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| Next Entry --> (September, 2026) |
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| | Day. 960-1.020: (26.09.2026) |
| | Day. 1.020-1.080: (28.11.2026) |
| | Year. 3 Video (December, 2026) |
Sketchbook Journey is my attempt at answering one question: How do people actually get so insanely good at drawing/illustrations?I don’t know the answer yet, but each entry in this series, I try and get just a little closer to finding an answer, by learning how to draw, myself.I started drawing at age 24, work full-time at a factory, and live in Denmark. Average daily drawing time is roughly 30 minutes. Usually stream on Discord every Sunday around 19:00–23:59 (CEST), drawing digital illustrations and goofing around. Come say hi!New entries, roughly every 60 daysFeedback is always welcome, regardless of level.
Table of contents:- How this journey started- Current approach to learn- Materials- Part. 1 – A- Part. 2 – A- Part. 3 – A- Tips from the community!- Thoughts that didn't make it
NOTICE: The following sections change in accordance with me learning new stuff.
How this journey started
As a kid, I admired people who were able to draw well. I had a stand-in teacher that I would make drawings for, I would imitate their behaviour and generally try to get their attention (as a kid does), by showing admiration for them through other means than words. But, thanks to my mom in particular, over time this admiration got distorted and I ended up mistaking 'admiration' for fixation (un-healthy and all-consuming). Everything I did and everything I made – from drawings, to writing, to music – became about one singular goal: destroy my self to mimic/become another. The end goal was that my mom would love me again if I just did/became something grand enough, that she could not ignore me.Obvious childhood problems aside: Sketchbook Journey was originally just another jab at this same goal – create something so grand that people (mom) can't ignore it. And yet, it's a 'both-and' situation, because while my childish fascination with drawing and people got heavily suppressed under the weight of self-destruction, it never fully choked out. As a result, when I saw PewDiePie uploaded a video titled Teaching myself to draw for no reason, it became clear to me, that drawing is a skill I want to learn.2.5 years after starting Sketchbook Journey – as I am writing this – I'm thankful I've kept this series going. What was intended to destroy me ended up saving me from destruction, and I've been able to rediscover the undistorted admiration without fixation (See 'How this journey started'). I think of Sketchbook Journey as part 'publicly available notebook on learning to draw', and another part 'I like to yap on the internet'.
My current approach to learning
IMPORTANT CONTEXT! – A general note on doing stuff that feels productive (but doesn't support growth):When I first started learning to draw, I did what most people do and read/watched a ton of tutorials and drew a lot. This felt productive, but my drawings did not improve.But, as I've gained more experience, I've noticed that improvement comes from moving between Learning and Applying (especially being self-taught). Learn → Apply → Repeat.There is a ton of information out there, but often no clear path for applying it – and I've come to realize, that is the hard part (at least for me): Figuring out what "the right information" is, and then applying it. Because I have no teacher watching over me, it will take me longer to figure out what information actually works for me –> and I can only figure it out, by applying it.HEALTH FIRST! – A short intro to how I stay healthy so I can keep drawing:Because I draw every day, I need to beware of two specific areas about my health: 1. Wrist and finger health2. Mental healthWrist and finger health –> Carpel tunnel is not fun, and I have met people who draw, who had to take a 2-month (or more) break, to recover. And I've sadly also come across artists, who had to quit drawing because the wrist/finger pains got so severe. In order to prevent it, I do daily wrist and finger stretching – using this video by CrownePrince. I do the exercises while I'm walking somewhere, as the full routine only takes roughly 5-7 minutes.The other thing is buying a sturdy wrist support + a thumb-support for each hand. I sleep with either a wrist support or a thumb support, depending on what is hurting. I only use these supports WHEN it is hurting, or when I feel its close to hurting. Take note, that sleeping with a wrist/thumb support every single