30-Days of Drawing Starts Jan. 1
Let's do this together.
Hello friends!
Guess what?
We're back, baby.
On January 1, we’re going to do a new 30-Day drawing practice for 2025.
Working as a group, we will do 30 days of daily drawing lessons and creative inspiration, ten minute daily drawing prompts, a supportive community art share, all the same awesome stuff we loved in January, 2024…. But with a twist for 2025. There are a few awesome changes: altering the experience to make it a bit more suited for right now, and more doable for us all.
I think it’s gonna feel really good.
In addition to the daily lessons, prompts and community, here’s what we’re looking forward to this January:
Themes: Attention & “Good Enough”.This year feels less like a time to be reactive, and more like a time to take deliberate deep breaths. A time to focus and practice being caring, attentive, and thoughtful. To build those deep core love muscles for the longer haul. And it feels all the more urgent to do in community. That is what we are going to do. In 2025, we’re putting our creative attention on… ATTENTION. Where we put our attention (especially when there is a darn tidal wave coming at us) means everything. And also, we’ll focus on doing what we can. Doing and being “GOOD ENOUGH.”
Less = More. I will send out a big drawing/life lesson each Sunday, then follow up with bits of inspiration and a drawing prompts every day through the week. Why not a behemoth drawing lesson every darn day? Because turns out more is not always better. I believe small bites will help us all keep going the whole way through the 30 days, and go deep into our themes. Also, I am trying to practice being Good Enough myself. Might as well model it where it matters most.
Invite your friends! While a lot of people used the chat to share artwork and make new friends in 2024, we saw a lot of people invite friends and create their own accountability groups. In that spirit, if you want to gift a GUT membership to a friend so they can join you and the GUT in the 30 days (and beyond), I made you a gift certificate you can email them. Just download the image and email it to them after you’ve signed them up at the link below. (Also makes a GREAT last minute holiday gift.)
A few more changes in the housekeeping area:
Don’t worry about falling behind. Of course drawing is best when done together, but access to 2025’s 30 Days daily lessons and prompts will available to all paid subscribers through March.
Lock in the price now. In January we’re raising our monthly prices. We wil keep the annual at $60/year (that’s just 5 bucks a month) but our monthly subscription price will be going up a couple bucks to latecomers. If you want to lock in the lower monthly price then subscribe today. Personally, I recommend doing the annual. It’s cheaper for you overall, and really helps us plan the year ahead. Remember, thanks to generous donors and you, we continue to offer full scholarships to the GUT, including the 30 Days. No artists left behind.
Below is a FAQ with everything you want to know about 30 Days of Drawing. Any more questions? Leave it in the comments. Our favorite
will be there to help, and will help with tech questions in the community@drawtogether.studio email. If any wonderful 30 Day 2024 Alumni would also hop in to help newcomers, that would be great, too. It’s called DrawTOGETHER for a reason.Oh, and! If you did the 30 days in January 2024 and you want to share a little about what you are looking forward to in the 30 day in January 2025, we’d love to hear it. Please leave a comment below. It’ll be a fun way to reconnect and start getting into the 30 day community mindset together.
Of course we have an assignment this week…
Assignment: Get your materials ready
Get your supplies together. All you need is a sketchbook (any bound book of paper will do), a pen and/or pencils, and something to color with. Watercolor paints, markers, colored pencils, etc. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Whatever feels fun and maybe like a manageable challenge.
Alright friends. I’ll send out a final pre-launch prep motivation next weekend… but for now, gather those supplies, invite your friends, and let’s get ready to do DrawTogether.
xoxo
w
What is the GUT’s 30 Days of Drawing?
The 30 Days of Drawing introduces the life-changing, world-transforming power of daily drawing (and painting, doodling, and general making) into your life. It will also give you the tools to maintain a practice long after the 30 days. What makes the Grown-Ups Table’s (GUT) program different from every other art and drawing program is that we do it together in community. And not just any community. The GUT community is the best, most creative folks in the world - just the kind of safe, supportive space where we can take a leap and grow.
What is the GUT’s 30 Days of Drawing exactly? It works like this: I send out one deep-dive lesson and drawing prompt on Sunday, and every other day you’ll get an additional drawing prompt and a dose of art and inspiration to keep you going.
You draw for 10 minutes every day, and if you want to share your drawing with the awesome, supportive DrawTogether/GUT community in a chat thread, everyone will cheer and clap. In the GUT chat you’ll meet other like-minded creative folks from all backgrounds and skill levels and receive tremendous encouragement, accountability, and community. (It’s kind of the best.)
Who the heck is leading this thing??
Me! I’m Wendy. I lead this thing, and all things DrawTogether/Grown-Ups Table.
I’m an artist and graphic journalist, and I’m trained as a social worker. I’ve drawn everywhere from Guantanamo Bay to high school cafeterias, and published 12 books (three New York Times bestsellers!) including Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat, and The Gutsy Girl by Caroline Paul, and my most recent book, How to Say Goodbye. My work (and life!) is dedicated to creating connection through drawing, and offering the tools for others to do the same.
