A tool for getting past the anxiety of the Blank Page.

When you sit down with a blank piece of paper and can “draw anything,” how does that feel? For me and many others, it’s overwhelming. Where do you start? What should you draw? Is your idea good enough?

Now imagine someone gives you a simple instruction: “Draw circles filled with small dots.” Suddenly, you know exactly what to do. An idea pops into your visual imagination, or at least you know where to begin. Your hand can start moving and your mind can relax because the decision has been made for you.

The Art of Rules is an online card deck that provides those simple instructions. It offers 48 “rules” grouped into six categories:

• Armature is the invisible framework of your page
• Elements are shapes in your drawing
• Placement is where to put elements
• Relationship describes element interaction
• Fills define patterns to use
• Color sets the palette for the drawing

Each rule card includes text and visual cues to help you interpret what to do. Use a single rule as a starting point or combine them for an interesting challenge. You can use them to doodle patterns or draw realistically – the rules are loose and permissive. There’s no right or wrong way to play with them.

The cards can be interpreted many ways. No two people will create the same drawing – each artist’s own style and imagination flow though the rules onto the page. Even you won’t create the same drawing twice using the same cards (unless you’re doing it on purpose)

Here are two examples of how I applied the same three rules: Horizontal Bands; Nature-Inspired elements; filled with Radiating Lines

In each example, the cards sparked an idea. One was inspired by my neighbor’s net-covered lotus pond; the other started out as an abstract rock strata doodle then morphed into a beach. I let myself lose track of time as I layered colors, added shadows, slowed down my line work. I fell into a flow state and enjoyed the process without concern for the product. Having those three rules to guide me was much better than staring at a blank page wondering what to draw.

Deal yourself a hand and see where it takes you.

Prefer an offline experience with physical cards? Want ideas and instructions on making the most of this tool? The Art of Rules printable cards & companion e-book set is available in the Mediatinker shop for just 1000 yen.