DrawTogether with WendyMac

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. Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

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. Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

This week on the DT Podcast we learn about the fiber artist Bisa Butler and use collage and drawing to create Bisa-inspired paper portraits of people we admire. Check out the DT newsletter to see Bisa's quilts and watch a video of her talking about her artwork. Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Yuyi Morales is on the DT podcast!!Hellloooo! This week on the DT pod we celebrate Día de los Muertos with special guest children's book author and illustrator Yuyi Morales! Her might recognize her Caldecott-nominated Viva Frida, or her other award-winning books, including Niño Wrestles the World, Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, and Dreamers. We spent some time talking about one of my favorite of Yuyi's characters, Señor Calavera. He's the trickster skeleton star of two of Yuyi's books: Just a Minute and Just in Case. He even made an appearance during our interview!On this special DrawTogether Podcast, Yuyi joins us from her art studio in Veracruz, Mexico for some Day of the Dead drawing, including a fun sugar skull warm-up and alter-drawing to celebrate someone we love who has passed. Yuyi also plays us some original drawing music on her jarana. Grab some paper, pens, colors and press play above. Enjoying the DT Pod? Can you think of someone else who would love it, too? Please share with a friend!AND! Does your kid want to be featured on the DrawTogether podcast? Call the DT Hotline and ask your kid to tell us about their FAVORITE FAMILY FOOD. Call 1-866-4-DRAWTOGETHER with your young person, leave a message after the beep and they just might end up on a future episode. The GUT's First Visiting Artist: Maira Kalman!Ask and ye shall receive! This Sunday, Maira Kalman joins us at the Grown-Ups Table where she answers some of my most pressing drawing/life questions, shares a little about her new book “Women Holding Things”, and gives us an inspiring drawing assignment. We'll be taking questions from the table, so start thinking what you'd like to ask her, too! If you haven't joined the Grown-Ups table, subscribe for weekly creative wanderings, explorations and lessons, visiting artists, and drawing assignments - and most of all, a joyful, creative, supportive community of fellow drawers. Thank you Yuyi for joining us on the pod this week, and producers Liz Scheltens and Arjuna Saeed, and editor Amy Standen for all your hard work to make this podcast so great. And thank YOU, DrawTogether Supporters and GUT members, for making this all possible. See you next week! xoxow Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

We interrupt our regularly scheduled DrawTogether Podcast to bring you an awesome episode from the new podcast from Radiolab and WNYC, Terrestrials! Every episode of Terrestrials explores the strangeness that exists right here on Earth (and maybe a little beyond.) What DrawTogether does with drawing, Terrestrials does with stories.We're featuring their episode Gravitational Waves. You can listen to more episodes on their website. We love you sister-podcast, Terrestrials! Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

It's Halloween at DrawTogether! In this extra spooky episode we start with a calming circle-drawing warm-up while we listen to a poem, then learn to draw drop shadows and turn our flat circles into 3D spheres. After a quick lesson on light and shadow, we turn our 3D spheres into spooky shadow monster heads! Then we go get some candy.Warning: this episode is spooky. It contains spooky sounds and spooky voices and spooky drawings and… JUST KIDDING. It's just silly. Appropriate for kids of ALL ages. Bwahahahaha! Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Episode 3 is all about the USPS & STAMPS. After a relaxing drawing warm up, the DT Pod takes a field trip to the post office where DrawTogether Kids get their most pressing questions answered by Mekkah, an Oakland postal worker, and Bill Gicker, Director of Stamp Services for the USPS. Then we draw our own stamps featuring our favorite places, things, and people, including Mary Fields, the first African-American star mail carrier. Subscribe to the DrawTogether Newsletter for more on the USPS and Art, including what goes into making a stamp, and a look at some inspiring mail art. Everything is better when we DrawTogether! Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Wendy introduces us to one of her art she-roes: Sister Corita. Yes, she was a radical nun. Yes, she was a teacher and an artist. Yes, she was an absolute icon. Join Wendy for a Corita-inspired project that will help you look closely and see the world in a whole new way. Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Drawing is a superpower that can help us make sense of our feelings. Join Wendy as we explore what it's like to draw the storms and the sunshine we feel inside. Plus, we meet a weather-obsessed kid who grew up to name the clouds. Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Watch now (33 min) | First up: let's draw a Rocket in Space!

