Keep Drawing: Revealed

When people are trying to explain their views and opinions of art, I like to pay attention because something can be learned from everybody. One of the most common tips seasoned artists share is to simply 'keep drawing.' As long as someone keeps drawing, then the skill will increase. I definitely agree with this, but I think it is being said with such simplicity that people feel unsatisfied with the piece of advice. I have pondered this and think I can explain it further. I'm going to compare it to video games.

A game that many of us are familiar with is Super Smash Bros.(whichever version). If not, then most fighting or FPS games can work. For this comparison, imagine the act of playing the game as drawing. Alrighty, we start playing the game and we are beginners, below average and learning how to get our butts kicked, understandable. It's easy to quickly get up to the average level because we see many average gamers and we can observe all of them. Once we become an average player, then the game gets way funner, because instead of losing all of the time, we win matches too. The game is really fun, so we play it constantly, hang out with our friends, compete and progress. Getting better at the game isn't always intentional, we love it so much that just the act of enjoying it makes us start to perform moves with more efficiency. For example, in Call of Duty, if someone throws a grenade at us, we gained the quick thoughtfulness to throw it back, rather than when we were brand new and didn't think fast enough to do that. If we keep playing the game, eventually, we will become very skilled and able to own whatever room or match we are in. It feels good, but now there are less people to teach us new tricks. We have to create our own method of improvement, henceforth.

Now, in the actual form, being an artist: we ALL have to start as a beginner. Drawing may not be as fun as the pros make it look, but it is easy to improve quickly. The reason is because, as a beginner, we can learn loads from every single person, other beginners are our peers and we can discuss ideas with them. If we keep drawing, we will move up to being a mid-level artist, nice. Being part of the biggest tier is a fun place to be because there are limitless amounts of people to connect, study, and grow with. Now we start receiving praise and don't feel like our work is inferior to everyone's! Being here for a long time... hard work... studying... KEEP...DRAWING...elite status! After making pictures and pictures, thinking "This is the one that will blow people away," we finally start to gain sweet recognition. If we keep up the dedication, things can keep getting better.

How did all this happen? No tricks or formulas other than the simple piece of advice: keep drawing. I remember back, listening to people sharing this and thinking that there must be more, but eventually, I learned otherwise. I hope this helps you all and I look forward to reading whatever you all have to say.

Thank you and have a good day!