Are you a beginner sketcher?
You need to build a “success mindset”. All start with building a drawing routine. I show you how to stick to it.

How to Start a Drawing Routine and Stick To It
How to Start a Drawing Routine and Stick To It

How to Start a Drawing Routine and Stick To It

First of all,

You don’t need years
to learn how to sketch.

But you need to realize:

Your sketching results don’t depend on
HOW LONG you practice drawing but also HOW you practice.

You could spend thousands of hours drawing the wrong way
and repeating the same mistakes, you won’t understand the logic behind it.

After 10 000 hours of practice,
you will end at the same level you started, but discouraged…

Preparing tutorials for the sketching courses

Build a sketching strategy

From this standpoint,
you can’t only copy blindly other designers’ sketches.

You will need sketching strategies explained simply to replicate their results. But also draw your own products from imagination.

You can find plenty of tutorials on the blog that are beginner-friendly.
Feel free to use the search bar or click on the tab on top of the menu. 🙂

So remember,
Having a routine is great.

But daily routine or not,
the duration of your practice routine matters less than how your practice.

1 hour, 2 hours, it is all up to you!

For me, I recommend you sketch anytime you can.
Some days it could be a few minutes, while some days you could block the full afternoon.

Don’t limit yourself.

With a drawing routine, the pleasure factor is essential.
Make sure you draw stuff you like without fear of making mistakes.

Mistakes are part of the game.
(Can you imagine learning how to play Darts without shooting the wall?)

Learn your basics of sketching in parallel, so your sketches will improve too!


Chou-Tac drawing on his sketchbook at a bar counter (Landmark 81)

Join my step-by-step design sketching course

By the way,

I have a special announcement for you, who follows my blog.
Some of you follow the journey since its creation in 2014! 😀

And you regularly share with me the challenges and obstacles you meet in learning

  • how to sketch,
  • how to enroll in a design school
  • or how to become a professional designer.

Do you know I created a sketching course
where you could learn all my designer’s techniques step-by-step?

And also progress faster
by receiving my 1-to-1 feedback on your sketches?

I feel proud to see my students progressing week by week,
and I hope you wanna join the journey with us too!

I’m enthusiastic to see how the preparation for
my upcoming course Sketch Like The Pros is doing well.

I’m shooting a series of videos to help you to believe in yourself.

Why?

Because I am convinced that your self-confidence is more important than any skill at the start.

“This is how Confidence and Competence will nurture each other.”

You will grow your brain like a muscle and feel stronger.

This is what will bring you far.

You will achieve more and hustle more since you know
Success is your logical path when you have the right method to learn and practice.

Meanwhile,

I have just received a video testimonial of Sketch Like The Pros from Diana Campuzano. She is a furniture designer from Spain:


It is ok to start intimidated

Do you tell yourself:

  • “I practice drawing for hours every day but nothing gets better …”
  • “How many more hours do I need to get a decent level?”
  • Or worst-case scenario, you wonder if you could make it one day?

Don’t worry.

That’s normal.

They are signs you love drawing but you are just learning the wrong way.

Nobody gave you the right direction to follow.

Since,

like most people, you know nobody in your entourage who could help you.

So you keep trying alone. And congratulation on that courage.

Chou-Tac drawing on his sketchbook while drinking in a cafe.

Practice is Key. “ (Ok but…)

Have you ever heard this from your family, friends or teachers on that?

And you keep practicing a lot!

But your sketches are still amateur month after month.

Year after year…

And you start to believe in the other Myth that drawing is an innate talent?

You doubt seriously of your capacities and may consider giving up since you can’t see any progress…

and the books you buy don’t help…

We all went through this.

This is why I created this blog, to help you start even if you are a true beginner, and prove to yourself you can draw when you have the method!

So don’t ever think of giving up.

“Do not underestimate yourself.”

Chou-Tac draws a glass at the bar (Landmark81)
Drawing a glass with ice cubes
Drawing a glass with ice cubes

Plus, remember,
you don’t need years to learn how to sketch.


Do not skip the basics of sketching

I’ve just received an email from Yann.

He asks me for advice on his daily routine.

He already has plenty of sketches using the technique of contour lines.

Yann’s message (in French) about Daily sketching routine

However, he’s lacking fluidity.

To succeed, he’s thinking to set a time frame of 1 or 2 hours on

It sounds like a great idea!

However,
Yann wonders if he should split his learning into 2 phases:

Drawing ONLY on these basic movements first, then Draw volumes only when he masters phase 1.

Or

If he should practice both at the same time?


My answer is:

Follow your heart.

And Know what’s your priority number 1.

In other words, keep sketching stuff you love, things you see around you.
but Don’t forget your Basic movements are your foundations.

Never stop sketching. Drawing things around me

2 reasons to keep drawing anything:

  • Drawing what you love keeps your motivation high.
    So don’t skip them if your heart makes you feel you want to draw.
  • Drawing what you love often, is a great opportunity for you to put in application your basic movements as well!

It will be a great opportunity to apply your new abilities and see your progress!

So keep putting the basic movements in your priority 1,
and you will meet your exponential progress sooner. 🙂

A strong foundation makes everything easier!

You know what?

The cool thing is the foundations are not that difficult.
They may be impressive sometimes, from a beginner’s eye.

But they just need to be breakdown and explained step-by-step for you to practice, memorize and put in application anytime you’ll need them.

Advanced sketching is about using a series of many simple techniques.

Think of drawing a product like a game:

How to decompose that object into many small volumes?

When you got it,
drawing becomes addictive!

So you won’t need to set up a daily routine with fixed hours since you’ll want to draw all the time!

Hope it helps,

Cheers,
Chou-Tac

PS: Setting up a routine is a great idea.

However, I want you to work on your mindset.

If you set for example 1 hour of sketching, make it one hour of full focus.

Don’t watch TV, or let anyone interrupt you.
Your phone included. Put it in Plane mode.

Cut all distractions.

Otherwise,
you may just fill your pages with dozens of lines, circles, or ellipses for the sake of adding in more clumsy lines and shapes.

Draw with your soul and concentration.
That’s your best way to shortcut your learning curve!

For some people,
they need a few hours or days to get a new technique,
while for others a few minutes is enough (especially when the sketching technique is well broken down to them)!

Remember it is not a time competition.
But all about how you synchronize your brain with your arm and your hand movement.

Draw with pleasure, focus on the journey and you will naturally progress.

PPS: If you like music, I recommend you lo-fi music.

I recently learned about the binaural beats.

They are “music” you can find on Youtube by typing “Binaural Beats”
playing some sound frequencies your brain is sensitive to.

Some binaural waves improve your sleep,
while others can improve your focus for example.

You can’t use your laptop speakers.
It works only using earphones.

To get started, in case you haven’t registered for it yet, you can get your Designer Starter Kit here.

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