3 Rules for Learning to Draw

Drawing

Jul 14

Learning to draw is one of the most challenging journeys you might decide to embark on. It will test you to the core of your being and make you want to quit almost everyday. From my experience, most people have unrealistic expectations of the journey and how easy it will be to learn to draw and the things they will be able to do - like drawing anything from their imagination.

During this long and intense journey, it’s also quite easy to lose sight of what’s most important and remember why you even started in the first place. This is why I’ve come up with a list of 3 very important rules to follow when you begin learning to draw. Follow these rules, and they will help you tremendously on your journey of learning to draw.

Don’t Quit
The most important rule when learning to draw (or learning anything else for that matter), is to not quit. This might seem quite obvious but I’ve seen countless people over the years give up drawing because they felt they couldn’t do it, or weren’t talented enough. In order to avoid these feelings of quitting and giving up, it’s important to focus on why we started to learn drawing in the first place.
Ask yourself why you became interested in drawing. Why did you want to start learning? Most likely it’s because you just found joy in trying to draw something. Maybe you want to be like other artists that you admire. The list is endless.
The point is that we want to make sure we always remember this purpose and if anything gets in the way of this purpose - like overly-technical information that makes us feel overwhelmed with the process and feel hopeless - then we should forget about it. We should drop that information. It’s not important right now. And we should focus on other things. Things which will keep us motivated to pick up the pencil more and keep drawing.
Of course, not quitting may be one of the hardest aspects of learning to draw and to follow through with but in the end I believe it’s worth all the challenges and effort you have to put into it. And really in order to not quit, you also need a few other mindsets and rules. Let’s get into those now.
Be Realistic
When it comes to learning a new skill like drawing, we have to realize that this is a long process. Probably no one on planet Earth ever has come out of the womb drawing like da Vinci - not even Leonardo da Vinci himself! Keep this in mind. That’s why it’s called “learning” to draw. You have to be realistic and understand that it’s a learning process. And with any learning process, you’re going to make mistakes. A lot of them.
Imagine learning a new language. Or even a young child learning their first language. Mistakes will always without a doubt be made but this is how we learn and make progress. Sometimes we have to learn what not to do in order to find the path of what works. We have to keep in mind that these mistakes don’t define us or who we are. They are just simply mistakes. Lessons to learn from. A way to grow.
We should fall in love with making mistakes so we can learn more and be open to making progress. It’s the only way forward. So accept and embrace it. You’re going to make crappy drawings and sketches. We all do and even after over 25 years of drawing, I still do as well. And of course, it bums me out. I don’t like to make crappy drawings, but I know if I practice more, stay patient, and keep drawing - I can improve my future drawings.
Keep these things in mind when you feel like you want to give up just because you made a mistake. It’s part of the process of learning. Speaking of the process, let’s get into the last rule.
Enjoy the Process
When I was young kid I drew a lot. I drew mostly cartoons and things from my mind, but I just drew a lot. I would copy VHS Disney covers, children’s books, and how to draw books. I had no idea what I would do with all these drawings or where I might end up one day. All I knew was that I liked cartoons and I like to draw and color them. You can check out a video of all my drawings from when I was a kid here: The Evolution of My Art
So that’s exactly what I did. I focused all my energy on what I loved and enjoyed. If something became too difficult to draw or I became frustrated, I just moved on and drew something I did enjoy. I always wanted to have fun when I would draw. That’s the main reason why I was doing it.
I think once we get into our teens and a bit older, we begin to judge ourselves a lot. We have goals to reach and things we want to do. And when we don’t reach these goals quickly or see any progress at all, we give up. We move to something else to give us that quick satisfaction, especially in this era of social media and the internet.
But when I was younger, I didn’t really judge myself or my drawings. I just had fun. I fully enjoyed the process. We should do our best to get back to this state of mind when we are learning to draw.
Draw things you enjoy and love. Have fun with it. If you’re not sure what you like to draw, then draw everything. You’ll eventually find out what bores you to death and what feels good to know. You’ll also start to learn HOW you like to draw and WHAT you like to see in your drawings. This all takes time though and the important thing is to enjoy the process along the way.
Don’t worry so much about the destination, or reaching some slightly unrealistic goal. Just enjoy the process. If you enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll do it more and you’ll reach that goal before you know it anyway.