How To Loosen Up
Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday!
Remember how you felt when you were a kid and you could spend hours drawing? The freedom you felt, the flow you were in. No judgement or fear.
I try to often go back to that feeling. It needs practice, because you need to let go, to loosen up. When I look at my sketchbook pages, I can tell if I was able to switch off the thinking mind and really tap into that playful creativity. The wonkier my lines, and the freer my gestures, the more the drawings pop off the pages.
You know that you can feel that flow when you draw, and sometimes you do, but all too often your inner critic will pop up, and hold you back from daring to just draw, from making mistakes and wonky lines. It's fear about wanting your drawing to be perfect. And that fear might even hold you back, and then you find yourself not even daring to start.
I totally get it. You want to have fun drawing, but instead, you’re worried. You know what you would like your drawings to loo like, but then when you make a drawing, you’re sort of disappointed about the result.I cannot give you any shortcuts to become looser and get results that make you happier. The fastest way to get better at drawing, become fearless and more confident about your skills is: doing it a lot. And I mean a lot.
Draw, draw, draw.
I have a few tricks that can help to push the inner critic away and to make looser drawings:
practical tips:
Don't hold your pen or pencil tight. No need to squeeze the line out of it. Relax you hand, relax your wrist, your shoulders. Breathe.
Try holding our pencil further away from the tip, that also loosens you grip and line.
When you draw with a pencil, a crayon or a colored pencil, make use of the tool and keep turning it in your hand, so that you make use of its tip, but also, it loosens your grip. You'll see that your line can't be straight that way, which is what you want. Let's steer away from even trying to make a perfect straight line. If you purposefully draw wonky, instead of trying to "get it right", your drawing will become more dynamic and energetic. Playful.
Draw with your non-dominant hand. You’ll have much less control, so there is no way to meet any perfectionist expectations. The wonkier the better.
mindset tips:
If you tense up because you're working in a sketchbook that was expensive - that's not good. Use a cheap paper sketchbook then, so that you’re not precious about your drawings.
Make it play time rather than “serious art time”. Set the bar low, and make it all about the fun. Use your favorite colors and enjoy that. Do what kids do and explore!
If it’s important to you, put in the hours, and if you do it very regularly, you will see improvement in your skills and that will encourage you to keep going.
Materials used in this video:
-Stillman& Birn Beta series sketchbook
-Graphite pencil -Uni pin rollerball eye broad
-Daniel Smith watercolors
-Caran d'Ache Luminance colored pencils
-Caran d'Ache wax crayons Neocolor 1
Now go and play!
Your sketchbook is your creative playground and your creative gym to work out and practice so your skills get better, you gain confidence and you fill your sketchbook.
Your assignment for this week is to make the wonkiest drawing you have ever made.
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