Ever wish you could draw well? Or that drawing was easy?
Alas, we know the work that goes into drawing.
How great would it be if we’d developed that drawing habit when we were younger! How nice it would be to pick up a pencil and doodle away a masterpiece on a nearby napkin.
(Or maybe it’s just me?)
For anyone that’s spent time on the internet, they know there’s a big community dedicated to building the habits which are the building blocks of creative progress.
Creative progress that could lead, say, to actually being able to draw.
In the good old days of the internet, it was said that it only took 21 days to build a habit. Now, that’s being called into question with a new average of 66 days - or just over two months (and realistically, between two to eight months, according to James Clear).
That’s a pretty serious commitment. But is it one that’s actually going to make me dramatically better at drawing?
We looked into it and found three examples of videos for aspiring artists who took a one-month drawing challenge to see how much they could improve with consistent daily practice.
Check out these three screenshots of their progress, with the videos linked below:
This is by Yannick, who set out to learn how to draw in 30 days and documented his one-month challenge on YouTube.
Here are the results from Scott Young’s Portrait Drawing Challenge: One Month of Progress...
And here is how Max did with his Max Hertan’s Learn Drawing in 1 Month video.
I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed (I’m also stuck on the warm-up exercises of drawing lots of circles and squares, so take that with a grain of salt). It’s clear there are significant, compounding results from daily practice.
So how do we kickstart our own daily drawing practice?
Keys To Improving Through Daily Drawing
Mastering drawing can take a lifetime. Getting somewhat decent at it? Well, if the above is any indication, you just need a solid month of commitment.
Below are some resources that can give you the planning and inspiration you need to kickstart your own drawing habit:
- Learn to Draw in 30 Days - This easy-to-follow guide includes three longer resources as reference works, a commitment to an hour a day, and a daily syllabus that takes you from basic shapes to portrait drawing - in under a month.
- 12 Keys To Practicing Drawing Right - For the beginners and not-so-beginners, one of the frustrating parts of learning to draw (or learning any new skill for that matter), is that uncomfortable plateau where nothing seems to go right or get better. This article dives into how to use your time well, how to vary your efforts between practicing and creating projects, and the benefits of both traditional and digital art.
- 18 Tips To Improve Your Drawing Skills - For those looking to level up, Ben Heine’s advice could be quite useful. This all-encompassing set of tips talks about using different mediums for inspiration, when to use reference photos, and how to find inspiration through different techniques.
Through daily, concentrated practice and with an eye on what you can accomplish in a month, there’s no doubt your drawings will get better. And that’s an achievement worth celebrating!
What about you? Have you taken on a drawing or art challenge like this before?
