The Art Majlis x Maisa Shaldan: How to Draw What We Feel

On Wednesday evening, 11 February 2026, creatives, students, and art enthusiasts gathered at Huna Takhassusi for a special session of The Art Majlis, hosted by KSA Art. The artist-led session, titled “How to Draw What We Feel,” was led by Saudi visual artist and researcher Maisa Shaldan, offering participants a reflective exploration of how sensation, memory, and emotion shape artistic creation.

Unlike traditional technical workshops focused on drawing accuracy, the session centered on a deeper creative question: How do artists translate inner experience into visual form?

A Session Focused on Emotion Before Technique

Maisa Shaldan opened the evening by inviting participants to rethink how art begins. Rather than starting with composition rules or drawing techniques, she emphasized that many artworks begin with feeling, memory, or sensory experience, long before lines appear on paper.

Through conversation and examples from her own practice, she explained how artists often select materials (paper textures, pigments, charcoal, or fabric) based on the emotional atmosphere they want to express. In this perspective, materials are not simply tools; they become part of the storytelling language itself.

Participants explored how concept and material work together, learning that the meaning of a piece often develops through the relationship between what is being expressed and how it is physically created.

Key Highlights

A key theme of the session was learning to respect the “in-between” stages of making. Maisa explained that early sketches and unfinished work aren’t leftovers—they’re thinking spaces where ideas are tested, emotions are traced, and form slowly finds its meaning. She also connected this to personal experience, showing how memory, environment, and lived moments quietly shape an artist’s visual language over time. The result is a process where creativity isn’t just technical skill, but an ongoing dialogue between what you’ve lived and what you choose to express.

Maisa also walked the audience through a selection of her own artworks, sharing the story behind each piece. What sparked it, what it was responding to emotionally, and how the materials helped carry that meaning.

Guided Sensory Sketching: Drawing Through Touch and Smell

One of the most engaging moments of the evening was the guided sensory sketching activity, where participants were invited to explore natural materials through touch and smell before attempting to draw them.

Instead of observing objects visually, attendees first interacted with textures and scents, then translated their sensations into abstract sketches guided by feeling rather than sight. The exercise demonstrated how perception extends beyond vision and how sensory awareness can unlock new creative approaches.

The activity encouraged participants to loosen their expectations of “correct” drawing and focus instead on emotional interpretation, resulting in expressive sketches that captured mood, rhythm, and movement rather than literal representation.

The Art Majlis: A Space for Process-Driven Conversations

The session reflected the broader mission of The Art Majlis: creating artist-led spaces where conversation, experimentation, and process-focused learning take priority over formal instruction. By bringing practicing artists directly into dialogue with audiences, the series helps bridge the gap between studio practice and public understanding of contemporary art processes.

Events like this highlight how artistic practice is not only about producing finished artworks, but also about cultivating awareness, reflection, and creative curiosity within the community.

An Evening Centered on Creative Reflection

Through discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on exercises, Maisa Shaldan’s session provided a meaningful reminder that art begins long before the first line is drawn, often in sensation, memory, and the quiet moments of reflection that shape how artists see the world.

The evening stood as another example of how The Art Majlis continues to foster thoughtful artistic dialogue in Riyadh, offering spaces where both emerging and established creatives can explore the deeper dimensions of artistic expression.

Missed this session? Join the next one HERE.