Cartoonist Lynda Barry teaches us how to silence our inner critic and draw like a child

Here's a question for you: How old do you have to be to make a bad drawing? As kids, we would frequently scribble the wildest things across the page with zero inhibitions, but as we grow up, we often start judging the things we make.

That's where Lynda Barry comes in. She's a pioneering cartoonist, a professor and a MacArthur Genius Grant winner. Her new book is called Making Comics and it's full of drawing exercises that help you access your creativity and silence your inner critic. The exercises are based on the curriculum of a class Barry teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

She joined q's Tom Power in studio to tell us why creativity isn't a divine gift that only a few posses. You can find Barry's book Making Comics in stores now. Below, see some drawings she and Power created during their conversation, as well as some excerpts from the book.

Download our podcast and click the 'Listen' link near the top of this page to hear the full conversation with Lynda Barry.

— Produced by ​Vanessa Greco