One of the biggest things that restrains restricting yourself to one certain technique or tool or item is that it can spark a creative part of your mind that you never knew was there. This is one of the hidden best parts of going to drawing school. So if you have a way of drawing, let’s say the eyeball and the eyeball is very round and every single way, but using that example that I used before with only straight lines, I had to create different creative solutions on how to make a round object with only using straights. So this is kind of where that comes from. This applies, even if you are drawing on an adobe art program.
I remember when I was restricting myself to only using a charcoal pencil and not letting myself erase, I had to use the smearing of the charcoal in such a way that it felt like I was building upon the different layers of pencil also putting it down. This led to a completely opposite way of the way I normally tended to draw. Back then it helped me learn that it was all about the structure of the figure and how it would look to the audience as opposed to any you know, building up that I could’ve done on my own the normal way.
So constraints when it comes to drawing can become many different forms, so it’s up to you. Here are a few that I want you to try. Number one, I want you to try restraining yourself on what tool to use. This can be pencil. This could be one color when you’re painting and any material, this could be just a how do you say white pencil on a dark shaded paper. Pick a tool and I want you to stay with it for maybe about a week or two. At least put in about a half an hour per day and then see if something starts building up in your mind and if you feel that kind of creative juice flowing through you, and if you can, maybe learn as you’re using this tool.
Number 2 is to make a time constraint. What I want you to do is to set a timer somewhere and this can be a timer where maybe it’s 10 minutes, 30 minutes, it’s up to you. Whatever time it is that you wanna do. I want you to experiment with the different amount of time that you can do. A great one to start off with would be set a timer for let’s say a half hour to see if you can redraw the exact same thing in about 10 minutes and see how that feels to you. You should start feeling like you’re training with a weighted vest.
If you start doing this the longer amounts of time are gonna seem almost like too much time at some point, and you’re gonna find yourself getting quicker at the processes that you’re doing now. Having an artist life and Drawing is about intuition and this will really train that intuitive part of your drawing mind. This is gonna build that area up so that you learn to think quick and act fast.
Number 3 is shape constraint that I started out telling you about as an example that I had where I would use only straight lines. Start thinking of something in that same area. Maybe use a completely squared brush you get from the art store or only draw in right angles. This is also gonna have you toy around and move things all over the page and have you experiment with exactly what kind of pictures that you’re gonna create. You might decide that you wanna create something a little bit more designer or more geometric than you ever thought you would. Using this is gonna be great.
The next constraint would be a theme constraint. Maybe pick one object or some sort of theme and only draw that or paint that for a week. As an example, there was a time where I picked only head drawings and I would only draw head drawings for like a month. I wouldn’t draw bodies or clothing or anything else. I would stick to head drawings and I would try to make them as strong as I could for that time and then maybe move on and continue to touch on head drawings here and there. Another thing you could pick would be draw in some sort of space theme you start drawing tech you start drawing outfits in that certain way, and you only stay with that theme as long as you feel comfortable. Looking up the latest tips on our art drawing blog help quote a bit. Obviously you give yourself your artificial constraint on how long you would do this and for how many days or weeks, but absolutely pick that and see how it works.
And lastly, perhaps you should think about rule constraints so thinking about like the rule constraints as far as what you’re allowed to do. For example, if you wanna create a rule where you draw with your left hand only or maybe you draw without lifting your pen that can be like an example of a rule and straight on yourself he still challenges help, and challenge you.
There are parts to your talent that you night never see unless you experiment with new methods. I understand the road can seem long and confusing. In the end its incredibly worth the trip and experimentation. I would say a vast majority were things that uncovered so much hidden potential in you. To uncover more potential, see the fun things in the artist drawing shop here.
