Artistic ability sometimes seems prey to "pixie dust" syndrome: some lucky recipients, so the thinking goes, get a generous dusting at birth; others might get a sprinkle; and for those who missed out...ah well. Not true! Anyone can express him- or herself through art. It's a wonderful way to explore feelings outside the realm of words. Making art can be relaxing, meditative, cathartic, inspiring - and that's just the process! If you end up with a piece you love at the end, it's a wonderful bonus.

Here are some tools and approaches that I've found useful in creating art easily and accessibly:

1. Oil pastels.

These beauties are as easy to use as crayons, but offer a multitude of possibilities. The colors are rich and true, and you can achieve varying effects of intensity by using a lighter or heavier touch. Use your fingers to smear and blend colors, soften edges, and push the pigment across paper to create a feeling of movement. Oil pastels are small and portable, which makes them great to bring along for drawing outside (one of my favorite things to do!), in a casual coffeeshop or cafe, or anywhere you please. They come in packages of varying sizes; I like the 24-pack, which has a good variety of colors but isn't overwhelming.

2. Watercolor crayons.

Another fantastic, easy-to-use medium. Draw with these as if you're using crayons, then apply a brush dipped in water to the paper and watch your drawing turn into a painting. Keep in mind that colors will blend and run just like paint once you start brushing water over your drawing. You can take advantage of this quality to achieve beautiful effects: try layering different colors, pulling color across the page with the brush, and adding more or less water to create a wash or a deeply pigmented look. Keep a cup of fresh water handy for dipping your brush. Like oil pastels, watercolor crayons are wonderfully portable; just pack a brush (see below) and a bottle of water, and you're set!

3. A good brush.

If you decide to use watercolor crayons, a watercolor brush brings out the best of their potential. Look for a large, "round" brush at an art supply store. If you want to splurge, try a large flat one as well to achieve different textures and effects.

4. Paper or cardboard.

Go to an art-supply store and you'll see endless paper choices: hot-press watercolor, cold-press watercolor, drawing, sketching, bristol...just to name a few. Art paper can get very expensive. Fortunately, both pastels and watercolor crayons work well on regular sketching paper. I recommend going for a larger size - it's good to work big when you're experimenting with a new medium. Watercolor paper, of course, performs well with watercolor crayons, but I've found that you can get great, though different, effects with sketching paper. Look for paper that has a bit of a rough texture.

And let's not neglect cardboard! Cut off the flaps from that box you received a package in, or use an entire side, and unleash your oil pastels. They look great on cardboard, and the sturdier surface allows you to really blend and push the color around. I recommend sticking to paper for watercolor crayons, however.

5. A focus on the process - and a forgiving attitude.

To me, the most important part of making art is how you feel while you're making it. The joy of getting wide swathes of color on paper, the satisfaction of sketching shapes, the quiet contemplation of rendering something you see in front of you, the release of scrubbing pastels hard against a surface and rubbing them in and getting color all over your fingers...different approaches work for different people, but there are myriad possibilities for finding your own mode of expression in your work.

You may love everything you create, or you may have some works that are more about process than product. Either way, making art leads to wonderful paths of exploration.