What To Do When You Can’t Draw
I have established that there are two major inhibitors when it comes to creating. They all stem from our inner self…our brain. The Blank Page Phobia and The Inner Critic Duck.
The Blank Page Phobia
This is every artists NIGHTMARE. You flip open your sketchbook to a fresh page…and now what? You have endless lists of ideas and get you still struggle to put pencil to paper. It happens to the best of us. Remember being a little kid and filling endless pages with quick doodles? That’s because when we’re younger, we ignore what I call The Inner Critic Duck.
The Inner Critic Duck
The Inner Critic Duck is an evil creature that lives inside all of our minds. No matter your passion/career, that mean little Duck is judging everything you do. It automatically assumes the worst whenever we attempt something new or scary. Such as filling in a fresh sketchbook page. “That idea won’t work” or “People won’t like that” or “It’s going to look like GARBAGE!” are some of the cruel things the mean Duck might say.
You have to learn to ignore this Duck. That is step one in getting over The Blank Page Phobia. Stop overthinking and just start drawing. Here are some tips I’ve compiled that have helped me significantly over the years.
What Kind of Sketchbook you Use Matters
I was buying the really nice leather bound $20+ Moleskine sketchbooks when I realized something. I wasn’t sketching as much because I wanted this sketchbook to “look nice”. That is a massive mistake and that is when I switched to giant $5 spiral bound sketchbook. I’m doing about 4-5x more sketching and seeing massive amounts in growth since I got that particular sketchbook.
You need to experiment with different types. Do you like small or large sketchbooks? Bound like a book or spiral bound? How many pages do you want? Type of paper? Do you work better when the paper is torn out? Think about these things next time you go shopping for art supplies.
Create Project Constraints
We make our best work when we give ourselves constraints to work with. It’s much easier to sit and fill a page with drawings when you don’t have endless possibilities at your fingertips. Something I’m seeing more of and want to do myself is create a list of Top 100 Things I Like to Draw. Or even search for a prompt list on Instagram or Pinterest. The goal is to just start drawing!
Stop Imagining the Final Piece
I was listening to Mattias Adolfsson give a sketchbook tour on his YouTube channel. He creates extremely detailed pieces of art. They are massive and complex. Mattias says not to imagine the final piece as your working. Just keep drawing and filling things in. You will eventually hit a point where you are satisfied with your work.
Set a Timer and Fill the Page
I like to do this as a warm up if I’m struggling to sit and draw. I set a timer for 20 minutes and try to fill the entire page. There is this sense that if you don’t fill the page before the timer is up, a bomb might go off. Who knows? It’s just supposed to trick your brain into making something.
Try a Different Medium
I usually work with markers, but if I’m in a rut or just sick of working with them, I’ll switch to something else. Colored pencils, watercolor, paper, 3D, whatever you’d like. Break out the crayons!
Nothing Has Worked?!
At this point, just to get back into a groove I’ll make fan art or just copy/mimic an illustrator I admire. You might learn something new along the way.
With anything in life, it’s usually our annoying brain that holds us back. That Duck is just nagging us for trying to do something new! Well, he can go kick rocks. Ultimately, you have to remember that it’s art. There is no one right way to create art. That would sort of defeat the purpose of art. It’s supposed to be our interpretation the world and what we see.