Shape Up!

It can be overwhelming to learn how to draw. There’s form, composition, shadow, perspective – it can get complicated really fast. But when your goal is to draw quickly on a flip chart, and connect with people by using icons and symbolic images, it gets a lot easier. The key thing to remember is this:

everything has a shop

….And shapes are the building blocks of simple drawing. Here’s an exercise: rather than looking around your office and naming what you see – “There’s my computer screen, the door, a doorknob, a coffee mug” – I want you to instead practice naming the shapes of those things: that computer screen is a rectangle, and so is the doorway! The doorknob is a circle, the coffee mug is essentially a cylinder.

Drawing starts with seeing what’s actually in front of you. Naming the shapes you see is a way to practice how to reduce any object to its simplest form. If you look at a more complex object, like a table, a truck, an entryway –– see if you can break that down in your mind, and register each of the component parts –– the separate simple shapes that make up the whole.

Next time you’re in line at the grocery store, or waiting at a stop light, look around -– and practice your new way of seeing. This is a great way to build your skill at drawing, before you even pick up the pen!

Gratitude: Always in Season

Yep, Valentine’s Day is a made up holiday, but I still like this day of love, connection, and gratitude. And, even when the holiday is long over, that gratitude is still here. I’m grateful for you being on this journey with me, for doing what you love, and for valuing connection and communication.

I enjoy reminiscing about my mom taking us to the stationery store to get the white paper doilies, the red construction paper, and even a few sheets of those red, shiny cupid stickers. (My mom thought that stickers were a luxury item…!)

This Valentine’s Day, I wanted to appreciate YOU! I had such a great time drawing you these four Valentine’s Day cards! They’re all here for you to download. Please feel free to send to anyone else who you think might need a card from you in their inbox today. If you want to see a time-lapse video of the making of the cards, click here.

Valentines Day Cards

And, if you feel inspired, take ten minutes and draw out your own note of appreciation and send it to a friend. Remember, it’s not about making something perfect, it’s about the ten minutes of “being with” your friend as you draw. Trust me: the handmade imperfections will make your card all the more sweet and personal. Supporting one another is where it’s at!

Breathe In, Breath Out

Drawing can be a way to come back to the present moment, and calm down. Here are a few ways to do this.

Grab a few blue markers, turn a piece of paper to landscape, and fill it with slow, ribbon-like, horizontal lines. Here’s a link to a 2 minute video where I demonstrate this! Drawing slowly is meditative, and horizontal lines are calming.

In this video I’m using a blue Charters marker and a light blue Neuland “Big One” marker.

I recommend using any marker in cool colors: blues, greys, bluish-greens ––they’re more calming, they recede.

Make a drawing, or collage notes onto a photo to create a “reminder image”. I made this drawing for myself earlier this week; you might have seen it on my Instagram feed. I wanted to remember the calming tools I’ve learned in yoga class. Since there’s an image and icons, spatially arranged, I can keep a snapshot of this drawing in my mind’s eye, and refer to it when I start feeling stressed.

Make your own Zentangle-style doodle, and then color it in. I’ve attached three here, with varying degrees of detail. Or, make your own! All you need is a black permanent marker and a few colored markers. And, if you want to do things in the official Zentangle way, there’s lots more info here.

Hoping that you and your family stay safe and healthy, and creative.

The Benefits of Making Art

I’m both a graphic facilitator and an artist. The graphic facilitation may pay the bills, but the art making has many other benefits. Perhaps this list will encourage you to remember (or awaken) your artistic maker self!

Some benefits –– or joys –– of making art:

It’s a sensual pursuit: the pooling of ink, of colors flowing and combining. The sensation of a brush loaded with paint pushing across a primed panel, or piece of cardboard. The soft, sanded edge of a smoothed wood block. The resistance of a copper wire as it bends and catches the light. The kinesthetic, physical aspect, and the joy of being “hands on”, and engaging with the materials.
Art connects us to others. It builds community through sharing ideas, engaging in conversations, giving feedback, trading artworks. And, by looking at others’ work, we can be inspired, uplifted, and feel connected. We can name ourselves in that community.
The process of artmaking invites curiosity and discovery. Firstly, about what’s happening internally. Making can uncover emotions and moods, they arise from the materials and the exploration. In the work I pursue, there are no right answers, no formulas or equations. Instead it’s a process of wondering, trying, experimenting, and following the impulses: “Hmm, what if…”
Art is personal. Good art reflects you. And I believe the best art is honest and unselfconscious. It reflects who you are, not who you think an artist should be. Finding your artistic voice is a process. See #3.
Art is a practice, and a craft. There are skills to be honed, there are always ways to stretch and improve, and always more to learn. The process is humbling: the more you know, the more you realize how much more there is to learn.
Art brings you into now, here, the ever expanding present moment. Through attention and concentration, it can bring us into a state of flow. Where time seems suspended. The desire to follow that flow is compelling and addictive.

What does an art practice bring to you? This might be a good time to dust off those art supplies you’ve got up on a closet shelf and find out!

