How To Draw
And Make It A Sustainable Practice
It probably goes without saying, but my entire personality revolves around drawing.
I don’t know what I would do without it.
So when people tell me that they would like to draw, it’s hard for me to not get overly excited and ruin the moment.
A surprising amount of people tell me they want to draw, so I thought— why not throw together some advice on how to get started.
So without further ado:
My Advice On How To Get Into Drawing
1. Let yourself make ugly drawings.
There’s no way around this. If you don’t let yourself make ugly drawings you’ll never draw. My sketchbooks are full of ugly drawings. Do I share them online?
Of course I don’t! They’re hideous!
But I still enjoy making them.
They are my ugly, bastard children and they are very dear to me.
2. Don’t overthink your art supplies.
Any pen or pencil you have is great.
If you can’t enjoy drawing with a generic drawing tool, it’s unlikely that expensive supplies are going to compel you to start drawing.
If anything, fancy supplies can create an even greater block because it will make you feel like you need to be precious with your tools.
Recommended Exercise:
Go hog wild with with a no.2 pencil on a sheet of cheap printer paper.
Draw fast, draw slow, draw upside down, draw on top of your drawings, cross-hatch inside a random shape you made, make gradients from light to dark, draw butts, draw eye balls, draw something perverted, draw something really big, draw something really small— just be a messy bitch.
NOTHING MATTERS! BE FREE!!!
I tried my own exercise to make sure it wasn’t bad advice. I enjoyed it!
Addt’l Drawing Exercises:
Draw something with lots of tiny, sketchy lines.
When you draw this way it allows you to “find” the shapes you’re trying to create by allowing yourself lots of tiny mistakes that eventually blend into a looser structure. It also looks cool and stylized, so that’s fun too.
If you don’t know what to draw you can pick an object to draw that’s right in front of you (I do this A LOT. It’s called observational drawing and it’s a great way to get the juices flowing).
Make a “blind-contour line” drawing.
This means draw a subject with one, long continuous line while looking directly at the subject and not at your drawing until you are finished. This technique results in lots of goofy final products.
If S4B has brought you joy, if you find this space of artsy reflection comforting, if you value the work of small, independent artists— please consider going paid today!
3. Figure out what YOU like to draw.
Everyone who draws has preferences for what they like to draw.
I love drawing facial expressions, expressive body language, landscapes/plants, and really loose urbanscapes.
You can draw from life, from photo, or something straight out of your brain.
You can draw people, places, mechanics, faces, animals, cartoons, abstract shapes, patterns, textures, etc.
Anything you want to draw is a valid reason to draw. Don’t think about what would impress other people— draw what brings you satisfaction.
4. Find artists who draw in ways that inspire you and COPY THEM.
Most illustrators and cartoonists started with fan art. I still make fan art sometimes. It’s really fun. One of my first cartoon characters was a rip off of Rocko from Rocko’s Modern Life.
And some more recent versions of fan art I’ve made just for my own entertainment:
5. Maintain the habit with portable supplies.
I find the best way to start a new habit is by making it as accessible as possible.
If you keep a small sketchbook and drawing tool in your purse/tote/backpack you’ll be able to access it on a whim.
You can do a quick 10-second doodle of a dog while standing on the sidewalk. You can sit at a café and make a wonky, yet detailed sketch of a classic car parked by the road.
I mostly just advise you to not be precious about your drawings. At least when you’re first starting out. The biggest roadblock to starting a drawing habit is simply being hard on yourself.
I’ve found in my own practice that the looser I let myself be, the more fun I have.
And if it’s not fun, what’s the point?
Comments (Let’s Chat!):
Are you interested in starting / getting back into drawing?
Or is it not for you?
Do you know anyone who’s curious about getting into drawing?
If so— Don’t let me stop you from sharing this post!
I’ve been considering doing a Substack Live where I draw subscriber suggestions and just generally doodle with y’all.
Show of hands, who’s interested in that?
Listening to:
been enjoying your book "Signal in the Noise" and see more in it each look through ie the panels going dark when you cover face with hands on toilet (lol) or random posters on walls...in it i see much of those things you list here that draw your compulsion to explore thec wotld around you if loosely but somehow deeply.....the continuous line drawing is a fascinating practice and damn you do it well!
I love drawing little doodles for myself. I also like to give people little drawings for birthday cards etc but get more self-conscious of it. I like the idea of making it more of a routine and a practice!