Haven't Drawn In A While?

[Rozume]

Okay, so as the title says, I haven't drawn in a while. A long while. I used to draw everyday or nearly everyday, but that isn't the case anymore. I don't know if it's because I have an art block or because I have other things occupying my time but the fact is I'm not drawing or creating when, as an artist, I should.

Do you face this problem? What do you to get back into drawing? Also, how do you get into the habit of drawing everyday?

[MaiMai]

I do this a lot, not drawing for some periods of time when I should be.

There's no real magic or profound answer to this question I think. You need to pick up a pen, pencil, whatever and just draw something again. You could try a different medium to get out of your funk, or try one of those random generators that give you a subject to draw.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

Starting is the hardest part. If I just START drawing, I find I'll draw for several hours. But if you are waiting for the mood to strike / procrastinating on-line / etc. you can easily spend a weekend or several days without drawing.

It might be as easy as just promising yourself that if you draw just 15 minutes a day, you'll let yourself stop and goof-off or play. Chances are you'll draw a lot longer than 15 minutes.

[meiri]

I have this issue a lot.
I naturally love to draw, it's something I enjoy, but I really have to find something I want to draw, or a reason to.
I got into visual novels because I love to draw (and write) and that was my motivation to do it every day...
But a good way to get into drawing everyday is to doodle or draw fanart. When I know I need to be drawing, Ill sit down and watch my favorite show while doodling the characters, until I finally get an urge to REALLY draw something. Its easy to take a break for a while but I've noticed that if I draw for maybe 2 days in row, I'll want to draw again.

[akemicchi]

I don't draw everyday anymore (I sometimes go weeks or even months without drawing...) but I don't really feel pressured to try to draw everyday. I only ever draw when I'm trying to improve on something, like technique or anatomy, or when I want to try something out like a new coloring style. These are pretty bad habits, now that I think about it. "orz Maybe that's why my art is getting wonky these days and that I'm not improving anymore...

I find that I'm not really easily motivated with, "Hey, I should draw because personal growth!" anymore. I mean, I am a little which is why I sometimes pick up a pen, but it doesn't motivate me enough to actually pick up a pen some days (otherwise I'd be drawing everyday). I need something more to push me. My solution for that was RPing! omg, it's so much fun, you don't understand, I could do draw 24 hours a day non-stop, even by myself if no one wanted to RP with me. o|-< I'm not talking about text-based RPs, but for drawing specifically!

Do you know about TegakiE?
http://tewi.us/tegaki

It's a one-layer drawing site where you draw (or write) on a canvas and post it up for other people to comment on. You handwrite everything, or just draw your responses and-- ahh, just check it out-- it's so amazing. It's great for drawing! Anyway, the Groups section is where all the RPs go around. Go look around for them! I have an account just for RPs; check it out for examples of this kind of RP : Link

I find that joining TegakiE and RPs helped my drawing skill (and character creation skills and imagination) improve tremendously. I was always motivated to draw everyday because there were people waiting for me to reply, and there was a story unfolding. It's also all one layer so you learn new techniques like refining errors and colors without the convenience of multiple layers. It's kind of like painting. You have multiple undos (4-5?), limited palette (not anymore though), and only opacity to work with for getting different shades. There's a lot of limitations, but if you click on the Front page, you can see what sort of art is possible given the tools of their program!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is maybe trying something new would interest you? ovo This has helped me draw everyday when I'm on it. And if RPing isn't your thing, just drawing on it is nice, too.

[sendo]

Oh, gonna check that site akemicchi. It sounds fun!

As for OP, I've been drawing almost everyday for the past few months. The way I did it is just to allocate a block of time everyday for drawing. And just stick to it, no excuses, no nothing, just do it. It doesn't matter if you only do a couple of sketches or draw a detailed drawing, the important part is you're drawing. Even if you don't improve with foundations and stuff, you're atleast practicing your mechanical drawing skills. I do think this method depends on the person - I love drawing so much. I know someone who thinks said method is a chore. Not to me, because I try to mix it up with some random silliness and *stuff* sometimes, I mean you don't have to dedicate every single drawing to improve or learn something

I think it also helps to surround yourself with inspirations? Whenever I'm out of motivation, I re-read/watch my favorite mangas/anime as these are the biggest motivators for me to draw. Maybe looking back at the roots of what made you draw will help as well? Maybe try looking back at your past art? I cringe when I look at my past art, but it does give me drive to draw :3

Also have you tried collaborative drawing? I sometimes go to a certain flockdraw board just for fun. A word of warning, it gets NSFW there sometimes. The drawing board doesn't have layers, no undo, it's primitive, but it forces you to be more confident with your lines. It has an offline mode if you don't care about drawing with others but you probably want to fire up a dedicated art program instead.

Welp there goes a wall of text. Well, go grab your pen and start drawing!

[Akitsuki]

Happens to me, like, a lot. I rarely draw doodles digitally, so I kinda think when I draw, I have to draw until it's finished. But I like to doddle traditionally, especially during classes LOL you know better not to do it. I don't know since when, but these days, I really need a big push to draw. Somehow it makes me feel drawing is a burden which is obviously not true. Well... I don't know. I too should start drawing more frequently every now and then.

Usually seeing better art encourages me to draw and it often works. It reminds me that I'm still improving and I can draw that too if I keep practicing. Or sometimes if I need to draw but art block hits me, I try drawing in different style. It gives a nice change of pace ;D

[King-sama]

Open commissions? (or take requests if you don't feel comfortable to take money) re-draw something? or use a new method in drawing (like pixeling for example? ^v^) or make a comic~ anything that could give you pressure to keep drawing, go for it! ovo

Good luck!

[daijinahito]

Yup, sometimes it spans for months at a time. It usually stems from having bad art days, I think. Just can't get anything right till it sucks out all the fun and pleasure in me and just leaves an empty husk of an artist. Usually fixes itself after a day or two... or a month... or two... Having a long break and thinking about what I did wrong and how to fix it. Sometimes, I felt like when I came back to drawing, I was better. @_@ Is that even possible? Maybe all that thinking I did was sort of like internal practicing?
Or maybe I'm just silly. Anyways, everyone's fix is different. But mine usually works through rest and deep thought.

G'luck!

[Railgun]

I also find myself in the same situation sometimes.
I guess that's because I really wanted to improve and I followed the rules too much. You know, getting the right perspective, measuring proportions, etc. That affected the time I took to complete a drawing. And of couse, the longer it takes, the more energy consuming it is and not every part is fun, so yeah.
So here's what I do to get in the mood for drawing:
-No matter what, you should draw for fun!
-Do you want to copy an artist you admire? Then do. Sometimes you may not share the same style as this artist but by copying his style, you learn a lot about his process.
-Do you find that drawing from life is boring, even though it's great for improving? Then choose something that will be useful for a future project. For instance, instead of drawing people on the street or buildings you see outside the window, you can draw soldiers or swords or whatever you find cool!
-Do you have a "drawing playlist"? I have certain playlists for relaxing, working, etc. And there are special ones for drawing ^^
-Do you ever watch awesome tutorial videos about people drawing or painting on Youtube? Doesn't that make you want to just pick up a pencil/brush/etc and sketch?
-As other people have mentioned, give yourself 10 min a day of drawing. But don't tell yourself "well, I'm gonna draw a super complicated character with lots of details and they're gonna be badass"...instead, at the beginning, it's a good idea to draw loose so that you relax your wrist. Even scribbling is fine, as long as you get in the mood for drawing