What do You Draw When Nothing Feels Right to Draw

Some days you get ready to draw, and you’re really excited to DRAW, but as soon as you sit down you’re all 🦗🦗🦗

It’s that ITCH that’s there through the day. You’re excited to finish work or class and get drawing, or to finish up those couple chores and do some doodling. But the moment that it’s time to draw, you just can’t figure out what you want to do. You might even start to procrastinate drawing once it’s time to get to it.

It’s like you WANT to draw but you don’t WANT to draw… know what I mean? You want to improve and make some fun art. But… you don’t want to practice. Or maybe you DO want to practice but your brain just stops you from making those marks on the page.

It happens. We’re artists, and getting into “creative mode” can be hard to do sometimes. And some days it’s worth taking a little break, no harm in that. But if you feel like you WANT to draw and you need some help getting past those ~head-empty~ first few minutes, try these out:

• If you’ve got some basic art skill, try drawing something in front of you, or something that you already have a picture of. Don’t waste time finding lots of references online, just draw what you see to warm up. Try a couple different things, don’t worry about the details. Something easy and quick. If you’ve recently drawn something, try re-drawing it for a few minutes.
• If you’re taking any art courses online, particularly those with video lessons, open one up and follow along for at least a few minutes. Chances are you’ll just keep following along, or you’ll get into the mood to draw what you want along the way. You don’t have to commit to an entire lesson.
• If you’re really struggling to get going for the day, start really basic and just try a few smooth lines on the page. Try some nice ellipses. Heck, try to shut your brain off and start drawing a path around the page. Let anything happen. Work up from there if you want.

Taking things one step at a time and telling yourself “just a few minutes” can help get you drawing. Especially if you’re at the start of a drawing habit, it can be tough! But doing even the most basic of exercises can train your brain into continuing that habit. There’s no set number of days where things suddenly get easy: you’ll always have the occasional off day. Tell yourself, that’s OK. Not every day has to produce a masterpiece. Let yourself make those little drawings, and if you accidentally drew more than a few minutes for the day, well… that’s fine!

Understanding how your mind works can help you learn tricks to motivate yourself in drawing, and many other habits. Teaching yourself that it’s OK to be imperfect and the power of bite-size tasks can really launch your progress forward. Take care of yourself, and I hope you’ll have a fun time with some little drawings today.