching for a model, for other ‘stories’. This type of painting can also bring relaxation and inner calm in a world that is becoming more and more absurd. If one can let oneself go completely into the drawing, he/she forgets the problems around him/her and is only in the here and now. In this way, painting acts on both the body and the mind and gives a little security.
A drawing is created out of nothing, who else can understand it so well? Painting with figures is a good way of getting into the action, into the creation, for people who are afraid to draw independently, where they can handle a brush or a pencil with confidence. The figures and the model provide guidance, but the structure also allows a lot of freedom. You can choose the colours yourself, which allows you to create completely different effects with different colours. There is no end to the experimentation. For people who are not very confident, the number guidance is a way of practising safety. In this sense it is a “guided meditation”. The numbers guide, the mind searches, the hand follows.
Painting with numbers is therefore a healthy activity, not only for children, but also for adults, and it has great added value. It almost goes as far as behavioural therapy, body therapy. The act of seeing and painting allows for new experiences. It is necessary that this act is carried out in an analogical way and not on a computer, in order to connect the hand, the soul and the body. The linked abstract patterns will then deliver some surprises. Before, we only saw dots, but the dots have a hidden wisdom, a hidden message, they are more connected than we think at first sight. This approach and knowledge can be applied to real life, it is possible that new dots are connected and new patterns are identified in reality.
