If you’ve missed making art together, or if you’re looking to spice up your zoom calls with some creativity, this is for you. You can use these games for laughs, to fill out your sketchbook, or even to make fun one-of-a-kind holiday cards.
You’ll need
- A small selection of art supplies. There is no wrong tool for the job, use what you have on hand. Need some inspiration? Think in contrast: Black and colours. Thick and thin. Wet and dry. Scratchy and smooth.
- Paper to draw on
- A video chat with one or more friends
- A timer
- 30 minutes to an hour for the drawing session
Basic Formula
- The host sets and announces the timer
- Everybody draws either using a prompt (see below) or free-form
- Show, tell, and admire
- Proceed by either:
- Cherry picking activities that sound fun, or
- Repeating the same activity with increasing time - 2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes.
Prompts
Prompts can help us draw when we don’t know where to start. The following prompts can be used with a timer for any of the exercises:
- Draw in one continuous line, without looking at your paper or lifting your pen. Set a timer and colour it in.
- Draw with your non-dominant hand.
- Use only three colours.
- Use only one colour.
- Use only black.
- Six drawings of the same scene: 2 minutes. 1 minute. 30 seconds. 15 seconds. 5 seconds. 2 seconds.
- Draw in one continuous line without lifting your pen, but this time you can look at your paper. Draw for the whole time.
- Draw with both hands at once.
- Draw without using any lines.
- Draw using only straight lines.
- Draw with the pen (paintbrush, marker, crayon, etc.) in your mouth.
- Look at the scene for 30 seconds. Set timer and draw it from memory.
- Draw only the shadows.
- Draw using only letters of the alphabet.
- Lines with one material, colour in with another, add texture with another, in any order.
Tips
- Setting a timer helps us get out of our head and draw. Drawing the same thing with increasing time moves us to look more closely.
- The more the better! One of the most satisfying things is ending up with a pile of fun and interesting drawings at the end, be sure to draw a bunch!
- Admiring each other’s work is important, especially if there’s anyone in the group who doesn’t draw very often. When looking at someone’s work, find something you like and say it out loud.
- Each round of drawing is a great opportunity to ask questions of your own work. What’s something you discovered? Something you like? Something you would like to carry forward into the next? Something that didn’t go as planned, for worse or for better?
Activities
Draw from a livestream
Livestreams take you places you can’t go on foot - especially during the pandemic. Finding the right stream can give you a delightful session of drawing from life and movement.
Instructions:
- Choose a livestream
- The host sets a timer for 2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes
- Everybody draws the scene, in whole or in part
- Show, tell, and admire!
Here are some fun livestreams to start you off:
Animal livestreams
- Currently live! https://www.explore.org/livecams/currently-live
- Live at the Monteray Bay Aquarium in California: https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams
- Safari cams: https://www.africam.com/
- Pandas at the Smithsonian: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/panda-cam
- Vibrant jellies: https://www.explore.org/livecams/currently-live/seajelly-cam
- Kelp forest and fishies: https://youtu.be/GpIcx_Fq3s4
People livestreams
- People crossing Abbey Road https://www.abbeyroad.com/crossing
- Random places on Earth https://www.earthcam.com/
- You might get lucky and catch a wedding: https://www.earthcam.com/usa/nevada/lasvegas/index.php?cam=wedding
- Watch people eat a 72oz steak in Amarillo, Texas: http://www.bigtexan.com/live-stream/
Draw from a virtual museum tour
Explore and draw history and art together. It’s a bit like an urban sketching meetup from the comfort of your home!
Instructions:
- Choose a museum from https://artsandculture.google.com/search/partner
- Choose a collection and an item, together or independently
- The host sets a timer for 2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes
- Everybody draws
- Show, tell, and admire.
Draw a landscape
Mapcrunch has some lovely landscapes from Google Street view. See where the Random button takes you!
Instructions:
- Go to https://www.mapcrunch.com
- Choose a scene from the homepage or the gallery
- The host sets a timer for 2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes
- Everybody draws.
- Show, tell, and admire.
Window drawing
This is a lovely way to share a slice of your life and be transported to another window somewhere in the world.
Instructions:
- Either everyone draws looking out their own window, or find a window here: https://window-swap.com/
- The host sets a timer for 2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes
- Everybody draws.
- Show, tell, and admire.
Draw from a favourite book
Whether you’re drawing from photos or illustrations, you’re practicing and expanding your drawing vocabulary – practice which comes in handy when you need to draw from your imagination later.
Instructions:
- Someone chooses a book with photos in it, and scans or takes photos of interesting pages.
- This person shares their screen in the video chat so everyone can see the photo
- The host sets a timer for 2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes
- Everybody draws.
- Show, tell, and admire.
Portrait Party
This exercise is inspired by Julia Kay’s worldwide Portrait Party on Flickr. Quick note: if you hate to see yourself older, grumpier, more colourful, fatter, thinner, or otherwise different than you actually are, this might not be the game for you. If you don’t mind seeing strange versions of yourself, read on!
Instructions:
- The host sets and announces the timer (2, 5, 10, or 15 minutes).
- Everyone draws somebody in the call using one of the variations below.
- Show, tell, and admire.
Variations:
- Each willing participant take turns modelling for the group to draw. Face-only or full body.
- Everyone draws their own face.
- Draw everyone in gallery view - 1 minute per person.
Notes: Using prompts can take the edge off this one – see above.
Still Life/Treasure Hunt
Drawing ordinary things with a timer can have unexpectedly pleasing results.
Instructions:
- Everyone sets up a still life in front of them. This can be done in advance, or the host can call out types of items. For example:
- Find something you use every day.
- Find something red
- Find something shiny
- Find something soft (eg. a scarf, a mitten, a loofa)
- Find something human-made (eg. a figurine, a mug)
- Find something natural (eg. a plant, a banana, a taxidermied owl)
- The host sets and announces the timer (2, 5, 10, 15 minutes).
- Either:
- Everyone draws their own, or
- Someone points the camera at their still life and everyone draws the same one.
- Show, tell, and admire.
Sister Images
_This exercise involves drawing and writing, and can be a lovely window into the daily life of your friends. It comes to us from Lynda Barry and Ebony Flowers_.
Instructions:
- Fold a piece of printer-sized paper into four equal squares. Draw over the folds to make four boxes (alternatively, use four index cards).
- 4 minute timer : in the top left square, draw something you did yesterday. Draw your full body, no stick figures - if you’re stuck, draw yourself in the style of Ivan Brunetti (circle head, simple body, noodle arms and legs, simple hands).
- 4 minute timer : in the bottom left square, write about the scene you just drew in first person, starting with “I AM”. Include your age, the date, and where you are.
- 4 minute timer : in the top right square, draw the first memory that comes to mind from the scene you’ve just drawn.
- 4 minute timer : in the bottom right square, write about this scene in first person, starting with “I AM”, including your approximate age and the approximate date, and where you are.
- Show, tell, and admire.
The Dating Game
_Create an imaginary dating profile from a photo of a random stranger. Drawing optional: this is a creative writing exercise, fun to read aloud when you’re finished!
_Instructions:
- Choose a portrait photo from https://www.instagram.com/owasowfoundphotos/
- 2 minute timer: write the About Me section of an imaginary dating profile.
- 2 minute timer: write the What I’m Looking For section.
- 2 minute timer: write the Perfect Date section.
- Read aloud!
Wrap up
I hope you find some of these exercises interesting and you get lots of laughs out of them. If you try any of them and you’d like to share, please send us pictures to arthorsepod@gmail.com!
Best,
Jess