Yup, you read that right. We're blasting kids drawings into space.

Listen now (8 min) | DT Podcast Season One Finale!

Helloooooo DT fam. As the school year is wrapping up, so is Season One of the DrawTogether Podcast! (Can you believe it?? 26 episodes!) As our Season One finale, we do a big-hearted DrawTogether classic: the blind contour portrait. This is a partner exercise, so grab a family member, friend or stranger, hit play above, and get ready to learn to LOOK in under a few minutes. Because in addition to helping us imagine a world we want to see, drawing teaches us to LOOK at one another. To slow down and pay attention. I deeply believe drawing is one of the most accessible and immediate ways to create connection between people and open doors for deeper relationships. My TED talk features this drawing exercise, and goes deeper on how Drawing helps us slow down, look closely and connect with the world around us - and each other. That drawing is looking, and looking is loving. And that DrawTogether isn’t really about drawing. ;) I hope you enjoy this episode, and continue to do this exercise anytime, anywhere, with anyone. I’ve done it in classrooms, workplaces, in hospitals - I even got a bar full of strangers to draw each other all at once. It’s the ultimate humanity ice-breaker/connection maker. I can’t wait to hear what you think (and see what you see.) Do let me know how it goes. Looking back on the DT Pod for a minute: When we started this podcast 26 episodes ago, we never thought we would come so far. With the help of phenomenal editor Amy Standen, we learned about artists Alma Thomas, Agnes Martin and Ruth Asawa. We talked about the war in Ukraine and drew sunflowers to process our feelings and show our support. We drew the shape of sound with musician Colin Meloy, and visited with children’s book author/illustrator Carson Ellis. We moved our feelings through our bodies and onto the page with five finger drawings and silly emotional fruit, and made a bunch of fun imaginary animals - because why not. We drew SO. MUCH. All these DT podcasts and more are here on Substack and on Apple Podcasts. If you or your kids missed any, they are here for you over the summer. Speaking of Summer: next week I’ll share deets on what’s coming next, what subscribers will be receiving in their inboxes, all that fun stuff. Plus a recap on everything DrawTogether has done in our classrooms program (SO MUCH STUFF) and some pretty awesome partnerships we’ll finally be able to share. For now, a huge thank you so much for being part of DrawTogether. There is no DT without YOU. And as we say at the end of every class, show, podcast episode, and first podcast season (!): Drawing is Looking and Looking is Loving. Also, Everything is better when we DrawTogether. See you soon!xoxow Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

A note of love and support to our DrawTogether community

Listen now (13 min) | Tuesday on a Sunday! We get to draw with our favorite children's book author/illustrator Carson Ellis

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. xoxowps - 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. Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

"People will forget what you’ve said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

Listen now (10 min) | This week we're drawing food and feeeeeelings

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! Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

We're Hiring, Drawing with Our Bodies Over Our Brains, and Transcript #23

Listen now (8 min) | A surrealist drawing exercise led by our bodies instead of our brains

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 Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Listen now (8 min) | Return of the doodle! And a Radiolab call for kid storytellers

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.orgAlso! 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 Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

For Subscribers: Highlights from a 1976 interview with the reclusive artist & the DT Pod transcript

Listen now (11 min) | Creating a simple drawing can become a sublime experience

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 Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Accessibility, DT Pod transcripts and artist Christine Sun Kim

Listen now (11 min) | Sure there are waves, bangs, clangs and the instruments that make them... but what does Colin's 6 favorites sounds look like to YOU?

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. xoxowEpisode 20 Credits: Drawer-in-Chief: WendyMacEditor Supreme: Amy Standen DT Drawing Music: Chris ColinDT Theme Song: Thao NguyenSpecial guest: Colin Meloy Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

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.

Listen now (9 min) | Head outside and draw a Sound Map - and DT pencil winner!

