Tally ho Vigilante Nation! I come to you on Revenge of the Sixth. Yesterday was Cinco De Mayo, so I hope you all got your fill of Tacos and Corona (the beer, not the virus). Personally, I can say Taco Bell is kicking my butt. Next time, I think I’ll stick with something more authentic.

So, I had promised this post a while ago, but things came up. My sister passed away, so I have been unavailable for a while. I am sorry about that. Now that I’m back, I will be hitting this harder than ever.

Well, now that I’m back, let’s get to this. I promised you some advice as an artist to increase your workflow and creativity. Last time we talked about things like Time restraints, picking your battles with the details. I shared a video about failing faster, then I told you to pick your settings carefully. All that can be found here: Top Advice for Artist to increase your Workflow & Creativity

Shall we move on to the best advice I could ever give you? Ok, since you asked nice…

Draw Only 1 Thing

But wait, how can I get better at drawing everything, if I only draw 1 thing? Simple, but first, let me explain what I mean.

When I was talking with a bunch of other artists when I was still in High School (by that I mean Professional Artist WAY beyond my meager capabilities.) I would ask them, “How often do you draw for fun?” The question seemed to confuse them all.

I was asking if any of them draw during their recreational time, and not just for work. That was when I came to the realization that they viewed their work as their recreational time.

I loved that. I wanted to be that, to live that life. To not think about work as work, but as playtime where I am accomplishing something. This was one of the main reasons, I helped found the CryptoComics Marketplace. If you don’t believe me, check out the Marketplace Monday video on Youtube (sorry for the shameless plug).

I couldn’t afford college at the time, so I went straight into the workforce. I kept trying to draw everything I saw, but it wasn’t enough. I eventually went to college for Web Development and then went back again to the Art Institute for Illustration and met a professor that changed my life. He told me to draw 1 thing every single day. Make it the same thing, but change it up somehow.

At first, I thought this was stupid, but then again, he is the one with the degree, so why the hell not. He gave me the challenge of drawing it for 1 year straight.

Ok. “Let’s start out with something simple. How about a ball.” That sounds easy enough. On the first day, I did the typical ball, line drawing. Nothing fancy, just a ball. No shading, pretty much just a circle.

The next day, I drew a ball with typical shading. The next day, I did another one with texture. The next day, I did it in charcoal, then in pastel. It goes on and on. Eventually (after about a month) I started running out of different ways to draw the same ball.

I started to draw it being played with. The first time I did that was a set of stick figures throwing a ball. The next day, I took the same stick figures and made a flipbook of them throwing the ball back and forth.

I remember drawing a bowling ball but the ball was being thrown down a lane. The ball was in the very center of the image. I was extremely proud of that one, but I can’t seem to find it. I made it with Copic markers. On the left of the ball was a man throwing the ball down the lane. It was a back view with a dutch angle.

My final picture for the year was a girl was looking into a crystal ball. By the time I got done, my balls were better. Holy crap, I just read that. Edit: By the time I was done, my pictures had a higher quality to them.

My surroundings were more thought out. They were cleaner. I was able to draw without all the extensive measuring. I could close my eyes and just come up with something in my head without having to think about it for a long time and meticulously plan it out.

I stopped trying to think about what I will do next, and just draw something. My drawings became faster. I improved all around.

Next Year

Even though I was done with college before the end of the first year, I kept it up. Now, what do I do? How do I improve again? Let’s do it again.

I decided to change it up and not do 1 single subject, but I would do a blind contour drawing every day for the year. I wanted to better understand shapes and their relationship. What better way. Plus, my kids could laugh at my drawings.

For those of you that don’t know, a blind contour drawing is a drawing exercise, where an artist draws the contour of a subject without looking at the paper or lifting up the pencil. Yes, they look FUNNY AS HELL!!!

I drew everything I could find, Sports Illustrated covers, shampoo ads, I would pause the tv and draw for 15 minutes. I once did a map of Rexburg Idaho. Let me tell you, if you tried to follow my hand-drawn map of this small town, you might find yourself in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on accident. It was horrible.

The point is, I got better. I was amazed at how well I could draw (after a while) and the fact that you could begin to recognize what I was drawing (at the 9-month mark).

Drawing to me was no longer work. It was something I couldn’t wait to do. I would spend all my time at work thinking about what I would draw when I got home (yep, still had to have a day job).

I couldn’t believe how much I improved during both exercises. Those 2 years advanced my artistic ability far more than anything else I learned in school. I ended my experiments after those 2 years, but looking back, that was a mistake.

I will begin to draw 1 image a day for the next year. For this, I will draw a face. 1 face a day for a year. It doesn’t matter the angle, the expression, the medium, nothing. Just a face, and I will start here. Join me in this challenge and let’s see what we can accomplish.

To get some inspiration, check out the marketplace, and decide what you want to draw.