Saturday:

8am:

I really want to do some sketching today. I’m definitely going to do it…

9am

Ooh… the book I ordered on sketching has arrived. Yay! I must read it before I start. Then I’ll do some sketching…

11am

I’m feeling really inspired now. I really want to try some of those techniques out. I must just quickly look up the author online first to see if I can find a video demo… Then I’ll do some sketching…

11.30am

Ooh… This YouTube Video looks really interesting. I’ll quickly just watch that… Then I’ll do some sketching…

11.45am

Wait a minute… this artist has loads of videos… A whole channel! These are really going to help me. I’ll just watch a few more… Then I’ll do some sketching…

12.30pm

Ooh… That pen he’s using looks really cool. Maybe I should order one. Maybe if I have that very same pen, my drawings will look like that! I’ll just quickly go on Amazon and order one… Then I’ll do some sketching…

12.45pm

Actually, there’s no point in starting now. I need that ‘special pen’! I’ll just wait until I get that… then I’m definitely going to do some sketching…

1pm

Ooh, look. Another art book…!

Is this you?

If you recognise yourself in the above, then you might be someone who thinks that they’ve spent half of their day ‘researching’. After all, you read a book about art, you’ve watched a ton of art videos and you’ve even ordered some fancy new art materials. All of this is going to make you a much better artist, right? WRONG!

What you have actually been doing is procrastinating; convincing yourself that by consuming as much art as you can from external sources, it’s going to turn you into the artist you want to be. Again… WRONG!

This is not uncommon, but it’s a bad habit and one you will need to break if you want to get better, faster.

By procrastinating like this, you are denying yourself hours of real practice. These are hours you will never get back. And I guarantee that the ‘fancy pen’ you just ordered will NOT make you a better artist! All you need is a pen. Any old pen. Just a Bic will do, some paper and a little time… You know? The time you just wasted?

So. The next time you get some time to sketch… SKETCH!!  Even if the result is bad, you will have learned a lot more from actively doing it, than you would have learned by watching that video!

There is, of course, a place for videos and art books. They are a fantastic way of picking up new ideas and techniques… but only AFTER you have spent the time actually doing it yourself.

Remember. The quickest way to learn is in this order:

  1. Sketch
  2. Sketch
  3. Sketch
  4. Read art books and watch art tutorials

 

Sandra x

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