And a question - and a gift - for YOU.

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.

Listen now (15 min) | There's no "one way" to draw a surrealist multiple monster (and flip book!)

Watch now (7 min) | One version of it, that is.

Hellooooo! Pardon our delay, we wanted to get this one just right. Because this is a whole new kind of drawing podcast… this is an experiment, a risk, a graphic hurdle into the great unknown. This week we draw a…..That’s right. In this podcast episode, I take you through drawing an animal step by step, but I’m not going to tell you what we are drawing. WHAT?! HOW?! Grab a pencil and a piece of paper and press play above and let’s see how it goes. Remember: there’s no such thing as a wrong animal drawing. We’ll all end up with a fun, funny looking something - and everyone’s will be wonderful. What’s important is that we slow down, listen closely, and in just a few minutes you will have drawn A MYSTERY ANIMAL. Again, I’m not going to tell you what that animal is. But I will say it’s made exclusively of circles and ovals.We can draw almost any animal with circles and ovals. Try it! Try and find an animal you can’t draw with just circles and ovals. I dare you. For DT subscribers (we love you, subscribers!): Tomorrow I’m going send a VIDEO of me drawing the mystery animal along with the audio of the podcast. If you want to send us your drawings, I’ll include YOUR animal drawing, too. Let’s see how our animals are all different, similar, and all equally mysterious!Send your drawings to submissions@drawtogether.studio Educators: this podcast is extra good for focus and listening skills. Love to hear how this experiment works in your classroom. Alright, happy mysterious-circle-oval-animal drawing, everyone. Can’t wait to see what you create. Everything is better when we DrawTogether,wps - Listening to the DT Podcast on Apple Podcasts? Rad. Please give us a review and a rating on the platform. It really helps us get the word out. Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Listen now (9 min) | There's an animal hiding in today's podcast, but only the circles and ovals know what it is.

A look back on what DrawTogether has accomplished, and all we have ahead.

Suggestions, links and some adorable kid drawings to help with a tough time

Hi, DT friends. Today’s DrawTogether Podcast is special.Today we take a special request from 8-year-old DrawTogether Kid Keira and her mom, Dasha. Dasha is Ukrainian and lives in SF with her family. They asked if we could make a drawing to show the people of Ukraine our support. And that’s exactly what we do on today’s podcast. Hit play above, or listen on Apple Podcast. In the 10-minute episode, we talk a little about the war and feelings kids might be having, and what we can do with those feelings (acknowledge them, ask caregivers and teachers questions, look at a map, draw.) Then we draw a big bright sunflower to hang in our window. Maybe other kids in our neighborhood will see it and feel inspired to draw a sunflower for their window, too. Maybe we can take photos and post them on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter (tag us so we can share it, too!) and maybe kids in Ukraine will see them, too. We might be far away from each other, but we are all neighbors. For subscribers this week, i’ll be sharing some great resources for parents and educators about talking to kids about Ukraine and war in general (and some Ukrainian art you can share with your kids, too.) Honestly, the info is great for grown-ups, too. We all have feelings and questions, and doomscrolling on twitter probably isn’t the best way to maintain our mental health. There will be tips. :) If you are enjoying these podcasts, another way way to support is to leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts. It makes a big difference in getting the word out. Thank you. Pencils UP. Everything is better when we DrawTogether. xoxo,w Get full access to DrawTogether with WendyMac at club.drawtogether.studio/subscribe

Listen now (11 min) | On this very special DrawTogether Podcast, we draw sunflowers for kids in Ukraine and hang them in our window for the world to see.

