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My Daily Drawing Warmup
How to wake up your hands and connect them to your brain
It started with a calendar that my local coffee shop handed out. Rather than ticking off the days, I decided to fill the box in with a miniature drawing. I used a consistent pattern through the month and then tried a new one the next month. It became an exercise in thinking, designing, and fine motor control that I did after finishing my first cup of coffee in the morning.
I usually connected the drawing with the lines or pattern of the previous day and considered how it might connect with the next day, and the next week that would form below. It wasn’t high art, but it was a gentle kickstart that got the ink flowing and my hand moving.
As the year came to a close, I wanted to continue doing the exercise, but the coffee shop wasn’t handing out calendars again, so I decided to design my own month-long drawing project. On the first day of the month draw an overlapping pattern in pencil. Squiggly lines, diamonds, spirals, whatever comes to mind. I close my eyes and let my hand run around over the paper. Then I open my eyes, pick up my pen and decide where to start.
