Staying Motivated To Draw - 7 Tips That Actually Help
Sometimes it feels like no matter how much you try, you just can’t get better. The days drag on and on but the pictures in your hand just don’t compare with the grand vision in your mind. Others might ridicule you and tell you to stop wasting your time. When you’re working on a project you’re passionate about, it’s very easy to see your art not living up to your expectations and say “I’m not enough” It’s too easy to look at the work of others and think that you’ll never be as good as them.
But it doesn’t matter if you can’t draw like Davinci. What matters is the reason you started making art in the first place.
You have taste, and you have a vision. Even if you don’t have the skills yet to bring it into the world, the fact that you know that your work is missing that special something means that you have the potential to bring that special something to life.
In today’s article, we’ll discuss 7 tips related to your Physical Space, your Work ethic, and keeping a good mentality to help get you motivated and working on your drawings.
Overview:
I. The Mind Is Weak Without The Body
1. Take Care Of Yourself
1.1. Sleep And Eat Well
1.2. Bodily Maintenance
2. An Ideal Workplace
2.1. Comfort
2.2. Audio-Visual Clutter
2.3. Supplies
II. Work Ethic
1. Limit Yourself
2. Limit Testing
3. Repetition And Practice
III. Mentality
1. Mistakes Are Drivers For Success
2. There's No Pressure
IV. Conclusion
I. The Mind Is Weak Without The Body
It’s scientifically proven that the environment we live in and the conditions that we subject our body to greatly affect how we think, as artists this becomes doubly important as we need both our mind and body to be working well in order to make our artwork.
Here are 2 big ways to make sure your surroundings and your body are things that you don’t need to worry about.
1. Take Care Of Yourself
While it might seem silly to be reminded of this, often we don’t notice ourselves losing motivation until it’s much too late.
Though mental states and their effect on motivation are debatable, it is a scientific fact that simply living a healthy life is a massive foot forward in motivating yourself to pursue your dreams.
1.1. Sleep And Eat Well
No matter how hectic or crowded your work and social life can be, making sure that you get enough sleep every day will make you feel more alert and alive, you’ll find yourself with more energy to work on your art and possibly more ideas of what to work on.
Similarly, eating healthily and engaging in physically stimulating activities will not only boost your energy but they’ll also take away the motivation-sapping distractions of fatigue, hunger, and other things.
1.2. Bodily Maintenance
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is one of the most common neural disorders, affecting anywhere from 3 to 6 % of all adults in the world, causing wrist pain and numbness in the hand.
Eye Injury, Back pains, and nervous disorders are only some of the many dangers that hound artists who don’t take good care of their bodies.
Make sure to have good lighting to reduce eye strain, take breaks to stand up and stretch, and don’t be scared to consult a doctor if you feel the symptoms of any problems.
Your art is precious, and through vigilance and care, you can make sure that no physical problems threaten your ability or will to create it.
2. An Ideal Workspace
It’s not uncommon to find an artist at their desk, surrounded by piles of art materials and drawings supplies, yet somehow unwilling or incapable of starting or finishing their art projects. A common culprit behind problems like these is an ill-suited workspace.
Before you go out and buy fancy tools or paper, consider investing funds, time, and effort into creating a space that promotes productivity and creativity.
While everyone has their individual tastes and preferences, here’s a quick run-down of the factors to consider when making sure your workspace works for you:
2.1. Comfort
A comfortable workspace doesn’t necessarily have to be large, airy, and spacious, rather the most important thing is that you have control over your work environment. Ideally, this means that you can control the number of people who can come in and that you are able to arrange your things inside of the space so that they suit you.
You should have a chair and drawing surface that are suited to your size. Depending on where you are in the world, you might want a temperature control system so that it’s never too hot or cold to distract you from what you’re doing. Storage space for your art supplies is ideal, and you’ll want to be in a place where things like the weather, pets, children, etc. aren’t in danger of damaging your artwork or distracting you.
2.2. Audio-Visual Clutter
Though it may not be fully in your control, the audio-visual clutter in your area should be of the sort that helps you work. Natural lighting is ideal as it’s easy on the eyes, and a cluttered desk can be overstimulating, while blank walls might drive you crazy.
Though not all of us can exactly build our ideal workspace from scratch, there are cheap and effective solutions to many problems as long as you’re creative. For example; if you find yourself distracted by noise (or the lack of it) and you can’t relocate, a pair of cheap headphones can easily tune out distracting noises like cars and coworkers, as well as dispelling the eerie night silence with relaxing music.
2.3. Supplies
While it's obvious that your workspace should be stocked with the tools of your trade, whether it be pencil, canvas, notebook, or otherwise, it's important to maintain a stock of other things that you might need throughout the day. This will ensure that you won't waste time or lose ideas because you need to go out and look for something.
If you like drawing for extended periods of time, keep a water bottle and some snacks handy so that even if you pause for a break, you can quickly return to your work.
A trash bag or bin can be useful in ensuring that your workspace stays clean, and having a box of extra pencils or paper nearby is never a bad idea.
II. Work Ethic
Whether it’s your job or your hobby, it’s important to develop good habits when drawing that make sure you have enough time to make fulfilling art while still having fun. A good work ethic means you’ll get more drawings done while improving your techniques. Here are three tips to get started.
1. Limit Yourself
If you find sheets of unfinished drawings and doodles piling up around you, consider giving yourself artificial deadlines and completion milestones.
