Drawing for a year

I have been teaching myself to draw for one year.

Drawing on my past

I have always wanted to be good at drawing. Ever since primary school i have doodled in the margins of every paper I hold. I’ve never taken it further than that, though. I’ve admired people’s drawings and wished I was able to do it but I didn’t think it was something I could learn to the level that I would be proud of.

I want to be good at everything I do and to be good I have to be obsessed, if I’m not obsessed, I won’t be good, and therefore it’s not worth doing.

My previous attempts at learning to draw have been disappointing. Most recently, in 2014, I backpacked around East Africa for 3 months and thought I would use that time to learn. I was going to draw something every day — sketching what I saw and did and ultimately document my improved skills over that period.

In reality I found it hard to motivate myself because my drawings sucked, and I quickly gave up.

If I really want to draw, I wouldn't need to motivate myself, I would just be motivated. I wouldn't need to make time, I would just find time. I wouldn't care if I’m good at it or not, I would just keep drawing.

A year ago I decided for the 100th time that I can and I will learn to draw. Since then I have drawn something every day.

That is because I decided to draw every day with no goal, no timeline, and no plan. I had no expectations and have just drawn something every day.

Training to draw

To begin with I started drawing people on the train.