karrtoons

Yes, I know some tricks.

I think the most important thing is to remember that your art doesn’t come from some magical otherplace? Like. It’s all you. So if you make stuff, and you lose it, you can make it again. And that’s kind of what you want to get into the habit of trusting, which most people don’t.

But anyway.

1. Draw garbage. Make a mess.Draw with the intent of throwing it away as soon as you’re done with it. Draw things badly. Scribble. Make a conscious effort to do C+ work that you don’t keep and don’t care about. Draw a lot, and draw until it feels good—draw until it physically feels nice to make marks, you know? This way, you’re not preoccupied with getting to the end, and you’re not worried about ending up with a perfect product. You’re drawing to enjoy how it feels. Art is easier when it’s less precious to you. And weirdly (weird to me, anyway), I’ve always found that I’m more proud of art that I make this way. Because it feels like something I did purely myself, rather than something I produced in an effort to be like someone else.

2. Throw things away.Go find a drawing you think is Super Great or Your Very Best and throw it out. Stop holding yourself hostage to your best stuff. Every artist has stuff like this—you constantly measure yourself by it. Burn it. Get rid of it. I mean obviously don’t get rid of everything. Having a portfolio is a good thing. But it’s a really healthy exercise to throw something away once in a while.

3. Mark up your blanks. If you have any blank sketchbooks, go through them and put a mark on every page. Dear god please. Don’t ever work with a blank book; they will cripple you.

Here’s a good illustration of what I mean:

It will be incredibly difficult and terrifying to do any of these tips? You’ll feel like you’re wasting the universe’s time. But drawing garbage and making messes is better than never-drawing-the-perfect-thing. Feeling capable of making art is a million times better than feeling incapable.