Is It Too Late to Start Drawing?

Do you feel like you’ve missed your chance to start drawing?

Maybe you feel that you should’ve started years ago and that if you did, you’d be great by now.

Maybe you think you’re too old or too far behind to start now.

You’re not alone in this kind of thinking. It’s more common than you’d think. I’ve heard these thoughts from people in their 70s all the way down to teenagers, believe it or not. I’ve had retirees tell me they regret not pursuing art earlier in life when they had passion for it.

But here’s the truth: waiting only leads to regret.

The longer you put something off, the less likely you are to do it.

You’re left wondering what would’ve happened if only you tried. All that’s left is ‘what if’.

It’s not all bad news though. The good thing is: it’s never too late to start. The only thing holding you back is your belief that it’s too late.

It’s time to break that mindset and put you on the path to drawing like a pro.

Don’t Live with Regrets

Life is too short and too precious to live it with regrets.

Today is the youngest you will ever be. You are only getting older every moment of every day.

Imagine your life one year from now. How different could your life be in one year if you started drawing today? What goals could you achieve? What milestones could you reach? How proud would you feel knowing you had the courage to act and try something new?

Now imagine your life one year from now without learning to draw. You didn’t even pick up a pencil the whole year or draw anything. How do you feel at the end of that year?

Do you see the difference between what could change if you just simply started and gave it shot versus not trying at all?

One year is going to pass whether you start or not. The ultimate goal here is to:

Avoid regret as much as possible.

How can you do this?

Well, as humans we don’t regret the things did as much as we regret the things we didn’t do but felt we should have. Basically, don’t leave your future self asking ‘what if’.

The longer you put it off, the less likely you’ll do it.

Start sooner than later.

Change Your Mindset

Why do you want to learn to draw? Why do you want to create?

Are you trying to be the next Leonardo da Vinci or do you just want to relax and honestly express yourself?

You have this burning passion inside of you that wants to create something.

But your mind is telling you it’s too late. If that’s the case, it’s time to stop listening to your thoughts because the truth is that it’s never too late to start something new. As long as you’re enjoying what you're doing and you're willing to learn, that's all you need.

Do it for the passion, the enjoyment, and the lessons you’ll learn.

Try to change the way you think about drawing. It's not about the end result. It's not about how good you're going to get or making a career out of it. You need to have fun and enjoy the process of making a drawing, no matter the outcome.

A small change in your mindset can make a huge difference.

Find Your Happiness

Whether you’re 14 or 74, you can start drawing. And you can be happy.

I've had students who started drawing using my tutorials and found success at 72 and 83 years old. They left me comments and emails telling me how happy they were that they started drawing. They never thought they could learn at this age but they're now finding peace and joy in the process.

This can happen at any stage in your life.

You can find fulfillment at any age.

There's no time limit on any of these skills or passions. As long as you have a passion for it and the willingness to learn it and put energy into it, you can do it.

It comes down to this question:

Do you want to be happy?

I think we all do.

You don't want to regret not trying.

An important quote to remember is:

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
— Chinese proverb

The only thing holding you back is your own thoughts.

Don’t live life on auto-pilot. Your future self will look back at you now and wish that you would’ve taken the leap and started.

Make your future self proud.

Thank you for reading.

— Brandon Schaefer

If you want to learn to draw but you’re unsure of how or where to start, you can join my course, the Intuitive Drawing Course.

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Intuitive Drawing Course - A Comprehensive Course for Beginners — Schaefer Fine Art