Discover how drawing mundane objects can be a way in to seeing the beauty and meaning all around us with Teresa Wong. You can pick up a copy of Teresa’s book Dear Scarlet from our friends at Bookshop, where proceeds will help benefit The Believer and independent bookstores.
Watch the video of the livestream below, and follow these steps to create your own list-style comic of mundane objects.
Materials needed:
1: Paper
2: Pen or pencil
3: Coloring supplies
4: Four things to draw (see below)
Gathering objects:
The idea for the workshop was to draw household items that had taken on new meaning in quarantine. Teresa provided some prompts for choosing your objects, but you can feel free to come up with your own instead!
Prompt 1: Stuff I didn’t expect to need in lockdown.
Prompt 2: Pandemic pantry essentials.
Prompt 3: How did this get in my junk drawer?
Prompt 4: Regretful or ridiculous quarantine purchases.
Prompt 5: Household items that were once annoying but are now comforting.
To draw a list-style comic using your ordinary objects:
Step 1: Write the prompt/theme at the top of the page for your title.
Step 2: Create a grid of four panels on your paper.
Teresa’s trick: you can trace post-it notes for the panels!
Step 3: Take the first object and study it, noting its shape and any important details.
Step 4: Set a timer for four minutes, and draw the first object, starting with the outline. If you have time after completing the line work, feel free to color it in!
Step 5: Complete steps three and four for all 4 objects.
We’d love to see your list-style comic! Post it to social and tag @believermag and @by_teresawong.
This workshop was supported in part by Zappos.
