Hello and welcome to friends new and old!
HAPPY NEW YEAR. And happy DAY ONE of our 30 Days! I’m so happy we’re starting the year off together.
Reminder for GUT MEMBERS: we are kicking off the 30 Days today, together, LIVE ON ZOOM at 10am PT/1pm ET. Members can find the link to the zoom below and in the GUT Chat. Bring your sketchbook, pen, and any colors you want to draw with so we can start our 30 Days of Drawing together.
If you are not a member, all good! You will still get the lessons (art for all!). But the drawing assignments and access to the GUT community chat are for members only. You can find more info on this and how the 30 Days of Drawing works in this FAQ.
LESS IS MORE
Our theme this year is “LESS = MORE.” No need to overachieve in 2026, friends. Time to take a breath. What matters now is being clear and decisive about what we want, and going easy on ourselves as we make our way there.
As a reminder, every day we draw for TEN MINUTES A DAY. No more, no less. Use a timer! There’s a reason why: by giving ourselves a hard stop, we push ourselves to keep going, and don’t let ourselves become perfectionists and drive ourselves into the ground. To create a habit, we always want to stop when we’re on a high note so we look forward to returning to it. Questions about this? Members, please leave a comment and we can discuss creative habit building there.
Day 1. More/Less List!
Given the theme of LESS = MORE, it only makes sense to kick off this year like we do every January 1, with our favorite intention-setter, the Illustrated More/Less list.
The More/Less list was created by my dear friend and oft-collaborator, illustrator Julia Rothman. If you don’t know Julia’s name, you definitely know (and love) her work. She has published a ton of books like her famous Nature Anatomy series, awesome products (one even related to the More/Less List), wallpaper, editorial illustration and the column Scratch in the New York Times. Fun fact: Julia and I created the database/advocacy project Women Who Draw together, which, after 9 impactful years, we closed in 2025 with a high-five and a smile.
Julia invented the More/Less list in 2016 and has been doing it every year ever since. She has joined us the past three years to kick off the 30 Days of Drawing with a drawing version of the MORE/LESS list, and we’re thrilled she’s joining us again this year — here — and on Zoom!
We’ll talk more about the MORE/LESS list with her live. But below is a Q&A to give you a sense of it, and of her. Following the Q&A you’ll find our Day 1 Drawing Assignment. Heads up: Assignments are for members of the DrawTogether’s Grown-Ups Table (meaning: paying subscribers). Subscribers also get access to the GUT Chat where we all share our artwork and support each other, and the chance to have your drawing featured in the daily 30 Day GUT Gallery (woohoo!).
Alright, without further ado… let’s start: DAY ONE of the 30 DAYS OF DRAWING.
Julia Rothman’s More/Less list
Wendy: Hi Julia! Thanks for kicking off 2026 with us. Can you tell us about the More/Less list? We’re all excited to do it with you again this year.
Julia: Me, too — and sure. The More/Less list is a casual way to imagine your upcoming year. It’s sort of like a resolutions list, in that I'm envisioning what I want more of in my life, and what I'd like to do less of. I try to keep it to the things I can control myself. The list can be written and/or illustrated with small drawings representing the items. Then I hang it by my desk as a small reminder of what I’m going towards in the new year.
Wendy: How did you get the idea for this illustrated list?
Julia: I’m not sure how the idea came to me. It was the end of 2016 and maybe because I was doing a lot of work on myself and trying to be more intentional, I wanted to create something to guide me for the next year. I woke up on the 31st and wrote More and Less at the top of a piece of paper and drew a line down the middle. It was a spur of the moment idea and worked. When I shared it on Instagram, people really responded and started making their own lists. That was so cool.
Wendy: Why do you think the More/Less list has been so widely embraced? What makes it different from other resolutions or reflections people do at this time of year?
Julia: I think resolutions are daunting when there are hard lines. This isn’t a No/Yes list or a Must Do. It’s sort of like, I’m going to try to do more or less of something. Some of the things on my list, stay on my list, year after year. I am always working on them and that's okay. Or they may disappear one year and reappear on the list a few years later. Some things I know I’ll be working on my whole life!
Wendy: Any tips or tricks for us?
Julia: A big tip is don’t worry about making a “good drawing” or nice lettering for this. This list is only for you. And you don’t need to share it with anyone unless you want to. It’s ok to draw symbols or abstract shapes to represent ideas, as long as you know what they mean.
“Don’t worry about making a ‘good drawing’ or nice lettering…”
If you want to take this further, you could make a series of specific lists. Instead of a general More/Less list, you could focus in on something. Maybe you want to make it particular to your creativity. So things on your list relate to that only. Maybe you want to make your list about your career or your family life. You could make multiple More/Less lists and expand the idea to all aspects of your life. I made one just for Art making last year:
Alright, friends, what follows is for member-subscribers: the link to the Zoom, the daily drawing assignment, and access to the GUT chat where we share our drawings and support each other and hold ourselves accountable, all that fun stuff.
See you tomorrow for Day 2!
❤️✏️❤️
