Practice on Vacation / Little things add up

Jul 15, 2022

The Art of Applied Visual Thinking

The official newsletter of Applied Visual Thinking SUPERHEROES. Vol. 3 No. 14 July 15, 2022

Creating a daily drawing practice, no matter how small, is vital to becoming a great visual thinker.

Even five minutes of drawing per day adds up quickly. Five minutes per day equals 35 minutes per week, 150 minutes (that's 2 1/2 hours) per month, 1825 minutes (that's just over 30 hours) per year. You can amp up your game very quickly if you double or triple your daily practice time.

bar graph showing that 5 minutes per day drawing = 2.5 hours per month, 30 hours per year

However, it's easy to fall into a rut. If that's happened to you, summer vacation is a great time to breathe some new life into your daily drawing practice. Here are a few tips to help you break out of your daily drawing rut or just have some fun while drawing.

Switch it up. Try drawing with your non-dominate hand. You may cringe at first. However, your opposite hand drawings will get better quickly if you switch hands regularly. Bonus: changing hands is also good for your brain. Research has shown that doing everyday activities with your non-dominant hand, like drawing, writing, or brushing your teeth, helps build new neural pathways and increase brain plasticity, which is the ability of the brain to modify its connections or re-wire itself. Who couldn't use more of that?
Draw something different. Look back through your sketchbook and search for patterns. If you spend a lot of time drawing similar things, go for the opposite. For example, if you love timelines and process flows but rarely draw charts or maps, try creating a few of those for the next week or two.
Try new media, material, and location. Playing with new media, materials, and places is a surefire way to spark some new life in your practice. For example, if you always draw with a pen in your journal at your desk, you might tape up some large paper, grab a couple of large markers and go crazy doodling on the wall or grab some sidewalk chalk, go outside and doodle up the driveway. Bonus: this is a great cheap summer activity for the kiddos when they and you are bored. Want to save what you've drawn? Snap a photo with your phone, print it out, and paste it into your sketchbook.
Host a drawing game night. Stock up on some pens, markers, paper, and snacks, and let the fun begin!

Play Pictionary. Similar to charades but with drawings, this classic game is fun for all ages and guaranteed to spark infectious laughter.
Create a list of simple words like toast, mouse, sign, or bat, and have everyone draw their version of it in one minute. It's always interesting to see how someone else interprets words.

illustration of a drawing made on 3 parts of a folded piece of paper. Game is played by second and third sections being drawn without seeing previously drawn sections: head, torso and lower body

wobbly drawing done with non-dominant hand and straighter drawing made with dominant hand

drawings of a flying bat and a baseball bat hitting a ball

Collaborate to recreate a famous artwork. Pick a renowned piece of art such as The Scream, have everyone draw one element such as the screamer or the sky for one minute, then trade papers and move on to another aspect until you run out of features.
Play "Exquisite Corpse" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse. This simple creative, collaborative drawing game is guaranteed to turn out some fascinating creatures, monsters, and ghouls.

Creating a daily drawing practice is key to becoming a great visual thinker. And summer vacation is a great time to break out of a rut and try something new. Ready for more? Sign up for our AVT Foundations course. Not sure where to start? Contact Us.

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