These Habits Will Make You Hit Your Art Goals

Maybe your desire to draw is there, but motivation is low. Maybe, you want to practice and get better, but don’t seem to get around to it. Maybe you’re putting off your big project and just doodling around instead.

There’s a pretty simple idea to get these done, that will work if we put enough things in place for you to succeed.

Brookes Eggleston On Social:

[CharacterDesignForge]

I told Tay I’d get that video of those birds into a video somehow and by gum I did it

[smm]

I'm glad you mentioned tiny habits. I feel like the best way for me to start drawing was saying "draw for 5 minutes a day" it made the pressure of "be amazing" go away. Sometimes you need the lowest bar to jump over to feel like you can actually jump over a bar.

[alejandrogangotena]

Drawing everyday has definitely worked for me. The Main thing if you will try that is to do it in a way that AVOIDS burn out. If you can’t do it in such a way that avoids burn out, do try less frequency but yeah, you need some discipline whichever it is.

The reason for my daily drawings? Yeah so that I can have it as a routine. That’s the actual main reason.

[KingCobraa]

Excellent video! Art motivation is a topic I've noticed not many artists cover in depth, this was extremely helpful and inspiring 🎨🐍

[AnnieSexton]

"I learned pretty late in life that what I was experiencing was ADHD" –> I 👏can 👏 relate 👏!! I wasn't diagnosed until I was 32. Getting this diagnosis was my catalyst for reframing my lack of motivation as a problem with stimulation, not "laziness".👏I think this is a lesson that everyone can benefit from, not just folks with executive function disorders. The more we look for ways to make habits like these easy to start and stimulating to do, the easier it is to show up consistently.

[fortsmostwanted]

thank you so much, I have adhd and projects in particular are so difficult for me whereas screwing around is easy. The practice of planning out a project just isn't in my blood, so any time I abandon something or forget about it I feel really bad about myself. Also thank you for talking about personal/work mode and how to code those times for your brain. Putting on different clothes and working in a different location seriously helps shift my mindset and helps with distractions.

[ben_burnes]

Heck yeah this is awesome advice. I dedicated myself to writing a song every week and it's honestly not only changed my entire workflow, but how I approach my art as a business. It's always about consistency and making sure that you work mindfully and on your terms.

[MrGooGone]

I think it's interesting because, with me, I am both practicing illustration and game development, and I find that raw creative work like illustration is best for me to do in my early waking hours, while more technical problem solving is better later in the day. Not sure, why, but usually that's when my more technical ideas strike, while early on is when my more abstract ideas do.

[Jayjee]

My days lack structure. I want to get better so badly but whatever I’m doing isn’t working, so thank you for this. I’ll start planning tomorrow ASAP :)

[arshawalgita]

My best drawing of the day always come after I'm drawing non stop and get tired of it.

[AAAAAAAAA]

The first time I wanted to get started on drawing, I had always failed to stay consistent (I have ADHD too btw), I would always say "nah, I'll leave it for tomorrow" but that tomorrow never came for 2 WHOLE YEARS, I literally had an old Wacom intuos tablet gathering dust on the shelf all that time waiting to be used, but about a year or so ago, I had finally cut the BS and said, alright, I've been delaying the inevitable for too much time now, and it was during that time that I learned that I needed to stay consistent and that motivation wasn't going to find me, that I needed to find it once I had already started drawing, not the other way, and since I learned this, I've improved my drawing skills exponentially, before starting, I could barely draw a stick figure, now, while I am still not that great, I have been making a ton of progress, and I am proud of it, in fact, just yesterday i bought my first iPad (the iPad Mini) and an apple pencil 2, so far, it has been an incredible experience, but back to the point, motivation will rarely ever spark spontaneously and come to you, it comes while working as you said, in fact, i'd say that i don't feel motivated about 85 percent of the time, yet, I stay consistent because you have to learn how to force yourself to do what you have to do even if you don't feel like it at the moment, people always tell me I seem so motivated to get better at it, but i'm not, what I have is determination and willpower, which I have been constructing over the last year.

[sketchfluff]

*deep breath* ... ok, I’ll do it. I’ve been having trouble getting anything good done and i know this is what I need to. Thanks for the video

[godahlrogue]

Id heard of the "work in the morning" thing and id always assumed it wasnt for me cause i am real dumb in the mornings, but somehow it didnt occur to me that i could get up, spend an hour getting my brain started, and THEN work O_o this is a game changer

Ill give the system a shot! I have to wait till tomorrow to plan things out though--i literally am almost done on my current project and i want to just wrap it up today haha

[ser-eniteapot]

This seems like an incredibly accessible version of the same things I've heard for years - I'll certainly have to try it.

I'll update this comment later based on my progress, but for now, my notes on the video:

- Just like digestion of food converts into energy, repeated routine and habits converts to consistent creative inspiration.
- Create a sustainable, enjoyable habit.
- Allow yourself time to rest, don't burn yourself out while trying to improve.
- Prepare before you start implementing this habit, not after.

[Gangerworld]

This is definitely a system I'm interested in. Like you I was diagnosed late in life with ADHD and a whole lotta things about my life suddenly made sense. I was told that planning things would be helpful to me - but I always heard that and never heeded it because planning was - is hard for me and I didn't think it'd help.

So hearing it again in the context of another artist is pretty encouraging. I'm going to have to start small, but I hope and pray this can start to fix my issue of not being motivated to do anything about this project that I've been telling myself since I was a kid I want to do.

[captainstroon]

This video is just what I needed now.
I do have ADD, On free days I usually sleep until noon and I do want to work on my webcomic I've been procrastinating on for months now.
And yes, I did already know how important ritualisation is, but sometimes I just need to be reminded of it.
Time to try your method.

[Julie-qdhk]

Thank you for this. i gave up being an artist at a young age due to depression and panic attacks. 15 years later, i decided to draw again for the fun of it. just like working out. every morning i just draw circles and lines to warm up and practice.

[dagmar.rokita.author]

Finally someone reasonable! All those "practise 40 hours per day every day" may work for others but for me that leads to a quick burn out. Very good advice

[salvidomum]

OK an actually relevant comment: the jump (ha) cut to your reading chair was exquisite. I'm not quite to a habit of regular drawing yet, but I've been doing nightly journaling/daily writing. I've missed a bit of my Journaling, which is more life based/mental health check ins, my daily writing has been going pretty well! it's usually like your note dump, where ideas and stream of consciousness nonsense end up on the page. But I've also been able to track ideas, make outlines, and even complete 10 pages of story work that I turned in for a grad school application. What may not seem like much at the start, adds up to a whole lot over time. We love good habit building systems

[mariesok]

I really appreciated this video. Like you, I too discovered that I have ADHD later in my life. I have always loved art and drawing, I even went to college for it. However because of the amount of stressed I created for myself for graduation i.e. deadlines, I burn myself out of art. I haven't picked up my sketch books since...until recently, in my mid 30s. I hope to get back into drawing and the creative process that I loved as a child. Thank you for creating this video.