Hi Friends!
Happy Day 2! You are doing it. We are doing it.
Yesterday you drew a 2026 More/Less list to kick off the new year with creativity and intention. How did it go? Judging by all the awesome artwork I saw on the Zoom and in the chat, it struck a real chord. And such a strong, fun, creative way to start the New Year. I salute you all. Thanks again to Julia for joining us on the Zoom to get us started. I love our creative crew. ❤️
We recorded the Zoom and will have it ready to share soon! Note: It will only be available to paid members, but it’s not too late to join. We’ve extended the sale on annual memberships for a couple more days!
Now that we have our intentions started, we’re ready to enter 2026 — and the rest of the 30 Days of Drawing — with our eyes, hearts, and minds wide open. Pens and pencils ready.
Remember, less is more. These lessons will be a little more manageable. Less a mouthful and more a morsel. I’m here to help you get started. The community is here to help you keep going. Add that all up, and we will draw and grow together every day.
First, Some Quick Housekeeping:
How it works
You can always find the FAQ here. That tells you how this works, and who is behind the scenes helping make it all happen. The FAQ answers most questions about the posts, the chat, stuff like that. If you have additional Q’s that aren’t addressed there, please ask them in the comments so we can answer them and all members can benefit from you raising your hand.
The 30 Days will be broken down into four themes. Every Sunday we will launch a new theme, and I’ll provide a lesson, plus a little context on the theme. Then we’ll explore that topic over the course of the week by featuring different artists, artwork, inspiration, and of course daily drawing assignments. A new chat will start each day for you to share the day’s artwork. It’s not unlike years before, just a little less weighty in the daily lesson department to make it feel more manageable, and hopefully help you move all the way through the full 30 days.
Also, I reserve the right to change things as needed! :) NO RULES IN ART. But I am going to try to stick to my own theme this year: Less is More.
Warm Up with Drawing Stretches
Today and tomorrow, we’re going to warm ourselves up with some classic and new (!) GUT doodles. I’m thinking of them as drawing stretches — ways to get ourselves primed and ready for the rest of this 30 days!
These doodles will help get us out of our analytical heads and back into our creative, GUT-led bodies. We conducted a survey after 2024’s 30 Days of Drawing and found that DrawTogether-style doodling helps decrease anxiety, stress, and perfectionism. And for good reason. The simple act of doodling on paper helps us focus our minds, retain more information, and calm our anxious nerves. Less is more — less deliberate drawing puts us more in touch with ourselves.
Day 2. The Spiral
If you’ve drawn with me for more than a minute, you’ve heard me talk about spirals. Artist Robert Smithson (who made the earthwork above on the left, Spiral Jetty — just added to the National Register of Historic Places!) and artist Lynda Barry (who starts her workshops with drawing spirals, as in the still image above) are two of my favorites.
Spiral drawing dates back waaaay further than these artists, tho. Since people have been drawing, we’ve been drawing spirals. This 12” triple spiral engraving below was carved into the walls of a cave in the Brú na Bóinne area in Ireland around 3,000 BC.
Spirals are pervasive throughout art and nature. Shells? Spiral. Daisy petals? Spiral. DNA? Spiral. Even the Milky Way is shaped like a spiral. Inside to out, spirals are everywhere.
It’s no wonder that spirals are incredibly relaxing to draw.
During the height of the pandemic, in live DrawTogether classes for kids, we relied on drawing heart spirals to ground us in our bodies most mornings, and I dedicated an entire DrawTogether kids video to the DrawTogether heart spiral drawing practice.
Louise Bourgeois, The Spiral Drawer Supreme
You may know artist Louise Bourgeois from her giant spider sculptures (inspired by her mother, a weaver!) or her hanging sculptures or many boob forms. (So. Many. Boobs!) Or maybe this is your first time hearing her name! Regardless, we are starting our drawing stretches with inspiration from Louise’s spiral drawings.
Louise drew throughout her life, until her death in 2010 at 98. And often she drew spirals.
Born in Paris, Louise grew up in a creative but traumatic family home. She carried the weight of her childhood with her, experiencing terrible anxiety and emotional struggles. In her mid-twenties, she started looking inwards for inspiration, and began drawing her abstract emotional and psychological landscapes. Her art-making became her coping mechanism. Drawing became her survival mode. And that is when she began to make the work that we know her for today.
Spiraling OUT vs Spiraling IN
Louise said the movement of drawing a spiral outwards creates an experience of “giving, and giving up control, trust and positive energy.” Drawing a spiral inwards creates “a tightening, a retreating, a compacting to the point of disappearance.”
Today, we are going to explore the simple, profound act of drawing spirals.
