Mistakes?

"Mistakes". What are they anyway when you're drawing?

We make up these rules for ourselves that when drawing from observation, we have to create a perfect representation of what we see. While, if you let go of that idea and you start enjoying where you are and that you are giving yourself time to draw, you could be making something way more interesting: your interpretation of the place, the subject, the view, your experience.

I love ink. I have several favorite fountain pens, and I like the flow of ink from rollerball pens too. The juicy line that soaks into the paper is just… yum! From students and people online, I often get the question, "How do you fix mistakes when drawing with a pen?"
A lot of people use pencil first, erase their mistakes, draw with the pencil again, and once they're happy with the result, they'll trace the "correct" lines with pen.

I discourage using erasers, because with an eraser, you're focusing on your mistakes again and again, instead of allowing yourself to get pulled into the lovely flow of drawing.
An even more important issue: It takes all spontaneity out of the process and out of the drawing. If a pen line is wonky, you need to just work with it - move on. Letting go is a big part of the creative process. Let go of any expectations, and let go of perfectionism. If you let go of the idea that every line should be just right, you’ll relax as you are drawing, and you will see, that, in all its wonkyness, each line will actually be just right. A drawing with perfectly straight lines sure can look nice. A drawing that is made with lines that are bumpy and in and angles that are a bit off: full of character and so much more interesting to look at!

In my sketchbooks, there are many drawings that "went wrong" in the first place, but they became the most interesting of all. I think in THOSE drawings, my "handwriting" is most recognizable too. Which then also actually is my "style".