This archive documents the first workshop involving children aged 11 to 17 years old, with experiences of ADHD and perfectionism. 

Not being afraid to paint something and then wipe it away, finding this process more exciting than the original outcome.

Amongst the thick layers of splattering and dripping acrylic paint, the children also wanted to create their own tools or personal marks the leave on the canvas. 

Painting stripes of different colour paint on a brush and then creating multicoloured circles became a repetitive mark that one child had a lot of fun making. Experimenting with all different colours but using the same mark was useful in figuring out what they liked better and what didn't work for them. 

The children also enjoyed using alternative mark making tools such as the bubble wrap to create textures out of the dripping paint. 

This expanded to the children creating their own mark making tools such as using the paper towel as a stamping or swiping tool. This proved how having the opportunity to engage with mark making and a range of tools, empowers children to use their own imagination to create their own tools or types of mark that are more expressive on an individual level. 

Throughout this whole workshop with the children, it was revealing to watch how little hesitation they had to just play. Create a pattern on a paper towel and then stamp it, stamp and drag it, then move onto something else like throwing more paint. This ability to just express and fill a 2 meter canvas with multiple thick layers of paint, was an important revelation moving into the next phase of this research.

The focus of the workshops with older participants will be to document how hesitant they are to express and experiment with materials and tools.