DrawTogether with WendyMac

Hellloooo! It’s another DrawTogether Podcast episode.

Subscribers received a special letter yesterday: notes from a conversation with Ruth Asawa’s son, Paul Lanier, about cultivating creativity in young humans. If you’d like to get special treats like this that dig deeper into things we explore in the podcast, please subscribe. You’re also helping DrawTogether continue to make fun, educational, creative stuff for kids of all ages. Thank you.

On to the podcast! This week we answer that age old question: How do you figure out what to draw when you don’t know what to draw?? Turns out, the answer is right in front of you. When you look closely, the most ordinary object becomes extraordinary (and makes an extra-extra ordinary drawing.)

We practice our skills of observation by learning how to do a blind contour drawing (aka drawing without looking at your paper.) This practice helps us look closely and pay attention to the shapes and edges of an object, how it twists and turns. Then we do a little coloring and shading to help us notice texture and light. 3 months of art school into an 8 minute podcast! Hit the play button above or LISTEN ON iTUNES.

Thanks for drawing together, y'all! Post your blind contour drawings of your extraordinary objects on instagram and tag @DrawTogether.Studio to share them out.

Pencils up ,friends! See you next week.

xo, w

DT PODCAST CREDITS: Drawer: WendyMac, Editor: Amy Standen, Drawing Music: Cheeky CP, DT Theme Music: Thao Nguyen, Hold Music: Jay You

PS! DrawTogether got some BIG LOVE in New York Magazine this week! Thank you Liz Weil who wrote an amazing profile, and Damien Maloney who took the funnest photos. A reminder: even though it’s my silly face in the profile, there’s a whole group of kind, creative, hard-working folks who make DrawTogether happen. It’s not called DrawAlone, right?? Big love and shout out to everyone who contributes to DT. <3

Hi, it’s me, WendyMac. It’s episode 3 of the DrawTogether Podcast! It’s also my birthday week. To celebrate, I wanted to do one of my favorite drawing exercises with you, which also happens to be a DrawTogether classic: the world famous Heart Spiral. But let’s do it with a twist...

If you’ve watched DrawTogether, you probably know the Heart Spiral was inspired by cartoonist, writer and educator (and DT patron saint) Lynda Barry. Lynda believes drawing spirals helps people get out of their head and into their bodies. (We strongly agree!) In this episode, we meet another artist with a spiral drawing practice: Louise Bourgeois.

Louise made drawings constantly from her home in New York (and before that France) until she passed away at 98. Best known for her large scale installation and sculptures, she also drew, carved, printed and painted spirals using all sorts of materials She even created spirals using text. She said, “I love the spiral. It represents control and freedom.” Louise believed the direction in which you draw a spiral changes how you feel: when you draw outside in, you feel in control. Draw inside out, you feel a sense of freedom.

In today’s DrawTogether podcast, we explore Louise’s hypothesis. I’d love to know - did drawing a heart spiral change the way you feel? Did you notice a difference between the two? Let me know in the comments below. And I’d also love to see your finished drawings. Post them on instagram and tag @drawtogether.studio to share them with the DT community.

Happy Diwali!

Later this weekend, subscribers will receive a special post celebrating Diwali by illustrator Ishita Jain. Become a subscriber-supporter to get more cool stuff like this, and help DrawTogether keep going and growing.

Thanks to Chris Colin for the music, Thao Nguyen for the DrawTogether theme song, and Amy Standen for the mix. Everything is better when we Draw (all sorts of spirals) Together!

Big news: You can now listen to the DrawTogether Podcast on iTunes and Spotify! We’ll continue to share the podcast here in our DT Club Newsletter, and paying subscribers get additional behind the scenes tips, interviews, and inspiration. We count on your support to keep going, so please and thank you for your support!

And without further ado... Hit the play button above for the new podcast ep! We call it, “The Big Warm Up.”

Athletes warm up before a game. Musicians warm up before a performance. Should artists warm up before drawing? HECK YES WE SHOULD. On today’s DT podcast, we learn a quick warm up exercise to loosen the muscles and mind, get our blood flowing and heart pumping, and help us draw with our whole bodies.

Whether it’s making a cup of tea, putting on some music or doing some stretches, many artists do some kind of warm up to switch into making mode. The British painter Chris Ofili starts every day in his studio by creating a few abstract pencil drawings and loose watercolor portraits.

The American painter Wayne Thiebaud (who passed away a month ago at the age of 101) started his days with a game of tennis before heading to his studio to paint.

How about you? What gets you into the making mood? Share your warm up routine in the comments!

And PRIZES: Thanks to everyone who told us how you listen to the podcast. So happy to hear you’re all digging it. And our three winners are... Anna David, Linh Nguyen, and Cherylann Ganci! Congrats and please email [email protected] to claim your prize. Everyone else: more chances for DT Swag coming soon.

And as we say at the end of everything, including Friday newsletters: Everything is better when we DrawTogether. See you soon. <3

xo,w

Helloooooo DT fam.

