Do I have to be talented to be good at drawing? Will it take me years to master drawing? If you’ve been asking yourself these common drawing myths, then this post is for you.
To help you overcome your self-doubt and start drawing, I’ve debunked the 3 most common drawing myths for you.
Common Drawing Myth # 1: You Have to be Born With It
Probably one of the most common drawing myths I hear is that drawing is a talent that only certain people possess.
That’s an easy one for me to debunk because I’ve been able to prove this wrong through my own experience. I was a software engineer in another life. I didn’t go to art school until I was 29 years old! And in the process, I learned how to draw.
I didn’t have drawing lessons as a kid. I didn’t have ANY drawing experience when I started art school. During my first year, I studied hard, and after one year, I could draw an accurate human portrait.
And that’s what made me realize that drawing truly is a skill like any other, and you can learn it.
There are, of course, certain technical aspects that you need to know: proportions, perspective, and shading. But by practicing you too will be able to draw!
It’s important to remember that drawing is not just a talent or an exclusive gift. It’s a skill! The talent and the gift is your passion for it. If you feel the call to create – you’ve got the talent, my friend. So go on and start creating!
Common Drawing Myth # 2 – It Takes Years to Master Drawing
The second of the most common drawing myths is that it takes years to master drawing. You may have heard the concept of 10 thousand hours. The idea is that it takes roughly 10 thousand hours to become an expert in any skill.
So let’s say we calculate this over a year at 40 hours a week (a full work week) with a four week holiday. This rule would mean that it would take you five years to put in 10 thousand hours for one skill. Now, does this mean that it would take you five years to master drawing? Most definitely not!
What I’ve learned after hearing about the 10 thousand hour framework is that you can get 99% there in just six months.
So how is this possible? You use what’s called the deliberate practice which follows a specific formula.
In the deliberate practice, you do a sequence of exercises that build on each other, and you get feedback on how you’re doing as you go. By doing this, you’re able to adjust your approach for the next exercise constantly. By applying the rule of deliberate practice, you can get 99% better than all of the people in the world at drawing in just six months.
I studied at art school for one full year, and for the first six months, I tried to learn and practice as much as I could. Finally, I was at a spot where I could draw well. The next six months, I spent polishing and perfecting my skills.
So if you start drawing today, in 6 months, you can be pretty good at drawing.
In some cases, you could be good at drawing in as little as three months. I have a student, Upasana, who is now actually my community manager in our Facebook group. She reached out to me at the very early stages of her drawing interest.
Upasana had never drawn before, and she wanted to learn more about kawaii. She became a member of the Kawaii Drawing Academy, and in 3 months she was making digital stickers and putting them up on her Instagram and RedBubble for sale.
About two months ago, she made her first sale! She hadn’t checked her RedBubble account for a long time, and then suddenly… voila! There was her first sale after drawing for less than three months.
It does NOTE take five years and 10 thousand hours to become skilled at drawing.
If your passion is to paint ultra-realistic art and you want to be in the top 1%, then go for it. But with the deliberate practice method, you can learn the bulk of the drawing skill very quickly.
Common Drawing Myth #3 – I Have to Draw All Day Every Day to Get Good at Drawing
And finally, the third of the most common drawing myths: “I have to draw all day, every day to get good.”
Here is the thing. Studies have shown that it’s not the length of each practice that matters the most, but the frequency of your practice.
So if you draw 1 hour a day for let’s say five days a week, you will be infinitely better than doing a 5-hour drawing chunk one day a week. What’s essential for your brain development is the frequency, not the duration.
Now it might be hard to find time in your daily routine, but even if you doodled for half an hour or even 15 minutes, while you were having your morning cup of tea or coffee, you would get way further than blocking out half a day on the weekend to draw.
So I highly recommend establishing a daily drawing practice. You will see your skills progress exponentially, and within three weeks you’ll be drawing stuff that will make you say, “WOW I can’t believe I drew this!”, and “I can’t believe I can do that!”
To get you started, I have a free mini-course that includes five free tutorials. Grab your copy at this link.
It’s Your Turn
So there you have it! The 3 most common drawing myths debunked. Don’t let these 3 myths hold you back from pursuing your passion.
To give yourself a challenge, grab my free mini-course and draw every day this week for 15 to 30 minutes. By the end, you’ll be creating drawings that will make you say “WOW! I can’t believe I created this”.
Make sure to leave a comment below of how your drawing challenge is going! And please share your drawings in our Facebook group so that we can cheer you on and can keep you accountable to keep on drawing.
Stay creative, my friend!
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