nature is extremely detailed. endless variations on the colour green, millions of leaves of grass etc. it’s sublime.

it can also be incredibly overwhelming.

my brain tends to look at all the detail, get overwhelmed, and freeze.

a common piece of art advice is to “break things down into simple shapes”. and that’s great! how do i get my brain to do that, though?

these are a couple of fun exercises i’ve found helpful for just that. basically, i give my detail-oriented brain a new creative problem to solve. one that isn’t “how tf do i draw all the thousands of leaves on this tree”. (i don’t.)

ironically, we free ourselves by imposing limitations. using limited supplies, time, or other constrictions, helps kickstart my brain into “simple shapes” mode. and every time i do it, i strengthen that neural pathway, and it becomes easier to access.

this month’s play prompts and workshop are about landscapes because i’m going to newfoundland on june 3-18, to visit my partner and see the gorgeous views again, so i was feeling inspired and wanted to practice this!

the weekly co-creating calls with members will resume june 21st, and the landscapes workshop will be june 28th 9 PM CEST! you can make sure not to miss it by becoming a member for $24/month or buying a ticket for just the workshop for $15. paid subs on substack also get you full membership access.

alright i think that’s enough ado, let’s get drawing!

3 markers 3 minutes

i used felt tip pens for these, you could also use paint pens, coloured pencils, or crayons. start with 3 pens and 3 minutes to loosen up in a low stakes way! as you can see, for my next drawing i used 5 pens and spent 10 minutes.

here are the reference photos i used from my 2024 trip to newfoundland (where my partner lives):

view from the hike around signal hillMUN botanical garden

the other exercise i want to offer you is of course—

collage

i set the time limit 10 minutes for this, as well as the limitation of 3 papers. mine are crafting paper, wrapping paper, and a coloured paper i found in the basement storage room. you can also use your supplies to colour some scraps of paper to collage with.

this is the reference image i used:

baroque painting ass clouds… ridiculous. i can’t wait to be back.

i’ve got 8 more photos and 3 more exercises for you in the workshop pdf! unfortunately i can’t spill my whole load for free because of capitalism, i’n sure you understand. i designed the pdf to be not just my notes for the workshop, but also a resource you can come back to! so i included more photos than we’ll have time for in the workshop. as a treat.

take care of your lovely self, okay? see you again soon.

throw your eraser in the trash, you won't need it where we're going.

spring is here!!! it's time to let the wild animal of your body create some feral drawings.

but first, a brief practical note! this is the first post in what will be a monthly series of concrete prompts to make fun, playful art. they will replace the inspiration drops that were members only, and these will be free for all! for members, we will do this together in a live workshop at one of our weekly calls! here's the call schedule for may: 

you can read more about the club here!

okay, back to the topic at hand.

often when we draw, we're trying to create "good drawings". perhaps there's a wound inside us that yearns for a gold star sticker. perhaps we're trying to prove to ourselves that we're worthy of making art. yes, of course i'm speaking from personal experience.

but the truth is that making art, good, bad, mid, any kind of art, is our innate right as humans. we have always been worthy and always will be. as long as we've been a species, we have created. paintings, tools, clothes, houses, songs, dances, breakfast, sculptures.

in honour of this heritage and as a fuck off to perfectionism, i wanna offer you a few different ways to make marks, and invite you to recreate some cave paintings and ancient art! the goal is to get you out of your head and into your body while drawing. to feel deeply human.

this is probably your usual pencil grip. it's precise, it's pristine, it gives you a LOT of control with minute wrist and finger movements. (the human hand is an amazingly exact tool!!! we are so freaking cool.) i'm showing it as a point of reference which we will immediately be departing from.

this here is an overhand pencil grip. you'll often hear this recommended for figure drawing. holding your pencil like this involves your elbow in the drawing, it engages more of your body. you still have quite a lot of control, but you will be looser! 

next, a grip i just decided to call "the crayon fist" (new superhero just dropped?) because it's how you see kids grab crayons and furiously scribble both on and off the page. now you have to use your shoulder too! this is the wild animal style of drawing! a full body experience. i stood up while doing these exercises, that helps too, but it's not mandatory.

and of course we can't do cave paintings without using our finger, the original paintbrush. i scribbled graphite on the page and smudged my finger in and used that. you could also use paint on your finger, or soft pastel. whatever you have that will stick! experiment!

this book is an old textbook in european art history i found in a thrift shop. it used to be a library book. i used the crayon fist for my drawings. for yours, use any grip but the control freak! let loose and use your animal body to create! that's what it was made for.

venus of willendorf, what a queen. the hands resting on the boobs!!! same, girl. 

here are some images you can use as reference:

Cave paintings in Pandavula Guhalu, Telangana 04.jpg (creative commons attribution 4.0)

Cave painting from the cave of Altamira in The Anthropos Pavilion of The Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic.

Prehistoric Rock Paintings at Manda Guéli Cave in the Ennedi Mountains - northeastern Chad 2015.jpg (creative commons attribution 2.0)

love this dramatic lighting venus!!! ideal reference for feral animal drawing!

(all venus images public domain)

venus of willendorf is estimated to have been made around 30.000 years ago. that's so many years! capitalism is only around 200 years old! makes you think…

i would love to hear about your experience doing this and see what you create! if you want to share, you can do that in the chaos goblin discord or in the subscriber chat on substack.

if you'd like to join us and do this together live, here's the membership link.

enjoy spring, enjoy being human, stay wild and create!