The scary blank paper

Drawing doesn’t have to be intimidating - Beginner/Intermediate

When you draw, you get better at drawing, right? So why don’t we draw more often? Easy answer: fear.

• We might not make a “good” drawing.

• We might make an inaccurate, horrible looking thing.

• We’ve done those bad drawings before.

• We don’t want to do it again.

These fears are what most artists face when starting to draw. It’s totally normal, but here is what you need to remember:

• You will make drawings that don’t look good, but they are essential for you to do.

• They are how you go from mediocre to good to great.

• You cannot waste your time.

• You cannot ruin the paper.

• All drawings will help you improve.

The fact is, that you just can’t help but learn when you draw. Every single thing you create gives you some amount of experience; some amount of learning.

If I said to you, I would trade you an art lesson for a blank sketch pad, you would say, “that’s a great deal!”

So if I took your blank sketch pad and threw it in the trash, and still gave you the lesson, it would be kind of weird, but still a good trade.

However, if you create a whole sketch pad of drawings instead of getting a lesson, the last drawings in the pad will be much better than the first.

You see how that works?

Even if you don’t get where you want to by the end of a pad, you will still have learned a ton about drawing. Afterwards, you can throw the pad away if you want to. No one has to see your learning efforts.

Start on the next pad. Your last pages will again be much better than the first.

Keep thinking about those last pages and draw something soon.