As an artist, I find my creativity is often spontaneous and sporadic. To combat this phenomenon I have a few exercises I do to get me out of that funk. These exercises also help drawing skills in general, making them an all-around good practice.
Quick drawings
My absolute favorite free website for quick drawing is called Line of Action. The website holds my unwavering admiration because of its meticulously organized setup and exceptional practice tools ranging from figure study, animals, faces & expressions, hands & feet, basic shapes & still life, scenes & environments, and 360° views. I start the exercise by choosing a practice tool category, answering the preference questions, choosing a time interval (usually 5 minutes), and pressing ‘Get Drawing!’ at the bottom of the page. Timed drawings are greatly beneficial because they help break the ‘rushing to detail’ habit that leads to unnaturally drawn figures by forcing you to capture the broad sweeping lines and simplified features. How Line of Action helps fight my writer’s block is by reinforcing the confidence in my abilities, so I can be able to look at more complicated inspirations and be able to break them down.
Freestyle Doodle art
This exercise is a lot more abstract, relaxing, and simple. I begin by taking a few light-colored markers and creating some abstract or geometric shapes. Next, I take a black fine liner (can be any color but make sure it’s dark enough to contrast with the markers) and start drawing different facial expressions, body parts, and even some background plants or stars if possible. I find freestyling really helps rejuvenate my creative juices and warm up the drawing part of my brain, plus I’m left with a really cute aesthetic drawing.
anthropomorphized INanimate objects
For this exercise I find some pictures of inanimate objects like foods or household appliances, draw them, and then make them human-like. To make them human-like I add facial expressions, body parts, and sometimes clothes. In doing this, not only do I feel like an animator for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, but I also recognize the impact small details can have on the theme of a piece of art.
Whether you want to overcome an art block or simply hone your drawing skills, these exercises will get it done.