Today I am sharing 3 tips to doodle better. I see the comments time and time again (and even uttered the words myself), I wish I could draw/doodle better. If you have come looking for resources then you can scroll to the bottom of the post. But I am taking a more general view of how to improve your doodling or how to improve your drawing. These 3 tips were game changers for me and I hope you’re able to take something away with you. If you want to watch the video of my latest doodle page, you can check it out here. I also talk about my points in the video. So, let’s get started!
Trace, Copy, and Study
This is probably the most controversial tip! Many people don’t think tracing is an acceptable way of learning. Well if you’re going to trace and post on social media and not give credit, then yes! That is very problematic. But tracing allows you to develop the muscle memory you need to create the shapes that form objects. From tracing you tend to move to copying. When copying, your hand isn’t going to move the way the original artist’s hand did so you’re going to, essentially, put your own spin on it.
Also make sure to look at all different kinds of illustrations and artists. This includes Pinterest, Instagram, Magazines, but also kid’s books. That was my wake up call. Reading books to my kids, I see so many different kinds of illustrations. Some are super simple, and others are more sophisticated. This helped me realize that I can doodle and illustrate too. Of course I don’t like all of the illustrations, and that’s what leads me into my next tip.
Accept your Own Style
When you look at someone else’s drawings and think, “I could never do that”, you need to change your thinking to “I could never do that… like they do’. This is because we each have our own style. You shouldn’t be able to or want to draw like someone else – that’s technically copyright infringement ?. But seriously (or less seriously), finding your own style and then learning to accept it is so important. Go browse the kid books section and look at all the different styles. Each artist has their own style and they are finding success using their own style. So try to remember this as you learn, practice and grow.
Practice, Practice, Practice
This is probably the most frustrating tip. I know everyone says to practice and work on a skill. I’m far too impatient but… it works! I have been doing lettering and doodling now for almost 3 years and there is definitely an improvement. There is also a lot of room to improve and grow, but I’m a lot further along. I don’t get to practice everyday so my growth has been slower than I’d like but that ‘s where you have to choose grace over guilt because life does get busy.
Resources
I wanted to share some resources that I have found helpful. There are many, many, many out there but these are the ones that I have used.
- My personal doodle challenge that I share every month (check out my Instagram to follow along)
- Not many tutorials but a magician with pencil crayons! Rhio Jones started drawing and colouring in her bullet journal and now creates these amazing works of art: https://www.instagram.com/rhioillustrateslife/
- The Petite Planner hosts an Oodles of Doodles challenge every month and these were some of my first doodle challenges: https://www.instagram.com/the.petite.planner/ (she also has a doodle course but I have not taken it).
- Great resources and easy to follow tutorials: https://www.instagram.com/thedoodleguide/
I hope this post and this video helps spark a fire in you to start something new – whether it’s doodling or lettering or just something else. These tips I’m sharing have been definite game changers for me because, at the end of the day, it helped build my confidence and you can do anything if you have confidence.
Talk soon!