If you know me at all, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. I like drawing and talking about feelings, art, life, people, creating a full, meaning full life - all that fun, real stuff - and always with a wink, usually with a smile. (Life is too damn short.) Other people you may meet along the way: helping out with encouragement and answering questions in the chat and comments is
, and is behind the scenes in community email.When and how do I get my prompts?
I send inspiration and prompts daily via email (or, what I call a “dispatch”.) You can also view the dispatches on Substack’s website or in the Substack app. Typically, I send out 30 Days of Drawing dispatches weekly, though sometimes they arrive more frequently.
I am not getting my GUT emails; what should I do?
Substack support has information to address this issue here. If you’ve signed up and still aren’t receiving them, email support@substack.com. If you’re a Gmail user, check the Promotions tab.
You don’t need the email to access the weekly dispatch. It is also available in your Substack account’s Inbox in the app or web page.
How do I share my drawings with the GUT community?
The GUT community shares our drawings and supports one another in The GUT Chat. Substack’s Chat is separate from the comments section below each dispatch. It is a different space where we can post images and reply to each other. And it is exclusively for paying GUT members. You can access the chat feature on the Substack website or within the Substack app. Here’s how.
Share your drawing using Substack’s MOBILE app:
If you haven’t already, download the Substack app
Look for the double speech bubble icon - that’s the Chat feature.
Click on the DrawTogether with WendyMac collection of threads. You should the DrawTogether logo.
There is a chat thread for each drawing prompt. The latest is always at the bottom; you can scroll up to find the chat threads for all the previous prompts which you can add to. Click on the note from me or the reply box to jump into the thread.
At the bottom of your screen, you will see “Add a reply…”. First, click the landscape icon to add a photo of your drawing. Then, add any text you like. Click the arrow, and your contribution is now in the thread!
Write some text if you want, click the arrow, and voila! You shared your drawing with the GUT community!
Share your drawing using a DESKTOP computer:
Point your browser directly to club.drawtogether.studio/chat or click on “Chat” in the top menu bar.
Click the DrawTogether logo on the left. This is where the GUT community chat threads live.
There is a chat thread for each drawing prompt. The latest is always at the bottom, or scroll up to find the one you want to contribute to. Click on the chat thread you want to open.
At the bottom of your browser window, you will see “Add a reply…”. First, click on the landscape icon to add a photo of your drawing. Then, add any text you like. Click the arrow, and your contribution is now in the thread!
Still a little lost? It can be confusing at first, but you’ll get the hang of it fast. More information on using Substack’s Chat is here. The GUT community is the heart of the Grown-Ups Table and well worth the effort, I promise! And you can always leave a note in the comments and someone, probably the wonderful Art Auntie Kathleen will respond.
How to Reply to a Reply in the Chat Thread
Since this is a community, please give positive feedback and kudos to your fellow members!
Substack has two kinds of replies: “Reply” and “Reply in a new subthread.”
A Reply will quote the previous comment and post chronologically within the main thread. Substack’s chat function defaults to this method.
By clicking “Reply in a new subthread” your comment will branch the conversation and keep all related comments together. You can access this option with a long-press (on mobile) or clicking the “…” menu to the right of the comment.
I shared my drawings in the chat but I can’t see them! What’s up?
Sometimes our GUT community shares so many images that the system has trouble displaying everything. While you might not be able to see your work, others can! Substack is working on fixing this glitch.
Technical Assistance
If you’re having technical issues with Substack, please contact support@substack.com. They are responsive, helpful, and ready to assist.
Subscription Issues
Access to the full 30 Days of Drawing experience is for paid subscribers only, but no artists turned away for lack of funds. We have scholarships available for people experiencing hardship. Contact community@drawtogether.studio to request a GUT scholarship. Paid GUT subscribers can access the 30 Days of Drawing prompts and GUT community, including the GUT Chat.
To see your subscription status, you must sign into Substack via a browser, not the app. Then…
Click on your profile avatar
Click on Settings.
Scroll down to Subscriptions, then click on Draw Together with Wendy Mac.
You should be at the Manage Your Subscriptions page, where there is information about your subscription.
If you believe you have a paid subscription, but it does not show up as paid here in the status or you cannot access comments and chats, please contact support@substack.com.
Other questions?
Anything we haven’t addressed here? Email us at community@drawtogether.studio and we will do our best to get back to you, stat. So happy to have you at the Grown-Ups Table!
xoxo,
wendy and the DrawTogether/GUT team
Can't wait!
Yayyyyyy!! So looking forward to doing this again! I was an enthusiastic participant last January but fell off the wagon during what was a rather rough year on several fronts. The 30-day Drawing Habit will be just what I need to jumpstart my creative juices again and set me up for a better year in 2025. Thank you, Wendy, for your joyful inspiration and ongoing commitment to building community through art! And thank you Art Auntie Kathleen and Kyle Ranson-Walsh for all your dedicated behind-the-scenes work and encouragement! Can’t wait to meet all you GUT folks again in January!