“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.”– Einstein
“Creativity is just connecting things.” – Steve Jobs
Drawing can be a powerful catalyst for enhanced creative thinking, serving as a means to unlock new ideas and perspectives. While I don’t consider myself a skilled artist, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed exploring and teaching the benefits of doodling as a tool for fostering productive thought. Engaging in simple drawing exercises can open up pathways to innovation, allowing the mind to wander and make connections that otherwise might remain hidden.
The drawing exercises below can be performed anytime and anywhere with paper and pencil. These exercises are designed to help students be more creative regardless of what topics they are interested in (writers, musicians, singers, scientists, inventors, leaders, and dancers can all benefit).
Leading researchers in creativity have extensively studied these exercises, uncovering fascinating insights into their effectiveness. Students often find it intriguing to learn about the rationale behind these activities as they engaged in them.
1. Draw 20 Basic Shapes, Then Invent (based on a Stanford study and design studio exercise)
In the 1970s a challenge was invented at Stanford. A researcher would tell students to draw the person sitting next to them in 30 seconds. He found that they had more creative solutions because they didn’t have time to critique their work. A design studio took this exercise further with the idea of drawing 30 circles and then trying to make something real out of all of the circles in just 3 minutes. For example wheels, buttons, suns, and so on. With this exercise you are going to have 20 random shapes on your paper (squares, triangles, circles, etc.). I’m going to give you three minutes to see the shapes you can turn into objects.
2. Thought Bubbles (we know what the brain looks like, but what do thoughts look like?)
Scientists know what the brain looks like. But the words, language, and pictures happening inside the mind? That is a mystery. Today you are going to toy around with that mystery. Try to create your thoughts as visible. Give them traits and characteristics. Give them the ability to be altered more than they are on a typical day. For example, maybe if I have some depressing thoughts I will draw them as a puppet and I could duct tape that puppets mouth. Be creative (because obviously no one knows what your thoughts look like).
3. Draw Your Face Upside Down (plus that odd thing Ralph Waldo Emerson liked to do)
“Turn the eye upside down, by looking at the landscape through your legs, and how agreeable is the picture, though you have seen it any time these twenty years!”– Ralph Waldo Emerson
When we flip something upside down that we are used to seeing, our brains have to work harder to spot features that they usually default to seeing. For example when it comes to the face we usually notice the location of the eyes, the shape of the eyes, the dominance of the nose and the size of lips. By flipping ourselves upside down we will be seeing something from a new perspective and it will help us notice details.
4. One Minute Doodle Squares (tips for fighting your inner critic)
Sometimes during hard times in life we hear a critical inner voice telling us we can’t do something or that if we try we’re going to look dumb or we’re going to look ridiculous. This voice does not help us be creative. It doesn’t help us take risks and therefore doesn’t help us have big gains and life. To fight perfectionism, sometimes we have to give ourselves timelines – as in, I have an hour to do this and then it’s done. For you today, you’re not going to have much time to judge what you’re doing until you are done doing it with this drawing exercise.
- Draw 4 squares
- Set a timer for 1 minute and draw in the first square.
- Set a timer for 1 minute and draw in the 2nd square, etc.
5. Storyboard Your Dream Day (the power of role-playing)
You can start with a couple of frames or a couple of squares to create a storyboard. Maybe five or six. Storyboarding is actually very simple drawings of the main events in a movie, usually happening one event at a time or one scene at a time. Some people use this exercise to solve problems, to imagine themselves going from one place to another, and it can help ignite creative ideas too. By imagining yourself in this movie you are playing a role. Feel free to tell us about your day or your ideal day if you want to dream.
6. Draw Using Your Non-Dominant Hand (brain research about hand dominance)
Why would people do this to themselves? The brain signals between what you will see and what you’re trying to draw will not match up quite as well while using your non-dominant hand. The motor functions in your brain literally are not prepared to perform this act. As a result, you might get a more abstract and therefore creative picture. This abstract drawing and others you create with your non-dominant hand can help you develop a sense of detail and awareness about how your brain impacts what you draw and how your creative eye works.
7. Notice Strong Colors (why do neuroscientists say we only notice 10% of what’s around us?)
We aren’t as observant as we think. Researchers have found that about 100% of the time we miss something that we thought we were paying attention to. Right now you are in the room with something you have never noticed before. Things directly in front of us escaped our attention all of the time according to neuroscientists. What we believe we are seeing is actually only 10% of what is really in front of us. Our eyes capture 10 million different signals every single second, but only a small small number of those signals makes it to our conscious brain. Draw something in the room you’ve never noticed (continue with your nondominant hand if you want more of a challenge).
8. Mirror Image Challenge (patience and creative thinking)
We already realized using our opposite hand to do something that we usually like to do with our dominant hand is pretty challenging. It’s worth it to know that trying to become ambidextrous or do things with both sides of your body can get your creative juices flowing. With this exercise you will notice that you have an easy time with one hand and a pretty difficult time with the other hand. It tests your motor coordination and your mind control when trying to doodle a mirrored image. Every motion and every action you make with your dominant hand you’re going to try to make with your other hand. Start simple (triangles, circles, etc.). Then try more complicated images (maybe the state or country you live in).
9. Finish Something Incomplete
- Make a Random Line. It could be squiggly or straight. It’s your choice based on how you are feeling
- Now Turn it into Something. Can you turn the random line into a recognizable object or item? Do you want to show it to us and see if we can guess?
It is a talent to look at something simple and see what it can evolve into. This is what scientists and inventors do all of the time. Some people just see a useless scribble on a piece of paper and other people challenge themselves to turn it into something: buildings, friendly faces, couches, and so on. Train yourself to see with your mind’s eye in this exercise. Don’t imagine things as they are but challenge yourself to imagine them as they could be.
10. Combine, Mix, and Match
- Look at the objects around you. Notice different details and parts.
- Do you see any useful combinations? If so, sketch out some drawings combining two or more parts. Add action sketches on how to use them.
- Nothing useful yet? Make something abstract! Take two or more different objects, different parts, and sketch abstractly.
Sometimes we hear the phrase there is nothing new under the sun. The truth is things that are new and novel are often combinations and improvements of old things. When you combine one thing with a different thing, you increase your chances of finding something new and novel. For example, Steve Jobs just imagined the computer as a phone. He imagined what a music player could look like without buttons or he tried to think of a laptop as being thin like a sheet of paper. For this exercise you will be encouraged to abstractly combine things around you.
Extra Drawing Exercises:
11. You’re a Hero in a Package (Market yourself drawing a package with a slogan)
- Are you an action figure or a toy?
- Be corny! It’s OK!
- Add a logo.
- Drawings can help you come up with writing ideas/characters when stuck while writing.
12. Doodle BIG Outside the Lines (Go outside)
- Sidewalk chalk?
- Outside on a sidewalk or basketball court?
13. Draw a Timeline of Your Life
- Think of “big” and “small” events
14. Capture Pareidolia (Like constellations in the night sky)
- Make several dots far away from one another
- Find “things that aren’t there”
- Faces, animals, etc. that aren’t actually those objects
Go Deeper/Resources:
Book – Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills by David Sherwin
Book – The Creativity Challenge by Tanner Christensen
Posted in Creative Thinking
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