What Should I Draw?

Practice, practice, practice! You’ve heard it before, but there’s no way around it. The only way to get better at something is by doing it. Set aside a little time each day, or every other day, or once a week, to work those creative muscles. The more you do it, the faster you’ll improve .

Enjoy the process. Sure, you won’t make the Mona Lisa the first time you pick up a paintbrush, but if you’re expecting to, you’ll be disappointed. Masterpieces can come later, for now, focus on enjoying the work and the process. The feel of the pencil as you draw, how it feels when your brain thinks visually, the satisfaction of having made something with your own two hands. That way, even if the end result falls short of your expectations, you’ll have had fun, and will still want to do it again.

Use lots of references . Lots of beginner artists think it’s “cheating” to use a reference—an image that you base your drawing on—but nothing could be further from the truth. Every legendary artist used references, whether they took photos and reproduced them on a page, or drew from what they saw in real life. How else are you going to make it look real than by studying the real thing? Heck, not even tracing is cheating, so long as you give credit to the thing you traced. In fact, tracing is a quick way to help you understand the shape and form of something!

Take a break, then come back. When you get in the zone, you start to get almost too familiar with your drawing, so that you don’t recognize the funky parts. Many artists take lots of breaks so that they can return with fresh eyes. Often, the mistakes stand out with a little time away.

Take it easy, and don’t be hard on yourself. Art is a constant learning process, and nobody is ever “done” learning when it comes to art. Your drawing doesn't have to be perfect, or even anywhere near perfect. In fact, most people won’t ever notice your mistakes unless you point them out. More than anything, have fun!