My Grown-Ups Table friends!
As of today, we are officially in the second week, peeps. How you doing? Drawing everyday? Or most days? If you fell off and want to restart, GREAT. You. Are. A. Drawing. Superstar. Since when do superstars give a hoot about what they are “supposed” to do. You do you. Even when — especially when — the news in the world is so hard or we experience loss in our own backyard, we can draw our way through it together.
Over this last week, you set intentions, did your drawing warm-ups, and dove straight into some super playful drawings. These PLAY drawings aren’t just fun. Each one is perfectionism-busting, expectation-exploding, joy-inducing, mind-expanding drawing practice. They help us start to SEE the world around us with more attention and curiosity. I would bet my right hand you created drawings you NEVER expected you’d make. Am I right? (Then high five my right hand, buddy! Hhhheeeyyy!)
And you did it all in community with a supportive (and might I say quite good-looking) group of new creative friends. Good job, you.
It takes effort, time, and commitment to grow a creative habit. And you are — we are —doing it. Let’s keep going. Let’s keep playing.
Day 8. Let’s get goofy
Today we are going to try two mini-drawing exercises that will challenge us to draw in ways outside of our regular drawing behavior. They make it literally IMPOSSIBLE to do a “good drawing” — even more than blind contour! I promise these drawings — and how you make them — are going to seem WEIRD.
While these exercises have been done in classrooms around the world for generations, I am going to cite Lynda Barry as the inspiration for these two, and use some of her tricks to make them more FUN.
Lynda Barry, aka “Professor Chewbacca,” aka “The Near-Sighted Monkey,” is one of my all-time favorite artists/cartoonist/writers. Today we’re lifting up her wisdom in a quest to move beyond that voice saying things need to be perfect. Lynda has written dozens of books, and every single one is unlike anything else out there — a real jolt of inspiration. Today’s exercises come from her books Making Comics and Syllabus, both full of helpful ideas for what to draw when your brain feels stuck and uncertain. Which can be often when we’re just starting out. Or if we’ve been at it for decades.
If you want to hear more from Lynda Barry on her philosophy and her practice, check out this phenomenal talk she gave. In it, she talks about image making, deep play, her own personal story and process, and so much more.
Alright, let’s get started with our two lessons.
