Why You Struggle to Have a Daily Art Practice - And How to Fix It
One of my earliest posts on the blog was 5 Tips to Start a Daily Drawing Practice. I really do draw 99% of days, and people often ask me how I started and maintain that practice. And while I don’t think drawing every single day is the only, or even the essential, step to being an illustrator, I can understand why people are interested in developing this habit. Drawing every day improves my skill, but also keeps my ideas flowing. And, perhaps most importantly, it brings me great joy.
If you’re interested in developing a daily drawing or art-making practice but are struggling to give it wings, read on for some tips on why you might not have made it work just yet - and how you can.
The Benefits of a Daily Art Practice
Before I delve into the reasons why you may struggle to maintain a daily art practice, I want to emphasize that it is not a necessary component of being an artist. The worst thing you could do for your practice would be to shame yourself for not maintaining a daily habit. The sets you up for failure because you are placing too heavy a burden on yourself. Instead, I encourage you to treat each day like a fresh start. If you didn’t draw one day, set it aside. The past is the past. You can control what you do now and what you plan to do in the future. That’s it. Let the day slide by not as a missed opportunity but as a break. We all deserve breaks.
Still, a daily art practice can have real benefits. I recently enjoyed this article on Psychology Today about how goals are not a destination, but an invitation. This may sound cliché, but the purpose of a goal is really to help you enjoy the steps along the way. Setting yourself the goal of a daily drawing practice is not really about ticking off days on the calendar to ensure you draw every single day. It’s about prioritizing daily creativity in your brain, giving yourself not only permission but enthusiasm for engaging with it.
At the end of the year, it’s not going to matter that you have exactly 365 drawings. What will matter is all the experiences you enjoyed creating work throughout the year.
Why You Might Struggle to Start a Daily Drawing Practice
There are plenty of very good reasons to struggle to draw daily. Too many responsibilities and too little time, lack of energy due to illness or the crushing weight of capitalism, media and social media using nefarious techniques to hijack and hold your attention… these are all real and valid. Let’s assume we all experience those things to a greater or lesser degree, and I won’t be able to solve them for you in this blog post.
Instead, let’s talk about a few things in your control that you can easily shift.
Priorities: Drawing or creating every day requires you to make it a priority. Anytime we choose to do an activity, we are giving up the opportunity to do an alternate activity in that time slot. This is known as opportunity cost in economics. If I draw for 1 hour, the opportunity cost might be that I can’t clean my apartment, go for a walk, or call a friend. And we have a finite number of hours in the day. If you want to draw every day, you must prioritize creation. In other words, recognize that you get benefit from using 1 hour to create.
Mindset: You may have heard of the very popular book on creativity, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. The entire book is centred around the idea that we struggle to think of ourselves as inherently artists and creatives, and it gets in the way of reaching our potential. I believe that if you make art, you are an artist. No art police will take that title away from you. But, more importantly, I think the mindset should shift from titles and accolades and permission - I create because I love to create. That’s it. You don’t need permission, titles, or excuses to acknowledge and indulge that.
Inaccurate Judgement of Time: Anytime I feel myself weighed down by the limits on my time and energy and wish I had more time to do a creative activity, I like to turn on my PlayStation 5 and review how much time I’ve spent on different games. Over 500 hours in Baldur’s Gate 3 alone? WOW. My time must not be as tight as it feels sometimes. If you’re not a gamer, calculate how long an episode of a streaming show is, and how many you’ve watched in a single sitting. Or check your phone usage stats for how much time you’ve spent on social media apps. None of us is particularly good at judging time, maybe because time feels malleable to us. It flies by too fast when we’re engaged or having fun, and can feel like we have less than we think. Reframe that immediately. Recollect your day. How did you spend your hours? Is it how you wanted? What stole your time or attention? Did you let something take too much of your time and attention? A sober, conscious reflection on your time use will help you find more time, I guarantee it.
Get Started on Your Daily Practice
Now that we’ve addressed why a daily art practice is worthwhile and why you might be struggling to start one, here are a few simple activities you can try to jumpstart your daily practice.
Make a Bad Drawing Every Day for a Week
Take the pressure off your new practice by committing to making a bad drawing every day. Use scrap paper if you want, or an ugly sketchbook. Draw over old drawings, in ballpoint pen, with one eye closed. It doesn’t matter! Just draw something that you would consider “bad” each day. Your goal should be to make yourself laugh, if possible. But most importantly - have fun! Remind yourself why you love to create, results and accolades be damned.
Use Tools Kids Love
Another great way to take the pressure off yourself and rekindle the fun of daily creation is to indulge in those tools we all loved as kids. Crayons, scented markers, glitter glue, or sidewalk chalk - treat your inner child to a big box of kids’ art supplies and have FUN! You’ll be pleasantly surprised how affordable these supplies are (check your local dollar store), which will hopefully help you to feel free with them. Also, if you’ve ever tried working with crayons as an adult, you’ll realize you just can’t be that precious or precise with them. Good! Have fun.
Play Pictionary with Yourself
… or play it with a friend, whatever you can make happen! Did you know that you can find random words for Pictionary on sites like this one? If you are having trouble thinking up what to draw, why not force yourself to draw random things on a time limit? Set your timer for a minute or two or three, whatever you want, and generate words to your heart’s content! Even if you don’t play with someone else, it might be fun to share your work after the fact with a friend and see if they can guess what you were drawing. Or not! However, remember that the goal of Pictionary is clear communication, not perfect drawings. Go into these sketches with that in mind.
Hopefully, these tips and tricks can help you get started on a daily creative practice. And don’t be shy to carry on with activities like this for as long as you need - forever, if you want! I’m betting that incorporating more creation into your day, even if it’s silly, will have you craving more and more.