A lot of people say they’re lazy, but isn’t homework so much faster to do when it’s due the next day? If you have a particular goal in mind when you start a drawing, estimate how long it should take you to complete each step and give yourself a timeline for it.
For example, If I wanted to draw a very detailed bus I might say. “I’ll finish this drawing in a week. In 2 days I’ll do the wheels, then by the 4th day I’ll do the body of the bus, and on the 6th day, I’ll color it in and finish adding details.”
Limiting yourself this way gives you a clear path to your goal, and the best part is that, even if you don’t make the deadline, there are no serious consequences you have to deal with. Working within a limited timeframe, you might discover really creative solutions to certain artistic roadblocks you’ve encountered before.
Not only will getting used to making drawings this way allow you to be better prepared to take on serious work projects, but it’s a great way to pressure yourself into trying new things.
2. Limit Testing
Limit testing is a term associated with professional gaming that refers to the act of purposefully attempting something that is out of their capability, then slowly scaling up their skill until it becomes easy for them.
In the context of drawing, one might attempt to draw isometric shapes for the first time or attempt to shade in a style they are not proficient in. What you’re actually doing in this situation is exaggerating the mistakes you make, which in turn makes it easier to identify and correct them.
A great way to limit test is to find a drawing from a professional artist that you want to emulate then draw it freehand in as little time as possible. Then compare both and iterate your piece over and over again until it looks the way you want it to.
What makes limit testing really useful is that it turns your mistakes and inadequacy into an asset. If you ever feel like you’re making little or no progress when trying to learn a new drawing skill, it can be really fun and relaxing to not worry about how many mistakes you make and just go to town on a drawing.
3. Repetition And Practice
A lot of aspiring artists find practicing the same way some find exercise; repetitive and boring. However, practicing and perfecting the basics is the key to becoming a better artist.
It can be really scary to start a new project, deciding to commit to a large, complex drawing puts a lot of pressure for you not to mess up, otherwise, you’d have wasted a lot of time and effort for nothing. You might find yourself not drawing for long periods of time and falling out of practice as a result of this.
Doing simple exercises during periods like this is a great low-pressure way to keep drawing. Depending on your level of skill you could do anything from perfecting basic shapes to learning anatomy and perspective. Mastering the fundamentals of drawing means that when you finally do start that big, complicated project you’ve been planning you’ll get to worry less about technique and get to focus more on your art.
If you’re looking for some exercises to improve your drawing skills, check out some of our other articles:
10 Exercises for Beginners That Actually Work:
6 Effective Tips To Learn To Draw From Your Imagination:
6 Tips To Learn To Draw From Imagination
The 7 Elements of Art:
Why Are The 7 Elements Of Art King?
III. Mentality
While many people think that mental fortitude and willpower are the keys to creating good workspaces or developing good working habits, studies have shown that by simply increasing our physical health, our mental health improves as well. It’s important to remember that those two things are irrevocably linked together and that they both need to be in good shape for you to be a healthy and productive artist. That being said, here are two simple things to keep in mind that can keep your mind healthy.
1. Mistakes Are Drivers For Success
As discussed previously when we touched on limit testing, it’s important to remember that the goal of each piece you produce is not to create a masterpiece on every sheet of paper, but rather to gain more skill and learn new things to enrich yourself as an artist.
While it’s easy to be disheartened when a drawing doesn’t turn out the way you envisioned it in your head, remember that as long as you learn what you did wrong and ensure it won’t repeat, every “failure” is simply another step in the process of elimination. Always remember that one of the simplest, most convenient, and most effective ways to get something right is not knowing the perfect way to do it, but rather every way to do it wrong.
2. There's No Pressure
If you’ve just started drawing recently or if even you’ve been doing it for a while, chances are that you’re not well known in the grander scheme of things.
Sometimes it can feel like most of the world doesn’t care about you or your art, it might seem cruel, but in reality, this will be extremely beneficial to you as you’re discovering how to be a better artist.
While you’re unknown, there’s absolutely no pressure to deliver. There’s no huge paycheck you’re chasing, no public image, no previous works to measure up to.
This immense freedom that you have is wonderful and amazing, and to use it to its fullest potential you should go out and draw whatever you want to, in as many styles, using as many techniques and materials as you are able.
Right now, there’s no client or agent, or gallery manager to judge you and your art and tell you that it’ll never amount to anything. But eventually, those people will come along, and if you don’t enjoy the creative freedom that’s yours through obscurity, once people start paying attention to you, you’ll never get it back.
IV. Conclusion
Congratulations! You’re steady on your way to becoming a healthier, better artist! At this point, I’ll summarize the tips we’ve talked about in this article:
When thinking about our physical needs when drawing, we should be physically healthy, as eating and sleeping well will increase our motivation and brighten our mood. In addition to that, we should strive to create our own ideal workplace where we feel comfortable, happy, and productive.
When crafting a sustainable work ethic, we want to set personal limits so that we don’t leave projects unfinished, however, we should test our artistic limits by trying new things all the time.
Most importantly though, we should practice the basics of our craft, so that we have less to worry about when working on bigger projects.
Lastly, we want to cultivate a mentality that reminds us that mistakes make us better artists and that there is no pressure on us to make perfect drawings all the time.
Keeping yourself motivated to pursue your dreams is important, and you should surround yourself with people who support you. Just remember that even when it feels like you can’t go any further, your big break might be just around the corner.
After all, what’s the point of being motivated and equipped to chase your dreams if you don’t start running soon?