How To Motivate Oneself To Draw

Last year, on the bright, shining morning of January 1, waking up in a comfy, warm bed in the Due north Carolina mountains, with the renewed sense of ability and hope that comes on New Year'south Day, I alleged my resolution for 2022:"THIS is the year. This is the year I will drawevery single day."

It's now the first of 2022, and*spoiler alert* I didn't fulfill that resolution. I didn't describe every 24-hour interval of 2022.There were about 10 days I didn't describe, then I drew somewhere around 355 days terminal yr.Another failed resolution. Some other hopeless year, another waste, right?

Really, I believe my 2022 resolution was far from a failure.I believe it was a huge success. I drew 355 days! That'due south more than I've always drawn in a single year. I filled upward iii entire sketchbooks. That's more sketchbooks than I've ever filled upwardly before! I tried out new tools and mediums, and evolved my creative style into something that feels fifty-fifty more like me than earlier, even when I thought I had already figured it out!

So yeah, if you lot wanna get all technical and nitpicky, I didn't achieve my goal. Fine, whatever, some other New year's day's resolution in the graveyard.Only hither's the of import office: that failed resolution led me to draw more than I ever have earlier. I succeeded in the long run by improving my creative life and growing my creative exercise.

Now at the beginning of this fresh new year's day, I'm reflecting back, trying to figure out why I was more successful in 2022 than 2022. And that's when I discovered the ane affair that helped me depict *almost* every solar day terminal yr.

Drawing Almost Every Day, Christine Nishiyama, Might Could Studios

Commit to a Drawing Series Publicly

Cartoon *well-nigh* every day for a year is a long time. We'll outset out stiff for sure, total of ideas and brimming with motivation. But how do we keep the momentum going?

The most common matter I hear from people who don't depict consistently is that they but don't know what to draw each day. They sit down with the intention of cartoon, merely they open up their sketchbook and the blank page just stares at them. And so open, and then white, then BLANK. What to perchance fill it with?

Here's my secret weapon to combating this trouble: committing publicly to cartoon projects and series.

This came in many forms for me, merely most often was some sort of drawing challenge or theme on Instagram. I started or participated in a total of 12 drawing series concluding year.Some were personal serial I started myself, like my travel journals, and some were drawing challenges started by other artists and joined in by thousands of other creatives.

Here are the drawing projects I committed to publicly last year:

#mightcouldinnyc : seven drawings
#mightcouldinindia : 19 drawings
#inktober2017 //#mightcoulddrawclothes : 30 drawings
#mightcouldinhyrule : four drawings
#mightcouldroadtrip : 19 drawings
#mightcouldinvietnam : 13 drawings
#mightcouldinseattle : xi drawings
#wikillo : 3 drawings
#marchmeetthemaker : iii drawings
#meettheartist : i cartoon
#mightcouldcopic : 34 drawings
#lillifecomic : 39 drawings

I stuck with some of these series from beginning to end, like my travel journals and Inktober. Others, I started with high energy, simply before long the excitement wore off and I lost interest and got bored. So I stopped that serial. Just that doesn't mean that series was a waste of time! Information technology was still worth it to start the series, even if you lot only did it a couple times.It got you drawing that day and that'south what counts.Nosotros want to enjoy the process of drawing, and then don't keep drawing a serial if you lot offset to hate information technology. Turn the page, and start a new series!

In full, these 12 series produced 185 total drawings. That's almost half the year, correct there! All because of a bunch of random drawing series I decided to commit to and see where they went.Some went somewhere interesting, some didn't. But they all got me cartoon.

Why Does This Work?

And so why does committing publicly to drawing serial work? Why non just depict something different each day? Why non proceed your drawing series secret?This concept works for three reasons:

Drawing Almost Every Day, Christine Nishiyama, Might Could Studios

1. Y'all've given yourself constraints

Now when you sit downwardly to depict, you won't be as confused or overwhelmed well-nigh what to depict.You'll take a prepare of limitations to work within and a direction to follow. These guidelines aid to jumpstart new ideas by narrowing downwards the options, rather than sitting downwardly to a bare page with limitless possibilities.

Drawing Almost Every Day, Christine Nishiyama, Might Could Studios

2. Y'all've made it public and held yourself accountable

When you make your drawing serial public (by announcing information technology on Instagram or Facebook, for example) yous've alleged your intentions to the whole world. Now if you don't draw, you won't exist the merely one who knows it.This heave of accountability volition be an extra layer of motivation for you to draw each day.

Drawing Almost Every Day, Christine Nishiyama, Might Could Studios

3. You've opened yourself up for feedback and joined a creative community

Whenever yous push button something out into the world, you're opening yourself up for feedback. This may be a scary at first, and I can't promise no one will say something negative most your piece of work. But in my experience, the internet environment I've shaped and molded for myself has been very nurturing, inspiring, and supportive. Y'all can create that environment too past choosing which groups you lot join and who y'all follow.Join a positive and open up creative community, and their feedback and encouragement volition aid keep you motivated.

Drawing Almost Every Day, Christine Nishiyama, Might Could Studios

Bonus Lesson: Don't Let Skid Ups Bring Yous Downwards

Ok, and so we made the resolution to depict every day with all the conclusion we could muster and all the good intentions in the world. We committed to a bunch of cartoon series publicly. We gave ourselves constraints, held ourselves answerable, and joined a creative community.But here we are on January ninth, and we've already missed a day. Curses!

Here's the real secret to drawing consistently: Who cares?! You didn't draw yesterday, you lot missed one day. Ok, and then what? That was yesterday, and today is today.Nosotros tin't permit one skid up bring this whole thing crashing downward.It'due south pretty much guaranteed that you will slip upward. I already have! For real. I forgot to draw on Jan sixth. Oops.

Information technology's ok. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes.Consistency is what we're actually aiming for, and we can keep it up by forgetting the tiny missteps and focusing on the big pic. Yes, nosotros forgot to describe yesterday. We tin't go back, and we can't change that. But today is a new day with fresh hope and the opportunity to rebound.

We can still depict today.

Drawing Almost Every Day, Christine Nishiyama, Might Could Studios