DrawTogether with WendyMac – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Hellllooo Friends.

This week we revisit one of our earliest DT Podcast episodes: Gratitude. Drawing is a great way for kids (and all of us) to begin a gratitude practice. Kids can do this at home in their art studio (aka the kitchen table) or as a group in a class or after school program, or as a family. And if you/your kids listen to the DrawTogether podcast as a group, this is a great chance to draw and share out loud what you are grateful for.

Why are people so hard to draw? Is it our wonky shoulders? She shape of our eyes? The funky curves of our ear? Or our weirdly formed hands and feet?! Answer: YES. Today on the pod, we try cartoonist's Lynda Barry and Ivan Brunetti's exercises from Lynda's book Making Comics and create some simple, squiggly wiggly human bodies, then transform them into characters. Grab some paper, pens, colors and young people, and let's DrawTogether.

Hellllooooo! This week on the DT Podcast, the phenomenal, Caldecott-honor winning children’s book illustrator/author, artist, mom, partner, friend, gardener, and llama-mama Carson Ellis joins us to talk about her art and teach us her favorite drawing game: Transmundane Tuesdays. Let’s call it TT for short. TT is a super fun drawing game anyone, any age, can play. It works like this: Carson pulls three prompts from three jars. Then she reads them to us. Then we combine all three prompts into a wacky, wonderful character drawing. Easy right? Totally. And super fun.

And that’s exactly what we do on the podcast. With some chit chat and drawing music.

Here’s the drawing Carson did on the episode.

And here’s mine:

Okay, so now it’s your turn. JOIN US. Grab your supplies, press play above or over on Apple Podcast, and see what you come up with. Be sure to post your artwork on Instagram and including the hashtag #TransmundaneTuesdays and tag us at @DrawTogether.Studio so we can see it share it with everyone else, too!

You can also look at the hashtag #TransmundaneTuesdays on Instagram to see THOUSANDS of people’s TT drawings Carson and her fellow TT drawers have created over the years. It’s astounding to see how everyone’s imagination works so differently, all the different approaches to drawing, and all the effort people put into something that is purely for the joy of it. She’s really created something so special.

When Carson posts them on her Instagram and Substack they look like this: (Note this is not the DT pod prompt!)

So fun.

And! Be sure you subscribe to Carson’s substack “Slowpoke” for more Transmundane Tuesdays and general art and drawing goodness. She is one of my favorite artists and one of the best human beings I know and I promise you will be delighted and inspired. She also has a show in SF at Gallery 16 (June 3-July 31) with another favorite artist, Nathaniel Russell coming up soon!

Can’t wait to see your Transmundane Tuesday drawings. See you next week, all. Everything is Better When We DrawTogether.

xoxo

w

ps - thank you Kate Levitt for jumping in and helping Amy and I with a last minute edit on this week’s episode! Yes, we had some tech issues this week. Happens. Life!

DrawTogether with WendyMac is reader-supported. If you value this podcast, publication and any/all things DrawTogether, please subscribe to keep it going and growing.

Hello! This week on the DT Pod we’re drawing EMOTIONAL FRUIT! Timid tomato. Angry apple. Silly Strawberry! If you can feel it and eat it, you can draw it! Grab your kids, your supplies, press play and DRAW.

I’d LOVE to see your emo eggplants. Post your excellent food-feeling artwork on instagram, tag @Drawtogether.studio and we’ll share them out so others can see them, too.

DrawTogether Podcast & Newsletter is made possible by folks like you. Subscribe to support!

For subscribers this week: we’ll dive into the creative (and often beautiful) world of emotional charts and diagrams. We’ll look at some of the more visual, thoughtful and unique ones, and learn why they are so helpful. Spoiler alert: When we can identify our emotions, we can decide what we want to do (or not do) about them. And by kids, I mean all of us.

Now go grab your drawing supplies and press play - can’t wait to see your EMOTIONAL FRUIT.

Spread the word about the DrawTogether Podcast & Newsletter - share with a friend!

Hello DT fam!

This week on the DT Podcast we’re making a drawing based on an old surrealist drawing practice: Automatic Drawing. Popularized in the early 1900’s automatic drawing by famous artists like Andre Breton and Joan Miro, this exercise helps us get out of our busy brains into our instinctual bodies. When we let our bodies take the lead, it’s surprising what reveals itself on the page.

I’ll share more about the history of Automatic Drawing and body/subconcious-focused art in next week’s subscriber news letter.

While the surrealists called this Automatic Drawing, I’m renaming it, and calling our drawing today “Body’s Choice". I’m stealing this phrase from my dear friend, the writer Courtney Martin. (If you don’t subscribe to her newsletter The Examined Family you’re missing out.) I heard Courtney use that terms when talking to her eldest daughter Maya. Maya was maybe 5 or 6 at the time, and Courtney was giving Maya a couple options. Instead of asking her, “What do you think?” she offered, “Body’s Choice!” and Maya knew immediately which direction she wanted to pursue. It completely blew me away.

