THE #1 Tip to Improve Your Drawing Skills
THE #1 tip to improve your drawing skills is probably not the one you want to hear. In all honesty, there are lots of really great tips. A few years back, I wrote a post about the five (plus one bonus) most popular tips from professional artists to improve drawing skills.
The tips covered in that post are:
- Draw every day
- Educate yourself (on subject matter, ie. Animals, anatomy, vehicles, etc.)
- Observe intently (How Artists See)
- Watch how-to videos and practice along
- Draw in a method or style you’re not used to
- Try drawing objects you’re not used to
But #1 is THE #1 tip that beats all, hands down.
For this post, we’ll focus on #1. Draw every day.
This is where it gets serious. This is where you, the artist, makes a commitment to draw every day. Whatever you want to be, you have to do that thing every day. Whatever skill you’re trying to improve, you have to work at it daily. If you’re trying to improve your drawing skills…guess what? You have to draw daily (or as absolutely close to daily as you can).
Start off by committing to a 15 minute sketch a day for a month. 15 minutes out of your whole day is nothing and a month goes by quickly. But we’re talking real drawing here, not doodles. I’m talking practice. And I mean serious practice.
I can hear you asking…15 minutes every day? What the heck do I draw every day??
Find the time
Finding the time shouldn’t be all that difficult. Drop 15 minutes of social media or TV time and draw. The average human spend 3-4 hours daily on social media alone. Surely you can spare 15 minutes for something you say you want to improve. If it’s that important to you, it shouldn’t feel like a chore.
And make this 15 minutes sacred. No interruptions. No social media, phone calls, texting or email. Devote this time to improving your skills. If you don’t take it seriously, don’t expect much in return.
Hold Yourself Accountable
A dated sketchbook can help keep you accountable. (Art credit: Myra Naito)
Dated sketchbooks are fantastic. Moleskine has a few varieties. For me, those dated pages were constantly in the back of my mind. If you can’t find one, find a sketchbook you like and date the pages yourself.
The other way you can hold yourself accountable is to announce on social media that this is what you’re doing and that you’ll be posting your sketches. If you’re shy about it, create a separate Instagram page with a code name so no one knows it’s you.
With the appropriate hashtags, you’ll attract a following and people will start expecting your daily post. If you get to the point where you’re confident enough, you can clue in your social media friends to look for you under your secret identity.
It’s Not Impossible
Set aside just 15 minutes a day to draw. (Photo credit: Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay)
I can hear the objections now. “Draw every day? What will I find to draw every day?”
Literally, anything and everything. Not knowing what to draw or “running out” of things to draw is really just a lame excuse. Sit at your desk and look around. I’m sure you have some art supplies or office supplies close by. Draw them. Sit in your kitchen and draw the dishes drying in the dish rack. Draw your cup of coffee. Maybe you have a bookshelf with books and knickknacks. Is there a potted plant nearby? Draw it!
And who says you have to stay at your drawing table at all? Take that sketchbook outside! Draw the people waiting at the bus stop. Draw a tree. You can draw the bike chained up in a bike rack. Maybe a parked car or two, a fire hydrant, a mailbox, etc.
There are parks, zoos, or museums! In museums you’ll find a ton of objects you don’t get to see every day. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, try the Natural History Museum, the La Brea Tar Pits, or the Gene Autry Museum. If you’re into really old military vehicles, check out the American Military Museum in South El Monte.
Or how about this? How many different pairs of shoes do you have? Draw a different pair every day for as many pairs as you have. Go into your garage. Do you have garden tools? Are you starting to see that there really is no shortage of things to draw?
You Got This!
If you really want to learn, not just how to draw, but to improve every day, you really need to put the work in. There is no fast track ticket. There is no magic pencil. You have to put in the work and practice every day.
You might think that 15 minute sketches won’t help much. But drawing every day, even for short periods, not only strengthens your ability to see like an artist sees, it boosts your hand-eye coordination. Eventually drawing won’t feel like such a difficult or confusing thing to do. Like any other skill, the more you practice, the more natural it becomes.
But, it takes serious practice. Not once-in-awhile-when-you-feel-like-it practice. If drawing is something that’s important to you, then take it seriously. If you want to improve your drawing skills, approach it with an open mind. Stop making excuses and allow for a learning curve. Make a commitment to draw 15 minutes daily for a month and get to sketching!
Who knows? You might just like it (and the progress you’ll make) and keep going for the whole year!
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Further Reading:
Five Tips To Improve Your Drawing Skills
How Artists See
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