throw your eraser in the trash, you won't need it where we're going.

spring is here!!! it's time to let the wild animal of your body create some feral drawings.

but first, a brief practical note! this is the first post in what will be a monthly series of concrete prompts to make fun, playful art. they will replace the inspiration drops that were members only, and these will be free for all! for members, we will do this together in a live workshop at one of our weekly calls! here's the call schedule for may: 

you can read more about the club here!

okay, back to the topic at hand.

often when we draw, we're trying to create "good drawings". perhaps there's a wound inside us that yearns for a gold star sticker. perhaps we're trying to prove to ourselves that we're worthy of making art. yes, of course i'm speaking from personal experience.

but the truth is that making art, good, bad, mid, any kind of art, is our innate right as humans. we have always been worthy and always will be. as long as we've been a species, we have created. paintings, tools, clothes, houses, songs, dances, breakfast, sculptures.

in honour of this heritage and as a fuck off to perfectionism, i wanna offer you a few different ways to make marks, and invite you to recreate some cave paintings and ancient art! the goal is to get you out of your head and into your body while drawing. to feel deeply human.

this is probably your usual pencil grip. it's precise, it's pristine, it gives you a LOT of control with minute wrist and finger movements. (the human hand is an amazingly exact tool!!! we are so freaking cool.) i'm showing it as a point of reference which we will immediately be departing from.

this here is an overhand pencil grip. you'll often hear this recommended for figure drawing. holding your pencil like this involves your elbow in the drawing, it engages more of your body. you still have quite a lot of control, but you will be looser! 

next, a grip i just decided to call "the crayon fist" (new superhero just dropped?) because it's how you see kids grab crayons and furiously scribble both on and off the page. now you have to use your shoulder too! this is the wild animal style of drawing! a full body experience. i stood up while doing these exercises, that helps too, but it's not mandatory.

and of course we can't do cave paintings without using our finger, the original paintbrush. i scribbled graphite on the page and smudged my finger in and used that. you could also use paint on your finger, or soft pastel. whatever you have that will stick! experiment!

this book is an old textbook in european art history i found in a thrift shop. it used to be a library book. i used the crayon fist for my drawings. for yours, use any grip but the control freak! let loose and use your animal body to create! that's what it was made for.

venus of willendorf, what a queen. the hands resting on the boobs!!! same, girl. 

here are some images you can use as reference:

Cave paintings in Pandavula Guhalu, Telangana 04.jpg (creative commons attribution 4.0)

Cave painting from the cave of Altamira in The Anthropos Pavilion of The Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic.

Prehistoric Rock Paintings at Manda Guéli Cave in the Ennedi Mountains - northeastern Chad 2015.jpg (creative commons attribution 2.0)

love this dramatic lighting venus!!! ideal reference for feral animal drawing!

(all venus images public domain)

venus of willendorf is estimated to have been made around 30.000 years ago. that's so many years! capitalism is only around 200 years old! makes you think…

i would love to hear about your experience doing this and see what you create! if you want to share, you can do that in the chaos goblin discord or in the subscriber chat on substack.

if you'd like to join us and do this together live, here's the membership link.

enjoy spring, enjoy being human, stay wild and create!