Lesson 0: Getting Started

Our entirely natural obsession with drawing things that look good — to impress ourselves, to impress those around us, and to impress people on the other side of the planet whom you've never met — is above all else what holds us back. It stresses us out, and puts us into a state of creative paralysis. It pushes us to focus on nothing but practice, on training, on exercises, and leaves us drained. And worst of all, it makes us fear doing precisely the things for which we're learning these skills.

Oh, if I had a nickel for every student who declared "I can't draw that." It's such a common statement, but what it really means is "I can't draw that well right now, so what reason do I have to try?" Or more poignantly, "To try would be a waste of my time." And for this, I blame traditional academics. School makes us terrified of failure, and declares "success" as the only useful result. But I think differently.

If there's one thing you take away from the video above and the rest of the material on this page, it's this: don't just spend your time studying. Not everything has to contribute specifically and obviously towards improving your skills in order to be worthwhile and beneficial. Your technical skills are not the only thing that matter.

Traditional academics are to blame. They teach us to value grades, to value results, and that anything that does not produce those results is a waste of time. They do this not because it's an efficient strategy to help students learn, they do it because their goal is to push as many students through a factory production line as possible. They do not have the time, nor the resources, to make students the best they can be — and it's not their fault, either. There's just so many students they have to force through.

By taking the time to draw just for the hell of it — that is, not to make something cool to show off, not to learn something, not to improve a skill, not to impress your parents — but just to draw, two things will happen:

• First, and for a while, you'll experience frustration. It won't be fun, as trying to do something and showing yourself that you aren't capable of it rarely is.

• Over time, you'll find that frustration decreasing, and your willingness to try things that will inevitably result in failure will increase. You'll be more willing to take risks, to experiment, and to explore.

The 50% rule, which we introduced in the video above and explain further in the material below, is not about having fun. It's about making drawing something you can eventually enjoy. That is, in spite of the damage traditional academics does to us all. And we achieve that through balance.

Anyway, now that I'm done hocking wares to keep the lights on at ole Drawabox Art Instruction Inc. let's get back to talking about changing your mindset, and the 50% rule.

If the mental block that tells you you're not ready refuses to budge by sheer force of will alone, then start small. Think of it like you're exercising the muscle that represents your willpower, or your control over yourself and the choices you make. Right now it's smaller, and fears of not being good enough to try something you're interested in may be overwhelming. Gradually, this will strengthen that muscle, and so you'll be able to exert more control over the choices you make.

Starting small can be as simple as doodling abstract and arbitrary shapes or patterns on the page. From there, you can start drawing simple representational things — silly little cartoons, nothing serious, nothing ambitious. And from there, you can start pushing into subject matter that may be a little daunting, because as you put time and effort into this, the barriers you put in front of yourself will get smaller, and they'll even start to move when you push on them.

Do not be complacent, however — always push against those boundaries. If doodling is easy, then try to push yourself up to the next stage, always keeping in mind and aiming for the things you want your future self to produce.

There are a few questions we get pretty often in regards to the 50% rule, so let's clarify them right off the bat.

Should I be trying to apply the techniques from Drawabox while working on the 50% rule?

No. Draw in whatever way feels most comfortable to you. Drawabox is designed to have you drawing so much that you will have plenty of mileage to take the lessons and push them down into your subconscious. The lessons will become instinct. Rather, as you play, it’s better not to be too stiff and worried about technique. This is the time where you want to just let go.

Do I have to do my 50% rule in pen?

No. Draw with whatever tools you’re interested in using. A lot of students come to Drawabox really interested in digital media, but end up disappointed that we focus so much on traditional tools. I get it — I’m almost strictly a digital artist myself — and we’ll get into the reasoning for this later. Rest assured though, you are welcome and even encouraged to dive straight into drawing and painting digitally as soon as you like, for this 50%. This will also have the benefit of helping you get used to the specifics of using those tools, as this is yet another skill that is separate from these core fundamentals of drawing, and will need to be explored at some point.

Can I use reference during the 50% rule time?

Like everything else with this rule, it comes back to your intent. Are you reaching for reference because you're afraid of drawing something inaccurately, or wrong? If the motivation behind it is fear, then no. Face your fear, draw it without reference.

If however you wouldn't have any issue drawing without the reference, and are just looking to have more tools at your disposal to play with, then go for it. Just make sure that what you're drawing is not in its entirety, just a copy of a reference image. That would be a study, and would fall into the study portion of the 50% rule.

A good strategy is to first roughly sketch out your idea without reference, so you're forced to make all the decisions as to what goes where, how it's laid out, and so forth. Then, using this sketch, find suitable reference and then redraw it. This will help ensure that the reference itself is not deciding for you what you should be drawing. The control should be in your hands, and the choices should be yours.

At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with using reference in general — what the 50% rule focuses on however is breaking down the barriers we put in our way because we're afraid, because we're anxious, and because we don't want to make mistakes.

Where do portfolio pieces fit into the 50% rule?

The things we draw will generally fall into one of three categories. Practice, Play, and Performance. Technically a single drawing activity might fall into multiple categories, or even all three — but the more we spread it out, the less effective that activity is at accomplishing the intent of any one.

The 50% rule addresses practice and play, but we leave performance out for the simple reason that most of our students are beginners, and so most of them aren't really in a position to be concerned with it. Performance is all about showing where our skills are right now, and beginners are understandably lacking in those skills to show off. We certainly don't want to give them the impression that they're supposed to come already equipped with skills.

If however you're one of those students who's filling in holes in your fundamentals and want to spend time producing work that shows where your skills are right now, then how you work it in is up to you. You can choose to split the 50% rule into three chunks of 33%, or you can do 50% for play, and split the rest up for your studies. I leave it up to you, as long as you strive to hold to the spirit of the rule.

As the 50% rule relates heavily to mental health, I would be remiss not to take a moment to talk about depression. A lot of people out there will really struggle with the idea of doing something only to fail. As I've mentioned already, many of us have been taught that our value as an individual is inextricably tied to our ability to succeed, to the point where forcing yourself to fail (as this course will have you do quite a bit) can actively trigger depressive episodes. It gets that much worse when you consider how many people actively try and use art as therapy — not as part of a larger regimen under the guidance of a professional, but as their singular self-prescribed solution, and unfortunately it can make things worse.

For those of you in that situation, I strongly urge you to seek whatever professional support you can. Therapy with a trained professional isn’t about changing who you are, or attempting to fix you. Rather, at its core it’s about giving you the tools you need to better manage and understand your emotions, so that when you’re faced with a bad drawing, you can understand not just on a logical level, but deep within you that this does not in any way suggest that you yourself are bad. So, don’t be afraid to step away from this course, and to seek out that help. We’ll still be here when you’re better equipped.