7 Tips for Effective Practice

we all know that lots of practice is important to get better at anything. However the quality of that practice can make a difference in getting us to our goals much quicker.

competition deadline 17th dec 2018 - midnight GMT

Here are the tips in no particular order;

1) Repetition
Little and often
Binge sessions have their place but they are harder to fit in and easy to put off
Build it into a routine if you can
Routines
Make them achievable and adaptable

2) Keep it interesting
Keep looking for new motivation and trying new things
Take part in challenges and competitions
Give yourself deadlines and something to aim for.

3) Work on your weaknesses
Have a reference in front of you
Draw 10 faces quickly 1 minute each
Review our work for the previous one and correct it on the next.

4) Blind practice
Practice without reference then check reference once finished
Review your work

5) Find helpful tools
Pose generator

6) Don’t spend ages thinking what to do
Getting into the practice session is far more important
Have specific things to fall back on if you have nothing you can think of to work on.

7) Healthy, balanced lifestyle will help
Exercise and diet helps focus and clear the mind. You can remember more when you are more alert and your practice has more chance of sinking in.

It's from GearBest
I use a graphics tablet to paint with and I can recommend this one for the price and responsiveness it's probably the cheapest of that quality as well.

Learn the basics with this playlist:

[mr_donutz]

you're videos give me the push to keep going, thank you

[SlyNine]

Okay, but what do you recommend for people who can't sleep unless they worked on the project for 10 hours and are afraid to open blender again.

Uhh, I'm asking for a friend.

[VillainousMuse]

My curse isn't that I have no idea what to work on, it's that I have too many ideas and only so much time to work on them. It's doubly frustrating when I realize that the idea I chose ended up being a bit shit and I had to bin it, really reinforces the decision paralysis and then nothing gets done! Dx

Still, do my best to practice all the same.

[dougieladd]

very positive... thank you... :) My worst "habits" are procrastination and lack of motivation. I work a lot...so when i do get free time to work on myself I end up on here!! Or facebook, or Netflix or Prime... Avoidance... is my enemy!

[BlenderBurst]

Can you make a list of the tips you gave? Maybe put it in the video description or comments?

[EsesinforLearning]

This is very encouraging, thanks for this wonderful tips. I love the part you said "Practice is actually more about failing and learning from those mistakes". Totally agreed.

[subhajitdutta]

Great...I am watching this video over and over...

[jm_draws]

Thanks for the tips, all the great content and inspiration!
Allow me to suggest 4 excellent sources of knowledge on the subject that are readily available here on youtube or in books/magazines:

Watts atelier/Jeff Watts - A living master painter/teacher who offers lengthy discussions on the search for mastery.
Ron Lemen - another master that has some of the best abstractions/ study ideas/ creative suggestions for drawing practice.
Mastery by Robert Greene - A deep, well researched book on what it takes to get good at something.
Mastery by George Leonard - An Aikido master explaining what types of personalities are prone to achieve mastery or not, based on his dojo teaching experience. (good to recognize yourself in the examples and correct course)

[sunnyup]

Great video, as usual :) Inspiring thoughts about practice, thank you Grant :)

[DevilishlyDutch]

Oh god the meme, I followed the low poly man tutorial yesterday and animated it and rendering that, I think I smelled dust burning? That poor GPU was running overtime 😂 Still gotta decide what to do today 🤔

[jimmac]

Great tips. Now only to find the everyday strength to get the ball rolling :)

[PlushyFreeman]

Great Video! Found it interesting all the way to the end! Keep it coming! :D

[ArtwithAmarBrisco]

I have been drawing without reference of an on for over forty years it is very helpful to make it easy for you to draw anything especially with reference. I feel the only thing that ever blocks me is time. The quick pose site looks cool especially if you can join a figure drawing or landscape drawing class. Drawing and practicing are easy but mastering takes a lifetime.