A collaborative drawing exercise
This is a fun mark making exercise for when you are in a group. It is a good way to interact with others in a class or workshop setting.
Gather Materials:
- A group of friends or a class – If you don’t have a group use 4 different mark-making tools and respond with each different tool
- A loose piece of paper
- pencil(s) –
coloured or not - A timer
Today’s Exercise
The word prompt is “light“.
- Everyone will write their name on the back of the piece of paper (so they get their own back again at the end)
- One person will not participate in the exercise. They will keep track of the timer and choose a word.
- The word chosen for this collaborative mark making exercise was “light“.
- Everyone has 1 minute to draw in response to the word light at the end of the minute you pass your sheet to the person next to you
- The timer is reset. You now have 1 minute to add your own marks. You no longer need to be concerned with the word prompt, just respond to the marks on the page.
- When the timer goes off, stop and pass the paper on. Continue this until everyone gets back their original paper.
Reflections on the Exercise
- When doing my own drawing I am self-conscious thinking others will see it and judge me. My inner critic is a bitch.
- I felt free working on other people’s drawings as, by the time it got back to them, they wouldn’t know which were my marks.
- I enjoyed responding to marks by others
- It is interesting to see the variety of mark-making tools used: a pen, pencil, coloured pencil, charcoal.
- This is a good way to start a workshop. Get’s everyone interacting and thinking about line and mark.
Credit: I did this drawing with a group at a workshop at the Big Dramatic Questions Art Retreat with Lorraine Glessner
Here Debbie hands my drawing to Jane who adds red marks to it.
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