121: I Want Your Skulls...
121: I Want Your Skulls...
A new exercise for you.
Welcome to Week 121 of the Draw or Die Club Newsletter for Artists.
Draw or Die began over 121 weeks ago when I put together 3 free drawing exercises (Defeat the Funk!) to help artists BREAK through feeling stuck, and get you drawing again and encouraged.
Thousands of artists have done those exercises and thanked me for helping them snap out of creative block. Those exercises STILL work by the way.
A new exercise FOR YOU…
It works like this:
Draw 100 HAPPY LITTLE SKULLS.
While you’re drawing them, think of just a few things…
What makes you happy RIGHT NOW or in recent memory?
What would make you the happiest right now?
As you reach the end of 100 skulls, now imagine each skull representing one year of your life… and you’re lucky if you make it 100.
At the end, ask yourself… what are you NOT doing right now that you know you should? If you could see yourself on your deathbed right now, what is that version of you urging you to do?
NOW… after you’ve done this, share it with me via email at dj@drawordieclub.com and describe your thoughts or feelings. What came up? How did this make you feel?
Why & How it works…
Have you ever had a stranger smile at you, and you instinctively smile back?
You’re not even really sure why you did it.
I kind of accidentally developed this next exercise. It happened over a few streams and conversations with “non-Artists” specifically for people who were dealing with some anxiety or dark times. But they wished they could draw.
So I told them, HEY, you can draw a smiley face, right? OKAY! Now, draw 100 of them.
The person did this exercise and told me they immediately felt better. And then another person told me they did it and it helped.
I kinda had a theory on why it would work and here it is:
From what I’ve learned in life, our subconscious minds are always searching for CONNECTION with other humans, to communicate… (we artists tend to communicate through our art) - so we humans see faces in things, (pareidolia), our brain is constantly scanning the environment and looking for the reaction or emotion on faces near us to let us know it’s okay, or not okay. Are you safe? Are you not safe? Are you loved? Etc…
It also works because of the following:
You’re tricking your brain into a FLOW STATE. Or “the zone” as I call it. It usually take about 20 minutes to get to that feeling of FLOW. When in this state, it feels calming and healing. Suddenly the thing you were so worried about, doesn’t seem so heavy
You’re also triggering a part of your brain that likes to do math, believe it or not. Your deep brain likes to solve problems or be challenged. (counting how many you did)
You’re accessing the GOOD memories and GOOD feelings. And since you’re staring at little smiling faces, you’re tapping into happy memories or feelings.
I was really fascinated by this. I know that ART can heal. Even a simple exercise like this. Even for “non-artists”.
The smiley face had the focus on FEELING HAPPY.
What if I combined it with a HEART? Love & Happiness. I evolved the challenge this week to a HAPPY HEART CHALLENGE at VeeFriends. Now it was both a happy face AND a heart.
And now I have an inbox full of amazing HAPPY HEARTS, and many kind messages saying how this REALLY helped them feel some calm and love. The majority from self-identified “non-artists”.
As this week has gone on… I thought… well what about US artists? And the DRAW or DIE VIBE?
So for the HAPPY LITTLE SKULLS challenge, I think the focus is LIFE & HAPPINESS. And a subtle reminder that our time here is limited. Please friends, seek happiness. When the world feels dark, WE MUST CREATE.
Whatever you’re putting off, or thinking about doing… it’s time.
Don’t delay.
Start Today.
Today’s Drawing Prompt…
Draw YOUR 100 Happy Little Skulls
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