Introducing the First Online Class from The Graphic Distillery!

Graphic Distillery's First Online Course

Over the years, I’ve taught many in person visual thinking workshops to all kinds of people, and I really enjoy doing it. I love seeing people shift from an attitude of “I can’t draw” to: “Hey! I can do this!” I live for that moment, seeing that spark of surprise and delight on people’s faces.

And now, I’m about to launch my first online class, so that more people can have access to building their visual thinking skills!

Draw it Out is an online class designed to teach you the fundamentals of visual thinking. We’ll learn to draw lines, simple shapes, and lettering. And (this is my favorite thing to do) I’ll show you how … how to hold the pen, how to move your arm, or bend your knees – the secrets of a body-based approach to drawing. Once we’ve practiced the fundamentals together, we’ll apply them – with my three go–to formats: the List, the Cluster map and the Mind Map. And I’ll share principles of design and rules about color to guide you. Plus, I’ve got nineteen pages of worksheets for you to download!

This class is not about learning zillions of icons and then feeling lost about how to apply them to your work. Icons are great, but they come later. Instead, you’ll Iearn how to make your everyday charts clean, clear and organized. These are the skills that underlie 80% of my work as a professional graphic facilitator. When you’re confident in the visual thinking basics, you can focus on your work –– listening deeply to your clients, capturing their ideas, looking for connections, and supporting collaboration and action.

So, let’s do this! It’s a super fun and practical class, and I can’t wait to be your guide. You can sign up here to be on the list to stay informed.

The Benefits of Making Art

Faces Everywhere!

Recently I was rifling through the kitchen junk drawer at my mom’s apartment, and I found the scraper shown here. A very clear character immediately jumped out at me. I can’t imagine not seeing a face in this tool, with his crew cut hair, startled eyes, three-dimensional nose, and shocked mouth. (Clearly, he was outraged at being forced into such a harshly lit photo!)

Several days before I happened upon Mr. Shocked Scraper, I noticed another episode of face pareidolia (the phenomenon of seeing faces where none actually exist). This time I was in Santa Barbara for work, and when I glanced at the door handle inside my hotel room I saw this surprised face staring back at me! The wide-set eyes appeared under glossy dark hair, (or was that a Russian fur hat?) the nose was rakish but demure, and even though the mouth was occupied with what – a backwards pipe? – a bent lollipop? – it still read as a face to me.

At one point it was assumed that only neurotic people saw faces like the ones above, (hmm, I protest!) but in a recent study conducted at the University of Toronto, in association with several Chinese universities, a different conclusion was reached. The lead researcher, Professor Kang Lee summed it up by saying,

“…Our findings suggest that it’s common for people to see non-existent features because human brains are uniquely wired to recognize faces, so that even when there’s only a slight suggestion of facial features the brain automatically interprets it as a face.”

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So you think you can’t draw? Think again!

It’s not uncommon that people come up to me at the end of a job and comment on the visual charts I’ve created. “Wow, you really have an artistic talent – quite a gift,” they say, sometimes followed by, “I can’t even draw a straight line!”

I appreciate the compliment, but I always find myself wanting to address the underlying assumption – that drawing skills are only in the realm of talent, rather than techniques that anyone can learn!

With less art being included in U.S. school curriculum, fewer people are exposed to learning how to draw, which means that drawing as an act gets shrouded in mystery. This leads to the assumption that drawing is a “gift,” which some people have, and others don’t.

If art classes were more common in school, people would find that drawing is like any other skill: it can be broken down into components and taught. In a studio art drawing class, there is instruction on what to look for, and multiple techniques on how to draw what you see.

In contrast, it’s assumed that even if a person isn’t particularly inspired by math in school (that would be me!) he or she would eventually make it through the various levels of math classes. Sure, some students may be adept, even brilliant mathematically, but nevertheless everyone learns math in school.

It’s a given that math is a tool that has many applications, and is also a way of thinking. The same is true for drawing. Everyone can learn to draw, and some people may choose to take that skill and use it in service of fine art, architecture, illustration, or as a tool to aid thinking and build clarity, either for oneself or with groups.

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Graphic Facilitation: A way to reinforce learning, increase engagement and co-create understanding

Graphic facilitation increases participation and engagement, reinforces learning, and co-creates understanding

When it comes to learning about or exploring a complex idea, what helps it stick in your brain? A long, detailed written report…or a colorful graphic that highlights the main points of the topic?

If you said the latter, you’re in good company – the majority of people are better able to comprehend and retain complex information when there are graphics to support it.

Using graphics to support ideas is nothing new, but leveraging this principle when you’re doing group work can make a huge impact on how people interact and connect – both with the concepts and each other. That’s why many companies and organizations use graphic facilitation to make meetings and group sessions more effective.

What is Graphic Facilitation?

Graphic facilitation increases participation and engagement, reinforces learning, and co-creates understanding

Graphic facilitation is a way to help people solidify their learnings and deepen their thinking by using the power of visuals in real time, at an event or meeting.

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