Thanks so much to Disney for the sneak preview of the new Disney Classics Box Set – the opinions expressed below are my own.

As an artist, it’s so important to keep your creativity sharp – and I am pretty jazzed to share drawing ideas and creativity exercises with you when I can!

Creativity exercises aren’t strictly for artists – anyone can have fun with this sort of thing! It’s a great way to get your wheels turning and have a little fun for a minute.

Today’s drawing idea is simple, and all you need is a sketchbook. Turn on some really great nostalgic music that brings back all kinds of memories.

Now that I think about it, with your sketchbook, you’ll also need a radio. Or cd player. Or iPod. And some music. And something to draw with. But I swear, that’s as complicated as this gets.

Turn your music on, and limit yourself Project Runway style to only sketch for the duration of the song you’re listening to. When the song is over? Turn the page and start a new drawing. I had a lot of fun with this, because I was listening to a sneak preview of some of the music included in the Disney Classics Box Set. See if you can tell which movies have been my favorites, and which ones I’ve never heard the music to!

(hint… if the image is a total non-sequitor… that’s a pretty good clue.)

“Under The Sea”
The second this song came on, I started drawing hair. I felt like I was in high school again – I really liked drawing Disney characters back then, trying to get them to look as much like the movie posters as possible.

Over time, I’ve gotten way more comfortable with my own personal style – but I can totally see Mary Blair / Crowded Teeth influences at work here!

“Circle of Life”
This is my favorite song on the Lion King soundtrack – I’ve always loved how triumphant it sounds. And even more than that, I love belting out my own ridiculous version of the MAAAAAAAAAAH-ZAVENYAH!!!! at the beginning every time I hear it.

“I See the Light”
In theory this song’s from Tangled – someone watch that movie and report back to me. It was my first time hearing this song… and it shows… But this little light bulb dude sure is cute!

That’s one of the great things about this creativity exercise – the whole point is to let go and just draw whatever comes to you. Loosen up and don’t worry about it if you’re not coming up with something totally perfectly in line with the music you’re listening to! I kind of love that this Disney Classics box set doesn’t just include old favorites – it introduces you to some new classics as well!

“Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)”
This song takes me back to high school band, playing the bass drum in the drumline. We did a Disney halftime show during my freshman year, and Yo Ho was one of the most fun songs – even if we had some serious problems syncing up all our bass drum parts…

“The Best Time of Your Life”
Yup… This is another song I’ve never heard before. But the main message? STRONG. I want this saying on a poster on my wall.

“The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room”
I found a new love for the Tiki Room at Disneyland when Phil was born… That kid just loved sitting down in the dark watching the birds sing!

“When You Wish Upon a Star”
This song falls into the category of “songs I will always sing different lyrics to”. Literally every time I hear it, I sing “When you wish upon a star, who the heck do you think you are”… unless I decide to switch that out with the equally hilarious “you will win a brand new car”.

What do you want from me, I grew up in the golden age of Weird Al.

“Just a Spoonful of Sugar”
I have always been a huge Mary Poppins fan, and it totally rocked my socks that my friend Bethany and her husband went as Mary and Burt the chimney sweep for Halloween this year. Which also made it much easier to remember what Mary Poppins dressed like when this song came on. Score a win for Steph!

“The Bare Necessities”
This is hands down my favorite sketch that came out of this drawing session – The Jungle Book is one of my all time favorite Disney movies, and the soundtrack makes me super happy. So I’m pretty stoked I had an excuse to draw Baloo the bear scratching himself with a palm tree today.

And now we’re gonna get into a couple of stinkers… and one REALLY good sketch.

Because you can’t win em all in creativity exercises, but when you win, you win big.

“The Ballad of Davy Crockett”
I’ll be honest – I know this song really well (see past reference to high school marching band halftime show)… but I don’t really remember watching the show on tv. But I do know the hip kids were wearing tails clipped to their belts recently, so I went with that.

Just remember kids, Davy did it first mmmmkay?

“Duck Tales Theme”
I wanted to draw Scrooge McDuck rolling around in a pile of money SO BAD. But I couldn’t get a mental handle on how to draw him. And the song is short! So all you get is what has always been my favorite part of the theme song – I defy you to look at this sketch and not sing the woo-OOO-ooo! in your head.

If you’re at work? Try singing it out loud.

“Mickey Mouse Club Alma Mater”
This is another one of my faves from today’s creativity exercise.

I hope our daughter will grow up to be one of those little girls that will wear braids.

Your turn – try out our creativity exercise!

It’s easy – turn on some tunes, get to drawing. Leave a comment here sharing a link to your own sketches!

Want to rock out to the same Disney tunes we did, but with even more songs? Get your order in for the Disney Classics box set!