To become a skilled artist, you need to be consistent with practicing your craft. Even if you’re a beginner or an expert, daily practice always helps you improve your sketching skills.
So how do you go about building a habit of drawing daily? This post discusses some actionable tips on how you can go about doing so.
1. Plan a schedule
Before you dive right into your habit, plan a schedule and fix a time when you will fall back on your drawing habit every day. This time of the day needs to be dedicated to your drawing and no matter how busy you are, this time is not to be committed to any other task.
When you build a rhythm, plan a schedule, and stick to it, you are essentially training your mind and body to expect that same task at the same time every day. This is a great way to build up momentum and set yourself up for success at your new habit of drawing daily.
2. Get supplies you’re excited about
When it comes to buying a sketchbook and art supplies, it will help you immensely if you’re excited about starting to draw every day. The easiest way to make this happen is to invest in good quality accessories that you’re excited to start working with.
Do some research on the types and qualities of sketchbooks available. Every person will have a different taste and different requirements. It might take you some time and several rounds of trial and error to finally zero in on supplies that you work well with, but the journey will be worth it once you reach the destination.
3. Slowly increase the time
The important part of building any habit in general and a daily drawing habit, in particular, is to start small and slowly increase your time as you keep working.
Once you’ve set up a certain momentum and your mind and body know when it’s time to take up drawing every day, you can slowly start increasing the time you spent drawing. Initially, if you spent ten minutes each day, now you can spend fifteen, or even longer. Based on how passionate you are and how much time you can afford, you can set aside a time you’re going to spend on drawing each day.
4. Maintain consistency
The crucial aspect of habit building is consistency. No matter how talented you are or how passionate about art you feel, it’s important to stick to your habit with dogged determination and not skip even a single day.
The simplest way is to mark off each day you managed to stick to your daily habit of drawing on the calendar. Take a red marker pen and mark a big red cross on the date you stuck to your habit. Seeing a long string of crosses on your calendar will inspire you to keep that streak remain unbroken and act as a huge motivator.
You can, of course, turn to technology to help you with it. Download a free habit tracker and do the same exercise you were doing with your calendar. The app will give you notifications and prompts to remind you if you missed it. This is a wonderful way to push yourself ahead on this journey of habit building.
5. Hold yourself accountable
Having an accountability buddy works wonders when you’re trying to build any new habit. You need to talk about your ambition to trusted friends and family members. Ask them to help you keep track of your goals and simply check in with them every day about whether or not you were successful in stick to your new habit.
Another powerful way you can incorporate into your life is to get yourself an accountability coach. These are professionals trained in habit building and consistency. Having an expert to cheer you on and support you as you undertake this new journey can be an incredible resource most people often make the mistake of overlooking.
At the end of the day, it comes down to determination. Some days might be harder than others. But if you push through the worst of times, you’ll find yourself bestowed with unexpected rewards at random times. And after all, the best gift you can give yourself is an up gradation of your skills. Sticking to your new habit of drawing daily will help you achieve that.