So many of us are trained to default to our rational brain for decision making. In turn, we lose touch with those first, most essential feelings - the ones that occur in our bodies. By practicing listening to the body, trusting it, and leading with it, we develop a deeper understanding of who we are and what is right for us. And while we practice noticing that what is right for OUR bodies, we also notice that it’s often different than what’s right for OTHER people’s bodies. And we can develop a strong respect for that, too. By having awareness and boundaries around our own bodies, not only do we respect ourselves but we respect other people, too.

My body, my choice. Your body, your choice.

Hope you enjoy today’s DT Podcast. I’d love to see what you draw. Share it out on Instagram and tag @drawtogether.studio so we can share it there, too - or email us a photo here and we’ll share it in next week’s email. Speaking of, check out 8 year old Cole’s awesome Doodle Game Drawing. SO MUCH FUN.

Everything is better when we draw together, xoxo,

w

This week on the DT Podcast: The World’s Best Drawing Game is back! Grab a pencil, paper, press play above and get ready to surprise yourself. It’s fun to play on your own, and way more fun with two people. If you want to share your favorite doodle drawing on instagram and tag @drawtogether.studio, we’d love to see and share.

AND! A call for kid storytellers from our friends at Radiolab! Terrestrials, a new podcast for kids from Radiolab, is looking for a youth storyteller for their first season. Could it be YOU? They’re looking for stories about “trash mammals.” That’s right. Mammals that are not considered cute or cuddly, but deserve some recognition. Some examples are skunks, rats, porcupines, opossums, bats, stray dogs, street cats, raccoons, coyotes, hyena, ferrets… stuff like that.

Tell them a TRUE STORY about an experience you’ve had with a trash mammal that surprised you or changed you or your understanding of the world in some way. Make it fit in 5-7 sentences or a 30-60 second audio or video clip. Send your stories BY MONDAY to Ana at agonzalez@nypublicradio.org

Also! Our homebase is here in the DT newsletter, but if you’re listen to the DT Podcast on Apple Podcasts could you take a moment and give us a rating and review over there? It makes a real difference and is a great way to support DT. Thank you!

Everything is better when we DrawTogether.

xoxo,

w

DrawTogether hereby officially proclaims the 3rd week of April “Agnes Martin Week!”And to celebrate, in the podcast we explore of the work of this legendary artist and draw with a similar technique she used in many of her paintings. Press play and let me know how you grid goes.

Agnes Martin’s large, square abstract paintings (which are often drawings) appear simple and clean. I mean really, they’re just criss crossing lines on a canvas, right? They don’t LOOK like anything. But somehow they hold our attention and vibrate with a calm energy. They are filled with beauty and joy. And while they might not be a drawing OF something, they FEEL like something. Her painting “Summer” feels like summer. Her painting “Mountain” feels like a mountain. How is that possible?

Perhaps what goes into a painting determines what comes out… (Yup, we talk about this in the podcast.)

Agnes Martin said “There’s not such thing as a perfect painting.” And while we might be tempted to try to “get it right” when drawing straight lines, grids and dots, perhaps what makes her work - and our drawing exercise this week - so satisfying is the impossibility of perfection, and the way each of our drawings end up becoming uniquely our own.

If you’re doing this exercise with kids or a classroom, this is a great opportunity to refute fussiness and embrace mistakes. The imperfections are truly what makes this simple drawing special. Also, deep breathes, shaking out extra energy and sound effects never hurt.

When we learn about an artists life, we unlock a whole new dimension to their art - we get to see it in a whole new way. This is doubly true with Agnes Martin. While I talk a bit about Agnes’ life in the podcast while we’re drawing, I’ll share more in the subscriber email in the coming days, along with the transcript of the podcast.

(If you would like a transcript of the DT podcast and aren’t able to make it happen right now, write us and we’ll comp you. No barriers to art!)

Alright, grab your pencil, maybe a ruler, and I can’t wait to hear how it goes.

Pencils up, friends! Everything is better when we DrawTogether,

w

Hellllooo!

Today on the DT Podcast we continue our sound theme with a visit from one of my all-time favorite musicians: Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. Using a variety of sophisticated sound-making tools (aka: instruments) Colin helps us explore the question “What does sound look like?” He plays six of his favorite sounds for us, and we use our sophisticated mark-making tools (aka: pencils) to DRAW our visual interpretation of the sound, and create an abstract musical score. No rules! Use different mediums and marks. Get messy.

Colin is not only a literal rock star, but he’s also a phenomenal writer (hello Wildwood Chronicles made with fave human/illustrator/kids book author Carson Ellis. They also happen to be married.) Colin recently launched a substack to share the BTS of his songwriting process, old tracks, lessons - def worth a subscribe. (Carson just launched an amazing art one, too!)

I’ve heard from a lot of you that you miss the DrawTogether shows. I know. I do, too. Friends, they are coming… It’s just takes so darn long. YOU will be the first to know what’s next, I promise. Meanwhile, if you like, maybe I’ll pull back the curtain a little on what’s going on with the show, with DT Classrooms, the art kits and more for subscribers… Yes? No? Let me know if you’d like to hear more about that (or anything else) in the comments.

