I have always talked to people who commented on my drawing. And they always say things along the line of “I want to draw, but I don’t have the time for it”. And it has been kinda dilemma for those outside the world of drawing to get into it. It is not always easy to insert something new into our lives. So in this post, I am going to tell you how I got committed to drawing. By sharing my drawing schedule with you. And how doing things gradually can help you do wonders.
Now, Ask yourself the following questions:-
- Do you want to become good at drawing by you can’t even start out?
- Do you want to get better at drawing, but you always feel lazy?
- Do you sometimes pick up your pencil and try to draw a picture. Only to be disappointed by the results and end up stopping all together?
- Do the amount of practicing required to become good at drawing intimidate you?
If you answered “Yes” to any of the questions above, then your are one of the people I am talking about :D
My drawing schedule. Getting committed to draw everyday, the easy way
I have faced a similar problem, back in the day. I was drawing a picture every once in a while. The amount of improvement I managed to make wasn’t that great. Mainly because I was not doing it on a regular basis, I kept at that rate until I got a very interesting idea on how to do it, which worked for me. It was during a two weeks vacation I got from work, back in February 2010. When I had the time to draw, but really did not do it, then, I got the idea.
So, instead of making a drawing every once in a while and end up stopping for a while and loss any improvement I may have got. I though to myself:- “why don’t I just draw very little every day”. And by very little, I mean really little. I only set about 5 minutes a day to draw, the reason I chose 5 because it was not that hard to allocate that amount of time at all, and it is better than doing nothing at all. And it is hard to get lazy to allocate this time, and even if I was tired or anything. I can still do these 5 minutes. And the good part of it, most of the time. This 5 minutes drawing schedule was the first things I did in my day.
I managed to do it to the end of February. I produced a simple sketch every two days and so. And when the sketch turn out to be quite good, I show it to my online friends. And as Mars turned out. I was committed enough to increase the amount of time to do it from 5 to 10 minutes, which was still not much, but it is double what I did the month before.
I kept increasing the allocated drawing time by 5 minutes every month until I got to do 30 minutes. Which is the minimum amount of practice one should do in my personal opinion. And I kept at that for months, and for long time and I got really used to it, and it was the reason I became better at drawing.
There are days when I did much more like an hour or even more, and there is a period when I drew for 3 hours during a weekend day. But it was only after I really get used got into the idea of allocating time for drawings. I manage to do 2 hours nowadays, because I reached the point where 30 minutes a day is no longer enough to learn the tons of things I want to draw, but it took me really long to reach that point.
Conclusion
I hope this post has helped you find a good way to start out on drawing as well. Many of the people who comment on my drawing mention that they really want to do it as well. But they don’t have the time or the commitment to it. The least I can do for them is to share this story. If you did try my method and liked it, I would love to hear about your story in the comments below :)
I started learning how to draw anime around this time last year. I’m not so great yet but at least I’m at the two hours everyday mark now! Sometimes three when I forget to keep track of time. ( ._.) its so easy to get lost in what you’re doing. I hope I can keep it up when I get back to school ^_^ Thank you so much for this post, your entire blog is a gold mine. Keep doing what you do best \(^-^)/
Hello Adanna, and welcome to my blog~
As someone who gets distracted quite easily, I find it very good that you could loss track of time, as it means you could achieve so much that way :)
From the drawing I saw on twitter, and for someone who has been doing it for only one year, you are quite good. And you will get much better if you studies more about anatomy(besides perspective and other things), so I encourage you to keep it up, no matter what happen^^
Glad you like my blog, it is still in its infancy, but I plan to work really hard on it in the future, so keep tuned XD
Lool. I’m curious as to how you knew it was me ( ._.)
I’ll try to study harder.
Good luck with future blog posts. :D
Your name appeared above your comment, so I instantaneously knew it was you~
And thanks for the wishes :3
Hey, just want to say, I really enjoyed this read. I’ve struggled with learning to draw for as long as I can remember. I go through the motions of, I’ll do it later (laziness), the critic inside my own head and always rushing to far ahead of myself.
After reading your blog, I realise I need a schedule and one I can comfortably stick to. I find when I actually start, I can get lost in drawing, which is a nice feeling. Most things I get distracted with due to my adhd, so I think I’ll try take your advice 😊.
Thank you for writing this blog and hope you all the best for the future.