How to Stay Motivated When Learning to Draw?

Hello everyone, I imagine that, like many, you have had experiences where you are full of ambition, ready to draw the character of your dreams or try your hand at a challenge such as one drawing a day. Initially everything goes well, but soon the enthusiasm wanes, you are not satisfied with your drawings and the motivation disappears. Then you wake up and realise that you have not drawn for several months.

This scheme is very common, so today I offer you 10 tips to keep your motivation in drawing.

BE INSPIRED BY OTHERS

When practicing a sport, it's normal to take an interest in other players of the same sport. For example, if we take football, a football enthusiast will play in their city's club but also watch matches whenever possible. It's the same with drawing; it’s important to look at the work of other artists, as it helps to train one's eye and imagination.

Generally, it is by looking at what others have done that we also find the desire to do things, but we must be careful not to fall into an over-consumption of images that might make us feel inadequate.

It is also interesting to look at artists from many different styles, as it opens us up to other possibilities.

REMEMBER WHY WE STARTED DRAWING

When drawing, over time, it’s not uncommon to end up forgetting what we like about drawing. To regain motivation, I suggest you reconnect with those things that gave you the desire to draw.

There could be several reasons: did you want to tell stories through beautiful illustrations? Did you want to create fan arts of your favorite characters? Did you want to draw portraits of your loved ones? Did you want to relax? Do you just like to colour? Do you enjoy being able to visually transcribe all the ideas that come to your mind?

There is no right or wrong answer, these reasons are yours alone but it’s essential to be aware of what we like in order to continue finding meaning in what we do.

FIND THE MEDIUM WE LIKE

Most of the time, our discovery of drawing begins in kindergarten with thick coloured pencils or finger painting. When we are very young, we are introduced to the world through many different mediums, but often as we grow older we limit the possibilities and end up drawing with a pencil.

Some people find their happiness in drawing with graphite pencils, but for others it is not the right medium and these people will quickly become bored with graphite pencils.

There are many different techniques, you will find some of them below. It’s up to you to test and see through which medium you feel your creativity flourish. Being comfortable with your medium is one of the best ways to stay motivated.

Note: some mediums are quite expensive, but don't hesitate to look in discount stores to get started, as they often offer small kits (perhaps not of the best quality) for you to discover.

DRAW WHAT WE PREFER

This advice may seem quite trivial, yet I have often encountered people who liked to draw but did not draw what they enjoyed. There's no need to be versatile, even professionals have their favorite subjects.

If you like drawing portraits, don't draw cars, and vice versa. Of course you can draw more things, but there will always be one or more favourite subjects, and that is great! The more experience you gain, the more these subjects will become your strengths and form a “safe zone” for drawing.

ADVANCE GOAL BY GOAL

This is perhaps one of the most frustrating and important pieces of advice: we must proceed step by step, without skipping any. Very often we start with a small drawing of a character, for example, and immediately decide to put it into action at a complex angle in a setting, at which point we no longer know where to start, are often not satisfied with the result and end up losing all motivation.

Set simple and specific goals and progress step by step, for example if you want to draw characters, first learn to draw them from the front, ¾, side and back in a very simple position and then learn how to make dynamic poses, then detail the anatomy a bit more…

Every step is important to acquire solid foundations and every time you complete a step you will have the satisfaction of having finished a part and the motivation will only be greater.

FINDING YOUR RHYTHM TO STAY MOTIVATED

There is no right or wrong time and duration for drawing; some recommend 15 minutes a day, others 3 hours on Saturdays... We all have different lifestyles, so it seems wiser to find a rhythm that suits your life and needs.

To do this, it is best to look at the times when you most feel like drawing and observe what makes you stop each time, by observing your habits you can then determine the perfect timing for you.

To progress and experience increased satisfaction and peak motivation, I recommend finding several short moments each week; there's no need to create sublime artworks, keeping a sketchbook or doing speed paintings can be an excellent way to practice without any pressure.

If you would like more advice on how to keep a sketchbook, I invite you to read this article:https://dessindigo.com/blog/sketchbook-drawing

ACCEPTING THAT YOU ARE NOT ALWAYS SATISFIED

No wonder, there are good days and bad days, sometimes, no matter how much you want to do, you can't do it, you are not satisfied and you feel that nothing is right. It is completely normal and affects everyone, regardless of level or experience.

As a professional, even after years of practice, I still find myself looking at the day's work and thinking that it's really bad. At first, this bothered me a lot. How can one succeed one day and be so bad the next? It depends on so many external factors (fatigue, stress, mood...) that it's often unpredictable and uncontrollable.

The solution? Letting go. It is no problem to get a drawing wrong, to be dissatisfied with it or to feel that you are not good at it. In these situations, the best thing to do is to put aside what you were doing and come back to it later or even abandon the drawing if it is more frustrating than anything else. The only important thing is to remember that this is a temporary state and that failure does not make us bad artists.

BE PROUD OF YOUR PROGRESS IN DRAWING

This advice follows on from the previous one: just as it is important to accept failure, it's important to value progress and success. We often have difficulty noticing our progress; we clearly see that our drawings are better, but knowing whether we have actually improved can sometimes be more complex.

One of the best exercises for this purpose is to redo an old drawing to see how much you have improved. This is the case with the example below: 2 years separate these two drawings and, even though the one on the right is still imperfect, the progress between the two is evident: better anatomy, more relaxed posing, better handling of colours and textures... in short, the improvements are evident and it helps to recharge your motivation thinking that in 2 years the same drawing will be even more successful.

SHARE AND EXCHANGE

In all fields, people gather in communities to practice together and share their passion, I highly recommend sharing and exchanging with other drawing enthusiasts. This will enable you to receive opinions and advice that will be very useful in making progress, but also to find support among other people with the same interest as you.

The Dessindigo Forum:https://dessindigo.com/forum

 

DON'T DRAW

This is perhaps the most surprising piece of advice, and yet it is very important: to maintain motivation in drawing, it is crucial not to draw all the time. To be productive and enjoy drawing, our brain needs to be fed with a variety of different things; otherwise, we might start to feel ‘suffocated’ and gradually lose creativity and motivation.

I therefore advise you to vary the activities you do: sports, writing, reading, cooking, walking... there are many activities that refresh and nourish our body and spirit; in this way, we enrich our subconscious and allow our brain, by varying the pleasures, to maintain interest and desire when drawing.

And here are the 10 tips for maintaining motivation when drawing. I hope you find this article useful and that, by applying these tips, you can continue to draw for many years to come, always with great pleasure! 😊

Illustrator and Writer: Chloé Pouteau