Welcome to: Artist Diary: Part 2/5 , this day one of a 5 day project where we discover 5 ways to fill a blank spread in 10 minutes.
This project is the first the second of 3 projects of “Start a daily drawing habit: a Gameplan”, go here for the full table of contents
Daily Diary
We know that athletes, musicians and actors all have to practice, rehearse and repeat things until it gets into the body, the ‘muscle memory’, but for some reason, writers and visual artist think that they have to be inspired before they make something. Not suspecting that the PHYSICAL ACT of writing is what brings that inspiration about.
— Lynda Barry
I was talking to my friend Jen Gubicza one day and we were discussing teenage rebellion.
The kind where you’re opposed to certain influences instinctively and stubbornly. For some people they might be opposed to watching certain movies, or trying things like writing morning pages, or reading certain authors.
I’ve had that too, and one of the authors that I’ve resisted is Lynda Barry.
Lynda Barry is a cartoonist, writer and assistant professor of interdisciplinary creativity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Art Department. I have never met Lynda or been to any of her classes.
But in 2026 she has become my teacher through her excellent series of books published by Drawn and Quarterly. I’m referring to and recommending What it is, Making Comics and Syllabus.
In class, Professor Barry requires each student to keep a daily diary.
That can be quite open ended and intimidating, so she invented an exercise, to make keeping a daily more doable. And it’s just 4 steps. The first 3 are lists and the last one is a drawing.
Start with a list of 5-7 things you did
Then write 5-7 things you saw
The third list is 5-7 things you heard or overheard
And lastly, make a drawing from your day.
Gameplan Assignment 7: Daily Diary
Try this daily Diary Template.
Drawing a big X across the page is a great way to start an exercise which is why I love it. Next up use the spaces to fill up the triangles. The whole purpose of keeping an artist diary is to have a regular space to fill up. Filling up the triangles distracts the left side of your brain just enough that the right side can come out and play.
I left some space in case I want to take some extra notes in the future.
Here is my Artist Diary assignment as an example:
Share your assignment in the Gameplan Chat below. The chat also serves as a gallery.
Start a Drawing Habit - Gallery
Use this Chat as a gallery to share your work and get to know the others. Everyone here is starting their day with a daily drawing habit, and we’re all grateful for the opportunity to go on this adventure together.