night, is not recommended, as it risks weakening the wrist/thumb.Mental health –> It's damn near impossible to learn anything, or feel inspired to do anything at all, if I don't firstly take care of myself. Getting up at a certain time, dedicating a certain amount of time each day to activities like reading, listening to music, going for walks, and not indulging in escapist pursuits like scrolling TikTok, or eating and drinking too much, are some straightforward beginner rules I follow. It's about building it into your current routine –> choose one, and aim for that as a daily goal.I also recommend having a weekly activity, preferably with other people. And (if possible), visit a museum, a new town, or explore a new place once a month. I find the most difficult times to draw, are the times where I having nothing to do but draw –> as paradoxical as that may sound. Remember to be alive! :) People who feel alive, make art that feel alive.My current approach to learning:Idk lol :D (Note to self: Update this section before going live)Notes: Too much to cover lol but essentially but
Art materials
These are my main art materials. Please note that most of them are more luxury than necessity.Sketchbooks:A5 spiral-sketchbook (Primary sketchbook)A4 spiral-sketchbookPencils / Markers:STAEDTLER coloring pencils (Primary pencils)Flying-tiger Copenhagen HB-pencilsPanduro Alcohol MarkersDerwent Charcoal pencils (for classical drawing only)0.5 Graphgear500, Pentel (for writing)Digital gear / programs:CLIP Studio Paint WACOM Intuos M ProNekojira's Brushset 1 (CLIP Studio Paint)Nekojira's Brushset 2 (CLIP Studio Paint)Additional stuff:Office/school pencil sharpener (Same one I've had since middle-school)Kneaded eraser (for classic drawing only)Double-sided blending stumps (keep one side light, and the other for very dark smudging)Courses / Books:Halftone Studio – Introduction to Drawing (Currently working with this one)Nekojira – From Shapes to Characters (Paused)James Gurney – Color and Light (Paused)Pinterest: Random folder
Day 901-903(PICTURE + Digital version)I could talk about the muscle mapping, but all I will do here is repeat what I stated in the last entry about it: Learning the anatomy of muscles will not make me better at constructing a believeable body (and I'll explain why in a moment) –> Mapping the muscles, and understanding the anatomy helps guide where shadow/light should be, which is helpful for rendering; not necessarily construction/sketching. Of course this can be different from person-to-person, but knowing where the chest-muscles connect, help me feel more confident in what I'm doing (due to improved understanding).Day 901 is a lot more interesting however, because I used an approach called Shape Capturing. The rule to follow here is to use between 5-7 straight lines to capture the shapes in a reference, and look for negative space. Adding some principles from classical drawing to shape capturing: If you're struggling with proportions, use the 1, 2, 3 of observation:1. Big distances: Use plumb line (vertical or horisontal lines, spanning the height or width of the entire subject (example: Top of head to feet))2. Medium distances: Use triangulation3. Small distances: Eyeball itEdit: Realized it may not be very clear what I meant with 'Shape Capturing', so here is a digital version where I've separated each shape I captured (think of it like taking apart a LEGO-set in order to learn how it was made, and then putting it back together, using set same pieces).(SHAPE CAPTURING IMAGE)
Day 904-906(PICTURE)Going back to Taplin: Ideal proportions (Ideal proportions just means "proportions ideal for drawing" (day 894)) have an additional benefit that the guidelines will almost always be parallel with each other, with few-to-no exceptions. What this means, is that, if you can determine the perspective of the chin, nose-tip, brow-ridge or hairline –> all of these can be used to determine the perspective (and position) of each other. It is most common to look for the brow-ridge (aka. the boney part that can't move). Note that I'm not saying "look for the brows", as the brows can indeed move –> look for the brow-ridge; that is bone; it cannot move.Additionally, Taplin gave a really good principle to follow in all creative work: "If its not real to you, its not going to be real for the person looking at your work". By all means, it feels like a better formulation of what I tried to say in the last entry with "A person who does not feel alive, is unable to make art that feels alive". So Imma change my view, and agree with Taplin on this one; yoink!
