Drawing Exploration: A Gentle Tool for Learning
Prompts to guide you from frustration to growth
A few weeks ago, my confidence in drawing plummeted. I’d gone to another antique car meetup but my sketches were awful.
I have always had trouble learning linear perspective but these sketches pointed to an additional woe: estimating proportions. I wondered if there was something wrong with me that after much study and many years, I was still struggling with the same difficulties. In despair, I thought: Are these problems worth solving? Maybe I should just give up.
But the truth was, I didn’t want to give up. I wanted to grow and improve as an artist. Then I got the idea to look for what was working in my sketches as a path to improving what was giving me so much grief.
What I realized was that I needed to ask better questions, ones that could lead to learning instead of discouragement.
Today I’m sharing a gentle tool for exploration of your drawings. Please know that this isn’t about hard self-judgment but about mindful reflection and observation. You don’t have to answer every question for every drawing. Sometimes you may choose to be more attentive to the whole piece and other times not. You decide.
The questions are grouped into four categories. Some categories may not apply to your work. Remember, this is a menu, not a checklist.
Drawing Exploration: A Tool for Learning
Before you dive into the tool, take a moment to connect with your breath and simply gaze at your drawing. When you’re ready, start with the first set of questions.
Overall Impact
Step back and ask what the drawing communicates and how it feels.
Does the drawing feel successful? Does it convey what I want it to convey?
What were my hopes for it? What got in the way?
Does the drawing feel expressive and spontaneous or tight and overworked?
✨ If you’re finding these prompts helpful so far, there’s more waiting for you inside. As an Insider, you’ll get the full exploration tool—expanded into clear categories, with guiding reflections you can return to again and again.
