Bad drawing days
How we handle them and what they can tell us
January was an intense month of people-drawing practice. Because I find humans hard to draw, this led to several bad drawing days.
I asked Introvert Drawing Club members to ask how they deal with a bad drawing day. Their brilliant responses gave me life!
Whenever I draw something ugly, I think of it as an exorcism for my soul. Phew. Lucky that horror is out of me instead of lurking within. -
What is "bad" though?? If you showed up however way, doesn't that mean you still won the day? -
Sometimes it’s just Not there. And sometimes the magic is flowing. Working consistently has shown me if I’m having an especially rotten time than an extra good one is in the cards too. I’ve also seen that it happens when I’m getting sick and I don’t consciously realize it yet or I’m burned out tired and need to rest a little. -
Getting in touch with my senses outside of art making, just living life. Even doing mundane things like going and getting milk from the market, can feel restful and helps me reset. ♥️ -
I wanted to draw outside as we had a good weather day, I picked out a nice spot, but instead of creating something interesting and atmospheric, I just created a big mess on my page. 😆 Small parts of it looked okay and these things are always valuable learning experiences, but boy it’s hard to feel happy about -
What do bad drawing days tell us?
A billion factors can cause a bad drawing day. Not having enough time, having too much time, a dog snoring as loud as a freight train next to you, etc.
Bad drawing days can also be a signal that it’s time to check in with yourself! Emotions play a huge role in our creativity, so tune into your feelings. Last month’s bad drawing days were telling me that I was overwhelmed.
As
said, “Creating things with emotions is what separates us from the robots.”My lovely therapist recommends activities to stimulate other sense to regulate emotions. I’ll list a few that come to mind and maybe we can all share ways in the comments!
Brew coffee or tea
Make popcorn!
Try this quick grounding technique with
Pet a dog, cat, or goat
Play energizing music (or a rage-y song, if that’s what you need at the time!)
Delete social media apps for a day
Pop in the chat and say hi to cool, creative folks!
A massive thank you to Introvert Drawing Club members for always inspiring and encouraging me and each other.
Let’s meet in the comments!
What’s an activity that helps you feel good on a bad drawing day?
What does a bad drawing day feel like to you?
When was your last bad drawing day?
Cut out a good bit of the drawing and stick it to another sheet of paper (this could be tiny) and use it as the starting point for tomorrow's drawing........makes me feel hopeful.
I love the post and all of the comments ❤️ I think all the bad drawing days are better than no drawing days (like today I took my brush and after staring the page I put it back since I didn't feel like it 🙈) but of course this is ok too, there are all kind of days 🍀