Day 907-909(PICTURE)I may have understood Taplins point incorrectly, but it seems to make sense, that the part of the head, where the face sits (not just the front-plane, but also the wrapping around to side-planes), should be separated by a line, determined by where the ears lead. This lines helps determine where the jaw ends, and corresponds well to where the middle of the skull will be (when it crosses with the center-line of the face).On a more personal/life related note: I originally stated "I have more time now that I have a job", and while that's technically still true (45 hours weekly before --> 37 hours weekly now), I have noticed that I pile on more than I can chew, and usually try to force in some kind of rigid routine, without considering, that a rigid routine may not be the best thing for me.
Day 910-912(PICTURE)The facial 'third' finally makes sense to me! (Thanks Taplin). I remember Sam Yang (SamDoesArts) whom I followed back when I started, kept mentioning to 'divide the face into thirds', but it honestly never made sense to me why because – afterall – every face is different, so rigid measurements like that don't work.Well low-and-behold! I was wrong (again :'D ). I now understand that the facial thirds are ideal proportions --> will they fit every single face in the entire universe?! No of course not, and aiming for that would drive anyone insane. With the ideal proportions (face divided into thirds), it is as close to 90% of all faces we can possibly get --> and I may I also raise the question "Do you wish to draw every single face in existence?". My own answer is: obviously not lol. I want to draw Yanami, Aoki, Utena and Kashiro's faces - at some point, I'd also like to go for Kitagawa (I swear Kitagawa's face is a nightmare, so much detail o_O).
Day 913-915(PICTURE)Duolingo Japanese is quite fun to learn, and I've noticed that it becomes significantly easier for me to remember both how to write Hiragana + the meanings of each 'word', if I try to in some way, draw out what it is I want to communicate. So yeah, new side-quest unlocked! Learn Japanese for no reason.
Day 916-918(PICTURE)Muscles determine the placement of shadows/light. In other words, it seems that all that anatomy studying I did last year (and some during my first year), wasn't inherently "a waste of time"; but I was applying the anatomical knowledge in a much less helpful way than if I had used set understanding to determine shadows/light on the construction I already understood, rather than draw out every muscle, and determine the sillouette based off that.And yet: I think having a basic understanding of muscles that strongly affect the sillouette, is important to some degree (should note, I'm in a bit of a "shape capturing high" due to the success of my new digital illustration of Magia Baiser). As we say in Denmark: "Både og!"; its both and.
Day 918 EXTRA –I don't think this is the first time I've noticed it, but drawing unnamed random characters, quickly makes drawing a pretty bitter and boring 'assignment to complete', rather than something where I go "lol, that'd be funny to draw". What's the solution? Fan-art! (or OC's). And so to that end, I decided to go for a goofy lewd (but cute) character from a manga I've been reading. Not really intentionally, I just looked at the pose I made on day 901 and thought "This just screams Baiser".Note for PMC moderators: I have censored this illustration because her character-design is I've noticed that I lose interest in making an illustration, if it does not in some way tell a little story and/or matches the lore of how a character would act under the imaginary circumstances. So a note to anyone having a hard time finishing full illustrations –> Don't draw random unnamed characters that are just doing poses. Unnamed characters are great for practice and doodles, but if you're going to spend a lot of time on the illustration –> make sure you also ask yourself "what is going on in this illustration?", and build/make changes from there.Oh, and I had to censor this illustration because it got a bit too lewd for what I think is allowed on PMC... oops (Hello moderators! Feel free to delete the illustration if it is too much)
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Art-tips from the Community! |
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To be continued– See you next time, in Part. 17 ! |
That wraps up 960 days of learning to draw! Thank you so much for readingIf you have any questions or tips, feel free to ask in the comments :)
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Random thoughts from the past 60-days– Thoughts that I found interesting in their own right, but didn't really fit into this entry. |
507 x 290
