Life Drawing Miracle Cure

Successful drawings almost guaranteed!

If you're at all involved with illustration, you've probably heard the advice: draw from life! Draw all the time! All the things! Everywhere!

...which is great advice, until you turn up somewhere with a blank sketchbook and the overwhelming pressure to make gorgeous drawings for your social media page at the drop of a hat. Add to that the pressure of curious side-eyes from strangers and the odd child coming to stare blatantly at your sketchbook and, well, if you're anything like me you freeze.

I had this experience for a long time, and was honestly put off drawing from life completely. It was too much pressure, too embarrassing, and besides, my final work is rarely drawn anyway. But this summer, I found the miracle cure*!

It all started with the three materials challenge. Have you heard of it? My friends Naomi Tipping and Charlotte Durance hosted the challenge alongside Kathryn Boyt, the challenge founder.

The idea is simple enough: draw from life for a maximum of 30 minutes with 3 materials. Now I was a pencil only kind of sketcher, so the extra two materials scared me at first. And, to be honest, I made really crap drawings.

But then I discovered my secret ingredient: a tiny sketchbook. Even more so, a tiny sketchbook broken down into even tinier panels. I swapped my usual square sketchbooks for a mini A6-ish book for my holidays, thinking it would ease the pressure of drawing if all my sketches had to be small and quick. And boy oh boy did it work!

I have never drawn as much, or as happily, as I did while we were away, and I've kept it up relatively regularly since coming back, too. The limit of three materials means I've been able to make more interesting drawings without getting overwhelmed by materials, and my tendency to stick to a monochrome palette has forced me to look at tone more. And the small pages means I can't spend forever getting bogged down in detail, so my drawings are done faster. Basically, it's been win win win win all around.

Are all of my drawings good now? Hell no! But it takes me much less long to realise a drawing isn't working, and so I feel less disappointed when it happens. I can just flip the page and start again. And, for once, it's actually FUN.

*Disclaimer: this miracle cure might not work for everyone, but if you're in a rut you might as well try!