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In art school they try to teach you that when you’re drawing you should use your entire arm to make marks. Lift your hand up off of the paper and put your stylus at a sharp angle and make the lightest strokes possible.

I hated it.

For pretty much as long as I can remember I’ve treated every single medium like charcoal. I press too hard, make too dark a mark, and my palm ends up laying all over the drawing. I don’t give any consideration to where I start making finishing marks so I end up working over areas that I’ve already shaded, painted or colored and smearing everything. In short, I’m a mess.

One of the things I’ve been trying to focus on while doing these sketches is making simpler marks that present cleaner. I can feel the urge to rush in and go bold and I’m fighting against it. There’s no way to make small details without getting better at this strategy and that’s really where I want to be.

I think I’m getting better already.

I’m doing a #tinychallenges in December. You can too!