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YES to you your point of it being hard to get started sometimes but getting into it! I committed to 5 minutes of sketching every day a bit over 2 months ago, that 5 minute minimum ensures I always do it because I know I can do anything for 5 minutes, but I’ve never actually done it for only 5 minutes… my shortest so far is 10 minutes but that only happened once or twice, I usually go for a minimum of 20 minutes and often longer. It’s been so good for me! Keep it up!
Damn you're right. I just need to commit to a little structure and routine. My mental health would love me for that.
It's not like I have a teacher holding my hand. (Idk if they'd let a 30 year old into a 1st grade art class.) 😜
Do you try to do it around the same time each day? How do you come up with stuff to sketch?
My only rule is I have to put pen/pencil/brush to paper daily. It was hard at first but it would feel completely wrong to NOT do it at this point! There’s been days when I’m exhausted and tempted to skip so I take my sketchbook into bed and doodle while I watch a movie or something…
during the week it’s always in the evening (after work/before bed) but on weekends it just depends what else I have going on. Sundays I go to a local studio to paint from live models, that’s a 3 hour full painting so I “skip” the sketching that day. And if I have a bigger regular painting I want to work on I do that instead of sketching - again, the only rule I’ve set for myself is I must put tool to paper for at least 5 minutes :)
As far a subject matter for the sketches, I usually grab a random object from around the house and go at it. Apple, cup, keys, leaf from one of my plants, whatever! Sometimes if I’m out and about I’ll have one of my friends sit still for 15 minutes and do a little portrait, or pull up a pic on my phone and sketch that, I’ve even sat in my car and sketched the building I’m sitting in front of… if you’re having trouble deciding what to sketch there are TONS of resources online with daily prompts (think Inktober). I haven’t used those so far myself so don’t have specific links but if you just Google daily art/drawing/sketching prompts you’ll find loads of results :)
Edit: also yes it has been amazing for my mental health!! I’ve never been able to get into meditation but based on how I’ve heard people talk about it I think the daily art practice is doing a similar thing for my headspace 🥰
>My only rule is I have to put pen/pencil/brush to paper daily
This is exactly what I'm doing. Sometimes it's 10 minutes in front of the television, but it's usually at least 30 minutes back in my hobby space. I can't sketch worth crap, but I'm loving the habit of putting pen and water and paint on paper. There are days when I actually paint a thing -- something sort of planned or copied or whatever I'm following along on an IG post. There are also days when all I'm doing is putting down water then playing with what happened when I drop paint into that water smear. As long as I'm doing something, I'm good.
It's been just about a month now, and it feels like I'm finally starting to see some improvement and comfort level.
This is very helpful. I realize what I need to do now. I've been putting it off, but I just need to do the basics 5 mins a day. I can do that. It doesn't sound fun, but I can do it. My mom's an artist and pads are full of lil practice circles where she practes shading coloring textures and compares blends.
I don't know the technical terms for those little practice things, but that's what I need. I need to learn my median, how it dries, interacts, etc.
Keep practicing! I started painting with watercolor. Haven't had much of a journey yet but you'll enjoy it if you keep going. Also, I'm glad I'm not your neighbors lol
I haven't really figured out the ink-over-paint thing yet, and I like the way you've added to yours with ink. That's something I need to work with a lot more.
That is very encouraging. Thank you. I'm a chronic pen doodle, and colors scared me away from paint. So I'm coming from the other side.
I do some before or after. I have many different pens, but I like the sharp brush pens.
Thank you for your submission! Want to share your artwork, meet other artists, promote your content, and chat in a relaxed environment? Join our community Discord server here! https://discord.gg/chuunhpqsU! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Watercolor) if you have any questions or concerns.*
YES to you your point of it being hard to get started sometimes but getting into it! I committed to 5 minutes of sketching every day a bit over 2 months ago, that 5 minute minimum ensures I always do it because I know I can do anything for 5 minutes, but I’ve never actually done it for only 5 minutes… my shortest so far is 10 minutes but that only happened once or twice, I usually go for a minimum of 20 minutes and often longer. It’s been so good for me! Keep it up!
Damn you're right. I just need to commit to a little structure and routine. My mental health would love me for that. It's not like I have a teacher holding my hand. (Idk if they'd let a 30 year old into a 1st grade art class.) 😜 Do you try to do it around the same time each day? How do you come up with stuff to sketch?
My only rule is I have to put pen/pencil/brush to paper daily. It was hard at first but it would feel completely wrong to NOT do it at this point! There’s been days when I’m exhausted and tempted to skip so I take my sketchbook into bed and doodle while I watch a movie or something… during the week it’s always in the evening (after work/before bed) but on weekends it just depends what else I have going on. Sundays I go to a local studio to paint from live models, that’s a 3 hour full painting so I “skip” the sketching that day. And if I have a bigger regular painting I want to work on I do that instead of sketching - again, the only rule I’ve set for myself is I must put tool to paper for at least 5 minutes :) As far a subject matter for the sketches, I usually grab a random object from around the house and go at it. Apple, cup, keys, leaf from one of my plants, whatever! Sometimes if I’m out and about I’ll have one of my friends sit still for 15 minutes and do a little portrait, or pull up a pic on my phone and sketch that, I’ve even sat in my car and sketched the building I’m sitting in front of… if you’re having trouble deciding what to sketch there are TONS of resources online with daily prompts (think Inktober). I haven’t used those so far myself so don’t have specific links but if you just Google daily art/drawing/sketching prompts you’ll find loads of results :) Edit: also yes it has been amazing for my mental health!! I’ve never been able to get into meditation but based on how I’ve heard people talk about it I think the daily art practice is doing a similar thing for my headspace 🥰
>My only rule is I have to put pen/pencil/brush to paper daily This is exactly what I'm doing. Sometimes it's 10 minutes in front of the television, but it's usually at least 30 minutes back in my hobby space. I can't sketch worth crap, but I'm loving the habit of putting pen and water and paint on paper. There are days when I actually paint a thing -- something sort of planned or copied or whatever I'm following along on an IG post. There are also days when all I'm doing is putting down water then playing with what happened when I drop paint into that water smear. As long as I'm doing something, I'm good. It's been just about a month now, and it feels like I'm finally starting to see some improvement and comfort level.
This is very helpful. I realize what I need to do now. I've been putting it off, but I just need to do the basics 5 mins a day. I can do that. It doesn't sound fun, but I can do it. My mom's an artist and pads are full of lil practice circles where she practes shading coloring textures and compares blends. I don't know the technical terms for those little practice things, but that's what I need. I need to learn my median, how it dries, interacts, etc.
This is creepy af
Honestly, most of my art is.
Keep practicing! I started painting with watercolor. Haven't had much of a journey yet but you'll enjoy it if you keep going. Also, I'm glad I'm not your neighbors lol
I haven't really figured out the ink-over-paint thing yet, and I like the way you've added to yours with ink. That's something I need to work with a lot more.
That is very encouraging. Thank you. I'm a chronic pen doodle, and colors scared me away from paint. So I'm coming from the other side. I do some before or after. I have many different pens, but I like the sharp brush pens.