Most structured learning follows a clear progression: start with foundational stuff, layer things on top of that… poof - you know things.
You learn the alphabet before you write a story.
In drawing, that might mean working through shapes and light, then gesture and form, a little line control, maybe anatomy if you’re drawing living things. There’s a path. A proven sequence that will drive success.
It just doesn’t work for me.
I wish it did.
Lately I’m realizing this is how I approach learning anything — not by following the “right” steps, but by chasing whatever actually interests me.
I can’t just do drills and exercises, even though I understand I’m building the skills to be successful. I need to follow my interest - even if it means I’m going to struggle since I skipped the foundational stuff.
So this time around, I skipped straight to the part that made me excited to draw: portraits. Basically the hardest thing to draw, for a lot of people. But that’s what I wanted to make. I wasn’t interested in drawing boxes or practicing shading gradients. I wasn’t interested in working up to anything. I just wanted to draw heads.
I don’t think fundamentals are useless. They clearly matter.
But I can’t bring myself to focus on them until they’re in my way.
I wish I could, truly.
Practicing line weight or drawing cubes in space just doesn’t hold my attention. It feels like studying for a test I never signed up to take.
Eventually, though, I do get stuck. Something isn’t working — proportions are weird, the whole drawing feels off. I can’t do what I want to do.
That’s when I start looking ways to improve. And most of the time, it’s something I skipped: structure, proportions, gesture, whatever. Now I care, because now it’s the thing holding me back.
Now the exercises are interesting. It’s not theory anymore — it’s a tool I’m reaching for. I think, this is exactly what I needed.
Is it slower? Yeah, likely.
But I don’t get bored. I don’t burn out. I’m doing something I want to be doing.
That makes it feel less like work and more like progress.
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