Also, with all this talk of sound on the podcast this week and last, I’m mortified I haven’t been creating transcripts for DT folks who are deaf or hard of hearing. My deep apologies. I’m learning. As of this week, paying subscribers will receive a transcript of the DT Podcast along with behind-the-scenes notes, exercises and reading suggestions. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and can’t afford a subscription right now, write me and of course we’ll give you free access.

Can’t wait to see your Cabinet of Sound! Post them on Instagram, tag @DrawTogether.Studio and we’ll share some of them here. Maybe we can even convince a rock star to play some of the abstract scores you create. :)

Pencils up, friends.

Everything is better when we DrawTogether.

xoxo

w

Episode 20 Credits:

Drawer-in-Chief: WendyMac

Editor Supreme: Amy Standen

DT Drawing Music: Chris Colin

DT Theme Song: Thao Nguyen

Special guest: Colin Meloy

Helllloooo! This new DrawTogether Podcast episode might be my favorite yet. Today, we swap out our Art Eyes for Art Ears, head outside and draw a Sound Map.

In DrawTogether we often focus on sight - as in, “Drawing is Looking, and Looking is Loving.” But when we slow down, pay attention and truly SEE, we don’t just use our eyes. We use ALL our senses when see, and in turn, when we draw. So today, we focus on a new sense: our hearing. We take our drawing supplies outside and we LISTEN to the world around us, and draw what we hear. A Sound Map is a visual story of a time and place. It’s also a wonderful listening exercise for kids, a great mindfulness exercise for adults, and just a fun way way to connect with the world around us.

Drawing a Sound Map is a great solo, family, or group activity for the weekend or after school - and a wonderful exercise for classrooms. All you need is 10 minutes, a safe, comfortable place to sit outside, a sketchbook (or “mobile studio’’ as I call it - the podcast will explain), a pencil and maybe some colors. And most of all, you’ll need your Art Ears. The rest will come to you.

I’d love to see your Sound Map. Take a photo, post it on Instagram and tag @DrawTogether.Studio. We’ll share some of them out here in the newsletter.

Next week is our 20th episode, and to celebrate we have another sound-focused DT episode featuring super special guest musician and writer Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. (!!!) Set your Friday drawing alarm clock.

Finally, ODE TO PENCIL follow up! Turns out DT peeps love: Ticonderoga, Blackwings, Colored pencils and Microns the most. The WINNER of the DrawTogether ODE TO PENCIL is…. Patricia Chavez! Patricia, email me at submissions@drawtogether.studio and we’ll send you some super awesome DT pencils. <3

Enjoy the soundscape, y’all!

Everything is better when we DrawTogether. xoxo,

w

This week DT Podcast credits:

Editor supreme: Amy Standen

Drawing Music: Chris Colin

Theme Song: Thao Nguyen

Recording Assist: Courtney Martin and John Cary

Sound effects courtesy of: Ohrwurm, Urupin, Murkertrer, Yacou, Woodylein, Apolloaiello, Biawinter, Julien-matthey, Steffcaffrey, Simon-spiers and Patchytherat.

A quick thank you to our paying subscribers. Without you, there is no DT Podcast (or anything really!) If you want to see DrawTogether continue to grow, please subscribe to this DT newsletter for just $6/month. It helps us keep the lights on as we work on more shows, DT Classrooms, partnerships and projects, and continue to grow hearts with art. Thank you!

It’s Friday! That means a NEW DrawTogether Podcast episode! We take a special DT kid request (yes, we take requests!) and the result is a super fun family or classroom drawing adventure filled with animals, monsters, superheroes and SURREALISM. While it’s only a few minutes longer than than our typical 5-10 minutes - it will provide hours of fun for a kid, family or classroom.

Supplies: For this drawing, kids will need 3 pieces of paper, a pencil, maybe some colors, and scissors. For the littler kids who aren’t using scissors on their own yet, they will also need a grown up.

FLIP BOOK IT: If you/kids are working in sketchbooks, try not removing the paper. Instead, keep the paper INSIDE the notebook while drawing and cutting. You’ll end up with a super fun surreal FLIP BOOK of silly monster combinations.

Group Sport: This is a twist on the surrealist game Exquisite Corpse, in which two or more people pass a folded piece of paper around and create a mish-mash drawing together. If you want to to try that, my pal Austin Kleon (who has an awesome new Substack) did a wonderful post on it not so long ago.

Can’t wait to see your silly surreal monster drawing! If you’d like to share your kid’s drawings with the DT Community, take a photo of your Silly Monster and send it to submissions@DrawTogether.studio, or post a pic on instagram and tag us at @drawtogether.studio - we’ll share it out on our instagram account and maybe feature your kid’s drawing in a special newsletter (include first name and age, please!)

Have fun!

Everything is better when we DrawTogether. <3

xoxo

w