Keeping energy in your work

Tips to keep drawings loose and fancy free

I made a lovely video of testing materials in a new sketchbook. Before uploading it, a falling tree limb knocked our power out. Not fun, but it inspired me to write about keeping energy in your art!

Draw things that move. I love sketching silverback gorillas. They change positions pretty regularly and you never know what they’ll do next. It’s as entertaining as it is educational! Other fun subjects include pets, people in restaurants, and basically anything with a pulse.

Practice quick sketching regularly. Some might say filling many sketchbooks with unfinished work is a bad practice. As someone who recently finished a lot of work for a book, I think all the fast observational drawings worked in my favor. It keeps the brain in low-pressure-drawing mode, where I like to stay.

Get to know your tools. Practice mixing and mark-making as often as you can. I do this on the sofa nearly every day while watching TV. That’s how I discover my favorite color combinations!

Draw what excites you. Take time to focus on drawing things that you’re interested in, not just what you’ve heard art directors want to see. Sometimes we need a break from making things for other people so we can connect with our practice.

What grabs your attention first? Draw that! Sketch that important thing quickly. It doesn’t need to be perfect, and you don’t need to finish it right away. Here’s a post about that.

Having half-finished pages of energetic marks to return to makes me happy. I never worry about a blank page or how I’ll fill it. It takes me back to when I started the sketch, which was usually a pretty joyful place.