Confessions of an Aspiring Artist

Over the past few months, I’ve been quietly trying to learn how to improve my drawing and animation skills.

I’ve never gone to art school or pursued visual art for longer than a few weeks, so it’s the first thing I’m starting something completely from scratch.

Being a beginner once again has allowed me to make full use of my philosophy, as well as my passion for tracking and experimenting with different routines and exercises.

This week, I thought it would be fun to share some insights from the beginning of my visual art journey that apply to any skill you want to learn:

Nothing is made in a vacuum

One word that comes up over and over again in art is “references”.

For paintings and drawings, this means either looking at a photograph or the actual object you want to draw.

For animation, this often involves recording yourself going through an action you want to animate. Reference videos give you an estimate for limb positioning, timing, and spacing.

The video below is from an animator on the latest Spiderverse movie, and it’s a perfect example of how to use references.

The same principle applies everywhere. Writers and filmmakers are using techniques, themes, and tropes other creators have used and making their own “original” works.

Our minds exaggerate more than our eyes, so working from your imagination is rarely better than using a reference.

REPS, REPS, REPS

The more quality repetitions you can complete, the better. Try not to dwell too long on one single drawing or frame. As a beginner or intermediate, you will not be satisfied with your work. Accept that and use it as motivation to finish reps so that you can evaluate what exactly needs to be improved.

For example, if I can make 4 complete sketches in an hour, and my counterpart completes 1 in that same hour, who do you think will be better in a year if we repeated that every day?

Unless my drawing was done haphazardly, then clearly I will be better in a year, assuming we start at the same skill level. I will have completed more reps, which means I will have had more feedback and opportunities to fix the flaws I find in the subsequent reps.

Don’t try to be perfect. Finish things so you can get better.

Take more notes

You won’t remember how you felt 99% of the time, so take notes!

If you want to improve and understand your thoughts better, you need to take notes/ keep a journal. This allows you to notice good and bad patterns that would usually go unnoticed.

For me, one thing I noticed after looking through some of the notes on my drawings is that I struggle to make small lines, arcs, and circles. This is because those are more wrist-dominant movements vs. shoulder-dominant strokes that are required by larger lines. As a result, I added at least 5 minutes of warm-up exercises that involved making those marks.

Note-taking is the key to leveraging your strengths and addressing your weaknesses.

FOCUS 

This is ultimately what determines the rate at which you will improve in anything.

It’s okay to sit and be distracted for the first 5-15 minutes, but try your best to fight through it so you can reach a flow state.

Experiment and find your best environment, tools, and protocols for deep focus.

On the other hand, don’t let yourself get too lost in the action. As an elite performer, this is okay because you’ve built the necessary skills to do so. But as a beginner, you can’t afford to skip the basics.

Mantras, cues, and intentions that remind you of what you’re supposed to be doing and how you’re supposed to be doing it are key.

Here’s a “gentle” reminder I have on my desk so I don’t forget to ghost(trace in mid-air) my lines:

Hopefully some of these tips help some of you! If any of you are good at drawing and/or animation, I’ll take any tips or resources I can get! This is the very beginning of my journey in this, but I can’t wait to start fusing these skills with my writing and stories.

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