In the last post we discussed ways to get you drawing by starting simple.  Now let’s learn how to grow in your drawing skills.    How do you grow in your technique and your skill?  In this post I will address the three keys to help you to grow in your style and your skills.  Let’s turn simple into simply awesome!

grow in your drawing

How To Grow In Your Drawing

Key 1 – Learn

The first key to grow is to learn.  Learn something new, and keep on learning.  Cultivate the “beginner’s mind” which means stay flexible, open to new ideas.  Even if you think you have learned it all, know that there is always more to learn.  There are always new ideas and new styles to experiment with.  Courses are one way to learn, but there are many other ways as well.

Spend time looking around you, soak up ideas, notice different styles. 

Pay attention to anything that catches your eye and contemplate why you find it interesting.   Try out different tools, use worksheets to get the feel for how drawing certain styles feel.  Once you have learned something new, then you can adapt and make it your own.  The trick is not to copy other people’s work, but to be inspired by it, to come up with your own ideas and develop your own style.  Have patience and persevere, this will come with practice.  Incorporate these new ideas using your own interpretation.   You can learn a lot by watching others and asking questions. Try new techniques out, see how they feel,  and then add your own flavour, drawing from your heart.

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Key 2 – Practice

The second key to grow in your drawing is to practice.  I have said this many times before and will say it many times again, practice.  The best way to improve and become better at anything is through practice.

Find your passion and practice it everyday!

Make mistakes, do it again, make some more and keep on going.  The action of “doing” accomplishes so much more than just trying to think our way into our craft.  Make it a habit, pick up your pencil daily, make marks in your sketchbook, and that is practice.

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Key 3 – Play

The third key to grow in your drawing, is one of the most important.  Allow yourself to play.  Put away your need to be perfect and learn to experiment and have fun.  You may find a particular idea you really like, and then you start to draw lots of it.  You are practicing, this is good.  Maybe you have discovered the most amazing style of flower and you draw that flower all the time, and you become better at it everyday.   But in order not to find yourself stuck overtime, we have to include play.  Experiment, change it up, try new ideas.

Always make room for play, as it gives us permission to do it differently!

Don’t be afraid to think and act outside the box.  This is where new growth happens.  Yes, keep drawing what you love, and what you have become proficient at, but now mix it up a little.  Play with new techniques, ideas and tools of the trade.  You never know what new idea is lying in wait for you to discover.  Why just make an awesome flower when you can make an awesome garden!

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Learn, Practice, Play and Grow

There you have it.  The formula for growing in your drawing and taking your practice to the next level.

Our creativity is an expression of ourselves, so let this come through in how you draw and what you draw.   Whether it is a realistic style, nature inspired, or abstract and geometric.  Do what feels right to you and believe in it.  You have something unique to offer, so allow your style to develop from your heart.  Have fun learning, make time to practice and bravely experiment with new ideas.

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Thanks for joining me and getting creative.

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keeffe

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