When it comes to inspiration and avoiding frustration I find that the key is usually in allowing youself to let go of perfection and allowing the thought that not every sketch you make has to be a master piece. How you get into that mindset varies from people to people but here’s a couple of methods that have worked for me.
1) Get rid of your eraser for a while. Whether it’s traditional art or digital art, not correcting every mistake you feel you’ve made can help you getting into a better flow of things.
2) Try different tools. If you normally use a pencil to sketch, try a fine liner, a ballpoint pen or even ink use with a small brush. Water colours are also great for quick sketches.
3) Buy blank notebook and try to fill one page everyday. You can do this before you go to bed as if you were writing a diary or whenever works for you.
4) Try doing croquis with your friends or find out if there’s a croquis cafe or classes near you. The easiest way to start doing croquis is to start with 8 minutes on the clock a gratually moving to 6, 4 and eventually 2 minutes. Here’s a short explanation to what it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquis
5) This site is great: http://www.eggazyoutatsu.net/atarichanDrawer.html and can also be used to draw croquis if you use a timer.
6) Find a vast but still manageable subject to work on for a longer period of time. For example right now I’m doing only Tolkien related sketches for a month. But it’s okay to start with one week or a couple of weeks.
7) Take your sketchbook and go outside. Go to a museum or a park or to a forest or a cafe and make quick sketches of things you see.
8) Take time to seek inpirational pictures and moods. Borrow a bunch of art books from different eras and countries from the library, search for interesting pinterest boards or start your own, search through different tumblr tags watch films and music videos, listen to music, read books, go on hikes.
9) Lastly and foremostly: you just have to draw. In order to get into a flow of drawing you just have to work through frustration and perfection and just do it. Be kind to yourself as an artist and allow yourself the journey to become one and to make mistakes and experiments. Don’t erase or throw away anything so you can look back at the progress you’ve made. And remember that drawing is a skill you learn, not something god send or genetic and you don’t have to be or even can be perfect right away and there will be times when it’s easier and times when nothing comes together but everyone has those.
xxx
~TuaSofia