Not an Artist? Become one with these 5 Drawing Exercises

At the mention of the word ‘artist’ many people claim that they could never be an artist because they cannot draw. Why is drawing such a difficult skill for most people? The answer to this is pretty simple- in school there is more focus placed on science and math and less on the arts. When children are given the opportunity to simply draw, they become more confident when respected for their work, are less doubtful of their abilities and constantly improve. 

In adults, many non-creatives struggle to draw because they have not been given the opportunity to continue practicing the skills required to be good at drawing. When drawing is it critical to separate what you see from what you know. Knowing is conceptual thinking based on your memories, while seeing is to participate in the moment and forgetting anything you already know.

Are you someone who has been left behind? Find the confidence to draw with these great drawing exercises and feel comfortable doing it:

1. Doodling

A simple exercise to get you started. Grab a pencil and start randomly sketching what enters your mind. There is no real skill to doodling; you simply let your pencil move where your mind takes it. Doodling helps improve visual literacy as well as idea processing. Use a variety of colors, shapes and materials and let your mind wander.

2. Non-Dominant Hand

Once you get drawing, you may find that you hit a creative block with your techniques and ideas. Try changing things up for a while. Gather different tools and materials to what you usually work with and try drawing with your other hand, your non-dominant one. When you return to your usual circumstances, you won’t believe how easily the fresh ideas will come to you. This can help to re-inspire your work. 

3. Entopic Graphomania

Originating from a game of Surrealism, this exercise helps you engage with the randomness of your creativity. Find a piece of paper with markings on it, like an old book or newspaper. Mark certain letters or words with a dot and then join them using a variety of lines- straight, curvy or even zigzag- to create unique patterns. The hidden patterns that you find in this exercise show how your choices influence the outcome.

4. A New Theme Each Day

Your abilities for concept-building need regular exercise too. Pick a new theme each day and draw within that theme. Vary the exercise throughout the day by changing up the colors and sizes to fully explore the idea. This exercise is ideal to stretch your mind and find inspiration you may not have even realized was there.

5. Word Cards

Start with 25 index cards, cutting each into 3 sections. For each stack print a different part of speech. So, adjectives on one stack, nouns and verbs on the other two stacks.  Randomly select a word from each stack, placing them together to form a phrase like Devilish/Monkey/Talking, then draw it.