Hi everyone, I know we all want to draw but that we find it hard sometimes to make time.
I used to find it hard to make time for art too and now I create something every single day.
That something is not always a completed painting, sometimes it is not even a completed sketch but it is always something and it often leads to more ideas and inspiration.
The main trick is to put no pressure at all on the result of this creative time. none at all. The most important is to do it. doodle, draw, make marks and put pen to paper. It does not have to be pretty, finished or shared with others.
It might feel silly to make lots of ugly art but truth be told, consistency is key to building a creative habit!
10 Quick Drawing Exercises for Daily art Practice:
I'll introduce you to 10 dynamic drawing exercises designed to fit seamlessly into your daily routine. These exercises are not only quick and convenient but also highly effective in sharpening your artistic abilities.
10 Quick Drawing Exercises for Daily Practice
Gesture Drawings: Begin your daily practice with gesture drawings, a technique focused on capturing the movement and essence of your subject. Spend a few minutes observing and sketching with loose, energetic lines, emphasising the overall form rather than intricate details. Gesture drawings are an excellent way to warm up your hand and eye coordination while infusing your artwork with vitality.
Blind Contour Drawing: Challenge your observational skills with blind contour drawing, a technique that encourages focused attention and hand-eye coordination. Select an object or subject and, without looking at your paper, trace its contours and shapes solely by relying on your sense of touch and observation. Although the results may appear unconventional, blind contour drawing fosters a deeper connection between your hand and eyes, enhancing your ability to perceive and depict form accurately.
Five-Minute Sketches: Time constraints can often serve as catalysts for creativity. Set aside five minutes each day to complete a quick sketch, embracing the spontaneity and freedom that come with limited time. Whether you're sketching a still life arrangement, a portrait, or a landscape scene, prioritise capturing the essential elements and proportions within the allotted timeframe. Five-minute sketches cultivate efficiency and decisiveness in your drawing process, empowering you to convey ideas swiftly and confidently.
Negative Space Drawing: Shift your perspective and hone your observation skills by focusing on negative space—the area surrounding and between objects—rather than the objects themselves. By drawing the shapes and contours of the negative space, you'll develop a heightened awareness of spatial relationships and compositional balance. Negative space drawing encourages mindfulness and attention to detail, leading to more nuanced and sophisticated artworks.
Quick Shape Studies: Break down complex subjects into basic geometric shapes to simplify your drawing process and facilitate accurate representation. Select an object or scene and identify its underlying forms—circles, squares, triangles, and ellipses. Then, sketch these shapes lightly as a framework before gradually refining and adding details. Shape studies provide a solid foundation for understanding structure and proportion, enabling you to tackle more complex subjects with ease.
Continuous Line Drawing: Embrace the fluidity and spontaneity of continuous line drawing, a technique where you create an entire drawing without lifting your pen or pencil from the paper. This exercise encourages uninterrupted flow and rhythm in your lines, resulting in dynamic and expressive artworks. Choose a subject and let your hand move freely, allowing the contours and details to emerge organically. Continuous line drawing fosters a direct connection between your hand and imagination, resulting in lively and captivating compositions.
Expressive Mark Making: Explore the diverse possibilities of mark making to add texture, depth, and visual interest to your drawings. Experiment with various drawing tools—pencils, pens, brushes, and charcoal—and techniques such as hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, and scumbling. By varying the pressure, speed, and direction of your marks, you can convey a wide range of textures, emotions, and atmospheres in your artwork. Expressive mark making encourages spontaneity and experimentation, inviting you to unleash your creativity and personality on the page.
Quick Perspective Sketches: Develop your understanding of perspective and spatial relationships through quick perspective sketches. Practice drawing basic geometric forms—such as cubes, cylinders, and spheres—in various perspectives, including one-point, two-point, and three-point perspective. By mastering the fundamentals of perspective, you'll gain the ability to create convincing spatial illusions and realistic environments in your drawings. Quick perspective sketches provide essential groundwork for more complex architectural and figurative compositions, empowering you to bring depth and dimension to your artwork.
Daily Doodle Challenge: Inject a dose of fun and spontaneity into your daily drawing practice with the daily doodle challenge. Set aside a few minutes each day to doodle freely based on a theme, prompt, or idea of your choosing. Whether it's doodling your favorite animals, experimenting with abstract shapes, or illustrating whimsical characters, the daily doodle challenge encourages uninhibited creativity and imagination. No rules, no judgments—just pure creative expression and exploration.
Reflection Sketches: Cultivate mindfulness and awareness of your surroundings through reflection sketches, a practice that combines observation with introspection. Take a moment to pause and observe your environment, noticing the shapes, colours, and textures that surround you. Then, sketch what you see, incorporating elements of your surroundings into your drawings. Reflection sketches serve as visual journals, capturing fleeting moments and memories while fostering a deeper connection to the world around you.
Incorporate these 10 quick drawing exercises into your daily routine, and watch as your artistic skills flourish and evolve over time. Remember, consistency is key—dedicate a few minutes each day to practice, and you'll be amazed at the progress you make. So grab your sketchbook, unleash your creativity, and embark on an inspiring journey of artistic discovery!
Stay tuned for more tips, techniques, and inspiration to fuel your creative endeavours.
Happy drawing!