Should You Spend Lots of Time on a Drawing?

Eugh. I don’t know about you, but when I was first learning to draw, I took a while to sketch anything. But when it came to cleaning it up, I’d line it, color it, then… I’m… done I guess? But then I saw artists streaming art for hours, constantly refining a drawing. I was really wondering, what are they doing? What am I doing wrong?

Hey there! My name’s Kanjon and I make videos about art motivation and learning to draw. Ever wanted to try? I’ll show you that anyone can learn. Today we’re talking about how much time to spend on a piece when you’re making art. What does it mean to spend time refining a drawing? How far do you go?

Starting out as an artist, maybe you’ve felt similar. What’s going on? On the sketch side of things, some people are really fast! They sketch out quickly and then paint with impossible speed. That’s practiced skill! You could take more time and get to the same result, though. And guess what: no one knows how long it took you to make something if you don’t tell them. But, that’s not really what I want to talk about. You practice and you get faster and better, what’s exciting about that? The real puzzle that I think a lot of beginners have encountered is being “done” with a drawing and not knowing what else to do with it. You lined it, colored it, shaded it, signed it! What else are people doing?

You might hear that artists are progressively adding in detail. Blocking in first, then more detailed shading, then really fine tweaks, for hours on end. But if you don’t know what to look for, you’re not going to want to spend time trying to figure that out right? So what do you do?

You don’t. When you feel like you’ve run out of things to change in your piece, just leave it at that. You’ll automatically know when and how to spend more time on art as your skill increases. Trying to go too far before you know how will lead to you getting frustrated and over-doing your art. But… how do you get better then? Art studies. Art studies. Art studies! That’s when you can push yourself on detail. Studies are often throw-away work, might end up looking bad, but that’s the beauty: it’s raw practice that no one else has to see. See the thing, draw the thing.

Some people take longer because they have a lot of skill at seeing detail. Some people are fast because that’s their main priority. How long you spend on a piece of art is just as long as you want to, and you’ll adjust naturally over time as you study and level up those skills. You will get better at both speed and quality as you go: you don’t have to forever pick one or the other. Like art styles, your methods and skills will always be changing. So go for it! Have fun with your practice today. If you liked this video, please subscribe and share with your friends. Go draw and chase that passion. See ya next time!

Speaking of studying, look! March’s drawing calendar is up. If you want a completely free daily drawing calendar filled with ideas, check it out! Share it with your friends.