In many ways, artists are like athletes: possessing qualities such as strong hand-eye coordination can be helpful for becoming masterful at what they do, but putting in the practice time—and having the passion to do so—is the only way that either can get to the top of their game. Additionally, in order to do good work athletes and artists must first warm up the muscles that they will be using. That is why these quick and fun drawing exercises are fundamental for progressing as an artist.
How it works:
Set yourself a timer of 1- or 2-minute (1min for blind drawing and connected hatching, 2mins for others)
Choose your reference, either a photograph or a real life subject
Fill a page of cheap or scrap paper with your quick sketches of the same reference
Make a note of which exercise you used for each sketch and the time that it took to complete
Ask yourself which of your sketches you like the best and why. Blind drawing can have comical results but also charmingly abstract ones.
Why bother with warm-up sketches?:
The intention behind these sketching exercises is not to create perfect portraits, but to warm-up the connection between your hand and eye, engage both sides of your brain (the left ruling over logical thinking and the right, creative thinking), and to get used to studying the human face. It is also a great way to fight the fear of the blank page and to simply have some fun with drawing!
Below are some drawing ‘ailments’ and the quick sketching exercises that I prescribe to help.