Hellllooo! It’s a tough week around the world, so here’s an 8 minute fun, silly DrawTogether Podcast to help take a breath. I promise your drawing will be unexpected, ridiculous, and full of joy. I think we could all use that right now. Click play above, and you can always find us (and give us some stars!) on Apple Podcasts. Sometimes we know what we want our drawing to look like, and our hands just won’t do what we want them to do. When we’re trying to “get things right” or have strict expectations, unanticipated warbley lines and sudden zig-zags can be frustrating. But! If we take a deep breath and roll with it, these wild marks offer new, fun creative directions. Unintentional funky lines can transform a drawing into something even more exciting than we imagined. Life metaphor, anyone? As we say in DrawTogether: In drawing, as in life.Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever said that before in DT. Now we do!On today’s DrawTogether Podcast - which comes at the end of a hard week in the world - we practice letting go of control and create funky lines by drawing with our dominant and non-dominant hands. And yes, we draw some fun, funky ROBOTS. So grab your pencil and paper and hit play on the podcast. If you’re enjoying the DT podcast, please share them with a friend, and leave a review on Apple Podcast, it really helps us out. Two more important things: there are a lot of hard things happening in the world right now. Russia invaded Ukraine. Our hearts are with the Ukrainian citizens. If you would like to support children in Ukraine affected by war, Voices is an org working on the front lines offering psychological and psychosocial support to children, including crucial art therapy.In Texas, the governor and attorney general are trying to criminalize caring for trans children by threatening families who affirm a transgender young person’s gender identity by charging them with “child abuse.” At DT we are furious and outraged. To the trans and non-binary kids in the DT community and their families: we stand with you. If you would like to help protect trans kids and their families in Texas, TENT is a great org to support. If you donate, please leave a note below so I can personally thank you!

Listen now (8 min) | Sometimes you just need to draw a Funky Robot with your non-dominant hand. This is one of those times.

Four questions for Loveis Wise, illustrator of the gorgeous new kids book on the life of Alma Thomas

“Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man’s inhumanity to man.” - Alma Thomas (1891-1978) This weeks DrawTogether Podcast is a special one: we learn about the painter Alma Thomas and draw ourselves some ENERGY. Grab your paper and some colors and hit play above. Good news for subscribers: a special interview with the award-winning illustrator LoveIs Wise who illustrated the forthcoming children’s book “Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas” will land in your inbox early next week. And! One DT subscriber will win a copy of the book. Random selection, of course. I’ll include a little DT swag, too.I’m going share a little about Alma here, and there’s a lot more in the DrawTogether Podcast. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts. Please leave us a review. It really helps us out.

Listen now (11 min) | Color, Positive & Negative Space, Energy, and African American painter Alma Thomas

Happy Black history month, and a throwback to Spiral Podcast

Discovering the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Hellloooo! It’s another DrawTogether Podcast episode. Subscribers received a special letter yesterday: notes from a conversation with Ruth Asawa’s son, Paul Lanier, about cultivating creativity in young humans. If you’d like to get special treats like this that dig deeper into things we explore in the podcast, please subscribe. You’re also helping DrawTogether continue to make fun, educational, creative stuff for kids of all ages. Thank you. On to the podcast! This week we answer that age old question: How do you figure out what to draw when you don’t know what to draw?? Turns out, the answer is right in front of you. When you look closely, the most ordinary object becomes extraordinary (and makes an extra-extra ordinary drawing.)We practice our skills of observation by learning how to do a blind contour drawing (aka drawing without looking at your paper.) This practice helps us look closely and pay attention to the shapes and edges of an object, how it twists and turns. Then we do a little coloring and shading to help us notice texture and light. 3 months of art school into an 8 minute podcast! Hit the play button above or LISTEN ON iTUNES. Thanks for drawing together, y'all! Post your blind contour drawings of your extraordinary objects on instagram and tag @DrawTogether.Studio to share them out. Pencils up ,friends! See you next week. xo, wDT PODCAST CREDITS: Drawer: WendyMac, Editor: Amy Standen, Drawing Music: Cheeky CP, DT Theme Music: Thao Nguyen, Hold Music: Jay YouPS! DrawTogether got some BIG LOVE in New York Magazine this week! Thank you Liz Weil who wrote an amazing profile, and Damien Maloney who took the funnest photos. A reminder: even though it’s my silly face in the profile, there’s a whole group of kind, creative, hard-working folks who make DrawTogether happen. It’s not called DrawAlone, right?? Big love and shout out to everyone who contributes to DT.

Listen now (9 min) | The answer is right in front of you.