Making myself draw.

I've been actively drawing for almost two years. I of course have room for improvement, all artists do. My problem is getting myself to draw. Often I can draw for a very long time and most of my better drawings were when I was forced to. I've tried guides like 'Do a drawing every day for 30 days', and I stuck to it, it was a lot of fun and I got a lot better because of it.

I do also look at many guides like drawing noses, eyes, mouths, hair, stuff I'm already decent at, but my main problem is that when it comes down to my paper and pencil, I can never find the motivation to take my research and knowledge to practice for recreational purposes. How do I make myself enjoy drawing, in a sense.

Hello Circle,I've absolutely no idea.Many times i have had a 'block' as we all do,I think it's part of the territory.Try drawing things you are interested in,naked ladies/men,cars,celebs,animals etc etc.Get yourself set,put some rousing music on and away you go,sorted.

Hey Russ,

I actually have been. My last 3 drawings were of naked women, since I feel they are the most challenging for me right now. Since then, I've tried doing some fun stuff, like drawing the Old Spice man, Some 1940's ads, some video game characters, and even just cloth with shadowing. Even to that, I've just tried doodling, I honestly have no idea what my problem is.

I know when I have to write, I just talk to people, get to my head straightened out, but it doesn't work the same with drawing. I figured if I looked at a lot of art, watchs tv shows, or even movies that I may get some inspiration, but since than I feel I've been pulled even more away from my casual drawing.

I have to force myself even when I'm on a good run,lets face-it,it can be boring as well as absorbing.Had a picture on my board for 4 days now waiting to get started on it,later today hopefully

... this sounds so familiar ..

oh god i thought it was justr me......... my solution is this:
find a peaceful time of day and an interest{ latley mine is tattoo designs} and draw a quick line drawing then move to a wip (aishwarya rai) work like an hour give or take than stop or keep going your choice.in my opinion i cant have a wip before i feel like i complete something first so no matter what i can feel a sense of accomplishment.as for motivation just grab a comp and a nice pic and force the pencil to the paper lol. good luck to you my friend P.S. i just realized that david aka soarneagle has not been on the site in ages? i know that was kind of random though lol

I usually get in the mood when im reading this forum,,allaaround it,,diferent topics, advices, tutorials, asking for helps,,everything,,it all put me in the mood to sit down, some good music in background,,glass of red wine and just draw...or also really inspirational is watching videos about draing and paintings or youtube,,they se to get me in mood to get a paper and pencil and just draw,,practice or do anything on paper...try it out,,may be help,,it does to me all the time....im on this forum today for a few hours now and it will ending tonight with some drawing

Hey Circle,

I sometimes have that problem, too. I think everybody here got the answers already, but I wanna share how I get myself to draw too. Usually before I draw at all, I make sure I already ate and drank, because if not, I would get either get hungry or really thirsty when I draw, and therefor, I get distracted. Also, I like to listen some good music like smooth jazz or just listen to the news on the radio. However, I can do all those and still find myself NOT to draw. Usually, I would browse this forum or any other art community to get me motivated. Watching drawing videos also works too. However if you're really stressed and you're forcing yourself to draw, you would end up having a poorly drawn portrait or whatever you're rendering. Hopefully, I and the others that answered your question helped you