As the school year is wrapping up, so is Season One of the DrawTogether Podcast! (Can you believe it?? 26 episodes!) As our Season One finale, we do a big-hearted DrawTogether classic: the blind contour portrait. This is a partner exercise, so grab a family member, friend or stranger, hit play above, and get ready to learn to LOOK in under a few minutes.

Because in addition to helping us imagine a world we want to see, drawing teaches us to LOOK at one another. To slow down and pay attention. I deeply believe drawing is one of the most accessible and immediate ways to create connection between people and open doors for deeper relationships. My TED talk features this drawing exercise, and goes deeper on how Drawing helps us slow down, look closely and connect with the world around us - and each other. That drawing is looking, and looking is loving. And that DrawTogether isn’t really about drawing. ;)

I hope you enjoy this episode, and continue to do this exercise anytime, anywhere, with anyone. I’ve done it in classrooms, workplaces, in hospitals - I even got a bar full of strangers to draw each other all at once. It’s the ultimate humanity ice-breaker/connection maker. I can’t wait to hear what you think (and see what you see.) Do let me know how it goes.

Looking back on the DT Pod for a minute:

When we started this podcast 26 episodes ago, we never thought we would come so far. With the help of phenomenal editor Amy Standen, we learned about artists Alma Thomas, Agnes Martin and Ruth Asawa. We talked about the war in Ukraine and drew sunflowers to process our feelings and show our support. We drew the shape of sound with musician Colin Meloy, and visited with children’s book author/illustrator Carson Ellis. We moved our feelings through our bodies and onto the page with five finger drawings and silly emotional fruit, and made a bunch of fun imaginary animals - because why not. We drew SO. MUCH. All these DT podcasts and more are here on Substack and on Apple Podcasts.

If you or your kids missed any, they are here for you over the summer.

Speaking of Summer: next week I’ll share deets on what’s coming next, what subscribers will be receiving in their inboxes, all that fun stuff. Plus a recap on everything DrawTogether has done in our classrooms program (SO MUCH STUFF) and some pretty awesome partnerships we’ll finally be able to share.

For now, a huge thank you so much for being part of DrawTogether. There is no DT without YOU.

And as we say at the end of every class, show, podcast episode, and first podcast season (!): Drawing is Looking and Looking is Loving.

Also,

Everything is better when we DrawTogether.

See you soon!

xoxo

w

Helloooo!! It’s Friday! I highly recommend at some point today that you stop whatever you are doing, stand and/or stretch, shake the fingers, shake the arms, and do The Friday Dance. I feel like we all could use it, right?? Well, I hope this newsletter also helps inspire and excite: we have a new super important DrawTogether Podcast episode for you, and a very special DrawTogether group effort. Let’s go!

NEW DT PODCAST EPISODE. (Hit that big play button above to listen!) Last week I got a call from Special DT Guest and pediatrician Dr. Lee Atkinson-McEvoy. She said she’s witnessing higher levels of anxiety amongst her young patients than ever before. Dr. Lee asked if DrawTogether would consider dedicating an episode to helping kids of all ages process feelings. Of course we said YES.

For the next few weeks, the DT Podcast will focus on drawing to help identify, clarify and process emotions. Let’s call them “Emotional Doodles.” Like everything DrawTogether, these exercises are intended for kids, but growns might find them helpful, too. We’ve heard the DT Podcast is also excellent family dinner table material, and awesome to use in the classroom. Remember, these podcasts are a quick bites - starting points for exploration. Keep drawing on your own and see where it leads. Please share thoughts, suggestions or requests you for future DT podcasts with a comment. DrawTogether is a big community endeavor, and we want to hear from you.

LET’S DO THIS: Help Boost Kids Creativity with Art Supplies! I know from personal experience how much having quality art supplies as a kid cultivates creativity and confidence. Unfortunately, many schools don’t have visual art classes, let alone any decent art supplies. DrawTogether’s non-profit “DrawTogether Classrooms” just launched our pilot program: we’re delivering FREE social-emotional art programming to 100 classrooms in 30 states. (Woot Woot!) Now, with you, we want to make sure those kids have the art supplies they need.

We just kicked off a Go Fund Me campaign to deliver 2,000 beautifully designed, high quality DrawTogether art supply kits directly to emerging kid artists in classrooms around the country. We need your help. Just $30 will give a kid a life-changing art kit. For $300 bucks, you’re supporting ten small artists. And for $1,000, you’ll stock an entire classroom with supplies for a year, and change these kids lives forever - and we’ll send you a kit of your own. :)

Every dollar makes a difference, as do tweets and posts - please kick in if you can, and please help us spread the word. Hit the button below to share this email with a friend. Pass it on! Thank you so, so much.

It’s an exciting time for DrawTogether. I have a little DT insider info I’ll share on Sunday - subscribe to support DT and get the inside scoop.... Meanwhile, thank you for being part of this incredible growing community. Pencils up, friends. Everything is better...

xo, w