How I Practice Drawing In My Sketchbook

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college – that my job was to teach people how to draw.   She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, “You mean they forget?”    

– Howard Ikemeto, quoted in Art and Fear

Recently, I cleaned out my old childhood room – it was filled to the brim with stuff, which is not so odd seeing as I love Ariel and resemble her in my affection for gadgets and gizmos. But while I was at University, I found that it was more appealing to own only so much as could fit into a suitcase – and that mindset has stuck! Some of the stuff I came across and couldn’t say goodbye to, however, were my drawings from throughout the years.

I think I started drawing when I was two – as early as I could. I wanted to draw like my cousin – I wanted to be able to create my own universes from a piece of paper. Most of my friends back then shared my passion. We all liked to draw. However, I think I was the only one who stuck with it through adulthood.

Why is this? What happened?

The renowned animator Glen Keane once explained in an interview that it might be because older children are more critical of their drawings. Young kids draw, whether it’s a good or bad drawing (if such a comparison exists). They just need to get something out! The result doesn’t matter. As we get older, however, perhaps we lose that sense of imagination and that spark to create and express ourselves. We might stop drawing because as we grow older, we want the result to look “perfect,” and preferably like something out of the real world.

Even though I kept drawing as I grew older, I didn't avoid falling into that trap of wanting my drawings to look flawless. Consequently, when I neared eleven years old, I wasn't drawing from my imagination much anymore. In an attempt to make my drawings look better, I instead set out to copy from photos. Copying from photos is a decent way to learn to draw. However, I've found that I've grown much more as an artist in the past few years, after I've started drawing from real life.

Drawing from real life has really loosened up my strokes and helped me better understand what I'm drawing. I'm analyzing what I see, not copying it. If I'm drawing people, I notice how they move and what makes them unique. If I'm drawing an object, I can see how it fits into space three-dimensionally and draw it from several angles. If I make a mistake, I can notice it, learn from it, and move on to the next drawing. All this has improved my mind's ability to recall these observations when I don't have the reference -- in other words, it helps me improve my ability to draw well from my imagination. 

Before I started drawing from real life, I could spend three hours on a drawing. I barely did any drawings that I didn't "finish." I didn't distinguish between making these final drawings and doing sketches for studying. All my drawings were both my studies and my final pieces. Now, I incorporate 'study' drawings into my routine and try not to spend more than a minute on a given figure/animal/object.

When I'm drawing for practice and fun, these are some of the things I do to loosen up and better my understanding of movement and expression: 

Draw facial expressions      

I like to study real-life facial expressions. I think of a feeling, take a mirror and look at my face. I study the way a face can change and what that signals about the way the person in the drawing feels. One of the most important parts of being creative is the ability to communicate ideas effectively -- and if the facial expression isn't clear, the audience won't know the "feeling" of the drawing. 

Draw people and animals in real life

I use my sketchbook to go out and draw things that move as often as possible. Buying my first sketchbook is one of my best investments. It’s like a journal. One thing I used to think was that I couldn’t draw something unless it was standing completely still. But once I started drawing things that move, I got better and better at it and it improved my drawing skills tremendously. I think it’s because it’s not so much about the drawing itself, but about the process of getting there. When I draw from life, I observe and analyze. I can't just "copy" what's there, because it's constantly moving. It’s the same with actors – they also have to study the mannerisms of real people if they want to portray an original, believable character. I will say, I felt a little like a stalker in the beginning. So I would draw animals at the Zoo because the animals didn’t seem to mind. When drawing people, I just try to be discrete now. And most people are flattered to be drawn, if they catch you!

Draw with markers, not pencils 

It helps me to draw with markers because I can’t erase. Erasing over and over again can  keep your eye from noticing what it is about your drawing process that goes wrong. If I can’t erase, I notice my mistakes and can then improve my later drawings faster.

A good gesture is better than a stiff, finished drawing

When I go out and observe in real life, I rarely have time enough to make a “finished” drawing. Animals and humans move so fast, it is simply impossible to go down and look at the details. And that is the good thing about it! When I don’t have the time to go into details, I can get the overall “gesture” of the pose of the subject. That is what will make the drawing look alive. A good gesture is the foundation of a good drawing. However, I have had many people who don’t draw themselves look at a good gesture and not think much of it, because the drawing isn’t finished. Then, they really like a drawing that has a lot of shading and details but is stiff. But that’s when I’ve just got to ignore that perfectionist inside me and know that I am learning more by having a lot of unfinished, good gestures than if I had a few perfectly shaded and finished drawings. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a finished drawing. I just make sure the foundation of it isn’t stiff. 

Examples of (relatively) quick observational drawings: