Jan 2019
46 / 54
Feb 2019
Feb 2019
ZombieOwl
Jan '19

Personally, I do about 15 minutes 5 days a week, but it's mostly comic work. I don't free sketch as much as I used to :<

I think what's more important than how much you draw, is how mindful you are. If you're doing the same ol' drawings as always, you can improve speed, but your repertoire of skills will not grow.

When you do your 10 minutes a day, try to incorporate something you find challenging, do a color study, things like that. It will help you improve and you don't have to burn out your creativity :open_mouth:

TheFireDragon
Jan '19

Probably too much. But I guess there's a difference between just doodling to relax yourself and working towards something specific. I'll sketch in my notebook whenever I have to chance to, but I only end up doing painting and comic work on certain days because that takes up the most time and effort.

ben
Jan '19

I do it full time for a living so it varies but its always a lot. I usually work from 7am to 8pm sometimes 10pm. But I always take weekends off no matter what. I’m also at the point where I don’t really HAVE to work as much as I do but I like to.

I will say if its something you’re interested in pursuing full time there's definitely some amount of sacrifice that has to be made. Its very hard in the beginning but developing a habit of drawing even if you’re not in the mood to is KEY. Its just like any other job; you still have to get up and do it when you’re not feeling up to it. I don’t think thats as destructive as a lot of people think; it’s just like going to school or work everyday.

That said, if its just a hobby you enjoy doing, then it doesn’t have to be so strict. You’re allowed to only draw when you wanna draw. I do think habitual drawing is extremely useful for improvement but if you think its going to suck the fun out of this hobby you enjoy then don’t do it!

frgmnt
Jan '19

I'm eternally envious of those who actually can draw for multiple hours a day, even more so because it's not lack of time or health problems that are stopping me - I don't know why I can't. An hour a day is what I consider plenty... and there are days where I can't force myself to do more than a small doodle.
Although, I very much agree with those who said it's also quality of your practice that matters and not just quantity.

Klaustasya
Jan '19

I 100% can relate to what you said.
I can't draw for more than one hour a day, i already feel satisfied with it. And i feel guilty when i hear people saying that they sketch for more hours a day, kinda makes me feel like i'm less passionate about drawing than them...not their fault of course.

LortiaMJB
Jan '19

8-10 hours a day on average? Then again I'm doing it full-time with a part-time job of 1.5-2 hours a day walking mail.

unknown_user
Jan '19
frgmnt

Maybe its offtopic, but I feel the same about high math... I like it and want to continue doing it during my life and even try to reach PhD in it, but currently my brain can't handle more than 1-2 hours per day of it. And sometimes I can't do math at all. Even in my best days it was like 3-4 hours per day. When I was forced to do it more (preparing to complicated exam, for example), it usually was unbearable hard, and I've quickly come to severe nervous exhaustion.
I have no idea how some of my acquaintances can do math during all day and don't have their heads exploded. :confounded: It hurts to think that maybe my brain is less adapted to such a things than theirs :worried:

KelheorRegular
Jan '19

Well, 10 minutes for a daily sketch is an improvement! Just because it is hard to draw everyday, first of all. If you think your progress is good, it's totally alright to continue as you are.
For me it varies, sometimes it's 1 hour, sometimes it's 6. Usually it's 3-4 hours or so. Drawing comic is hard for me, so I have all my time divided into 30 minute intervals to track the real time. Because sometimes you think you draw all day long, buuut in fact it's just 4 hours. Which is not cool.
But I have no idea how people can actually draw for 10 or more hours straight, come on, how come your butt and hand does not hurt :sweat_smile:

Kittosaurus
Jan '19

It definitely varies for me... I work full time Monday to Friday, but I try and do prep work on my panels during my lunch break (which is usually for about 15 minutes once I'm finished eating), and during the evenings I can spend anywhere from 1-4 hrs on panels depending on what time I get home/ what I have to do that evening.

I usually take Fridays off to just chill and game when I get home - and then the weekends are a bit of a wild card. Probably add a minimum of 4-6 hours (I really wish I was more productive art wise on the weekends... but I'm usually so burnt out from the week that I end up taking it easy and so the cycle repeats it self...)

graveweaver
Jan '19

I draw 8 hours a day five days a week. However I'm a fulltime artist so this is hardly the norm. Id say before I started working I drew at least once a day though, usually only 30 minutes of drawing an anime boy in my notebook or something... but sometimes id go hard and draw 12 hours a day for like a week straight when I got really inspired and was on break, lol

Milhamah
Jan '19

I try to get at least one hour of digital art done per day, six days per week. On a free day I often get at least three to five hours done.

PaulieBlade
Feb '19
unknown_user

I'm the same. I consider myself THE CHEETAH OF MATH STUDY. I can get to certain heights of my skill only for a short period of time, after which I overheat and become a simpleton once again.

Novalinlin
Feb '19

It really depends on the day:

Some days I hardly get a doodle done and other days I draw 10+ hours
There's no in-between for me, send help :sob:

But honestly, I think it can be quite toxic when ppl try to measure your art and 'how much you actually want to be an artist' through how much you draw/ don't draw per day.

Sometimes you need a day off to gather your thoughts, and research and studies don't necessarily equal time spent actually drawing - you could spend time watching tutorials or thinking some story related things through, and yes you would need to practice those too of course, but having some incubation time >does< help you evolve as an artist also.

Also you have to think about every artists individual situation: some are going to school, some are working full time jobs, and every artists family/home situations are also different, so it's never a 1-1 comparison between every artist

I think the most important thing is for oneself to feel that you're improving, no matter what speed you improve at :>

GusC
Feb '19

I force myself to put in at least one-two hours a day working on art and my comic.On weekends, it's an easy 8-12 hour session. It can be difficult to muster energy after a 9-5, but it is the ONLY way to have a slight chance at reaching the next step. It's all about the work. There's a saying about working smarter, not harder. That's bunk. Work harder and smarter. Work, work, work. It's a longterm investment. That's the only way to muster the energy, some days, is to hammer that into my head. I have to say, it feels great to see the volume of work done expand, slowly but steadily. Few better feelings.

kimketli
Feb '19

I don't count... I know. It is stupid. :smiley: But nowadays my eyes stops me in doing it. :confused: Maybe I should not stare the monitor all the time. -___-"

Anyway, I think you you can still develop your skills efficiently if you also practice techniques during your drawing sessions. Tutorials on the web can help(you know, you don't have to necessary invent the wheel if someone had done it before. You can just use his/her knowledge) or if you make studies and not just draw but try to analyze what you see, break forms into simple shapes.
Of course more time on this kind of learning will increase your skills even more. But a little time of focused practice can worth more than hours of brainless sketching.

YangKoete
Feb '19

Geez, if I wasn't working on other stuff or had 1,000 other things on my plate, I'd draw a lot more! =w='

I typically do only 1 hour. If that. But I wanna draw morrrrre.

RiidDisBuk
Feb '19
GusC

I do understand that it is difficult to draw after working from 9-5. I draw at least one pic everyday to improve myself, despite being based on motivation.

demthorshie
Feb '19

I Illustrate for a living so I usually start drawing from 9 or 10 in the morning and stop around 3-6PM in the evening depending on the work load. If it's on a day where I'm drawing my comic, I draw from sun up until I finish the page basically.