{"id":3618,"date":"2020-03-02T20:11:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T20:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eu.shop.wacom.eu\/us\/?p=3618"},"modified":"2026-06-05T09:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:25:13","slug":"how-to-beat-anxiety-and-get-started-drawing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/how-to-beat-anxiety-and-get-started-drawing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Beat Anxiety and Get Started Drawing"},"content":{"rendered":"Last month I wrote about the importance of drawing something every day, and the effects it has on your brain.\u00a0 But there are times when it just\u2026 Doesn\u2019t happen. And that\u2019s also because of brain stuff: Especially anxiety, which can hamper the drawing process both mentally and physically.<\/span>\n\nThe Wacom One is aimed at people in that awkward intermediate stage\u2014past the luck and excitement of a beginner\u2019s honeymoon stage, but not quite at the level of a seasoned pro who can sit down and bust it out like a machine\u2014in other words, the people who might most understand the struggle of self-motivating. Ideas flow and dance through your mind all day, but the moment you sit down at the tablet, you forget not just what you wanted to draw, but how to use Photoshop and what pen is.<\/span>\n\nSo here are the steps to getting started with a drawing session. (Drawings done on the Wacom One with Clip Studio Paint.)<\/span>\n

Part 1: Mental<\/span><\/h1>\nProcrastinators tend to self-deprecate by saying they\u2019re just lazy: especially artists, who are haunted by the stereotype of laziness wherever we go.\u00a0 But more likely, it\u2019s actually fear. And we know the scientific cause: Your right amygdala.<\/span>\n\nThe amygdalae are two coffee-bean-sized parts of your temporal lobes that regulate your emotions.\u00a0 The left regulates multiple ones, where the right specializes in fear, storing and recalling triggers.<\/span>\n

\"\"Fig. 1.<\/em><\/p>\nIt\u2019s been found that chronic anxiety swells the amygdalae, making them stronger and perpetuating the anxiety in a vicious cycle\u2014over time, they can increase up to three times their size\u2014and that people who suffer from mental difficulties that prevented them from getting to work consistently have larger ones.\u00a0 So if anyone asks, you can say you\u2019re not procrastinating, it\u2019s just big brain time.<\/span>\n\nHow do you actually get to work, though?<\/span>\n\nIn some cases, the solution is just sitting down and powering through it because it has to be done.\u00a0 But in others, it\u2019s to relax.<\/span>\n\nIf you stop and actually pay attention to how you feel when you\u2019re imminently faced with doing a task you\u2019ve been procrastinating on, you might notice your breathing is shallower than normal, or your body is tightly wound to the point where it can even cross the line into physical pain.<\/span>\n\nAnd it turns out that\u2019s caused by your expectations.\u00a0 When you impose too many conditions on yourself, shame yourself for not drawing fast or well enough, or pressure yourself to not mess up a drawing, it turns your amygdala on.\u00a0 You might not notice this, but over time, you\u2019re building up a subconscious aversion to drawing, making it something you associate with guilt and negativity. Your amygdala will activate your stress response whenever you have to do it, meaning you\u2019ll need to bring yourself down before you can get any work done.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nIf you find you have to calm yourself down by surfing the internet or getting lost in a distraction before you\u2019re calm enough to draw, that might be why: You\u2019re no longer seeing it as fun, but as the chore you have to put off by doing something fun. Some of you reading this might think I\u2019m soft-pedaling it or making excuses for laziness, but it helps no one to be that reductive.<\/span>\n\nThe real solution is to do what you can to dissociate art from those feelings of unpleasantness.\u00a0 Practice calming down, having more realistic expectations of your drawings, and removing the pressure to make each one flawless.<\/span>\n\nIf you struggle with this problem, here are three homework assignments.\u00a0 Do <\/span>one<\/b> of these next time you get to work.\u00a0 I promise, they\u2019ll make things easier.<\/span>\n

    \n \t
  1. Find an active art Discord where you can stream your drawing program. Being around friends and other users enjoying themselves will lessen the tension. And they\u2019ll often provide positive feedback, inspiring you to keep going.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n \t
  2. Meditate for one minute before you start drawing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n \t
  3. Put on a comedy album or podcast while you draw.\u00a0 (Audio only. Nothing you have to watch.) Having your drawing stress periodically interrupted by laughter will break the tension and create a positive association in your mind.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nFinally, the most optimistic thing I can say is that it gets easier with practice.\u00a0 The more you practice buckling down, the better you\u2019ll get at it. It doesn\u2019t happen overnight.\u00a0 And the more you draw, The more confident you\u2019ll get that you can draw a difficult subject without blowing a brain vessel, so the less stressful drawing will be.<\/span>\n

    If It\u2019s Still Not Working, Reevaluate What\u2019s Wrong<\/span><\/h2>\n...Sometimes, you try everything and it still just doesn\u2019t come.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s not just that the act of doing it feels intimidating, but the very <\/span>idea <\/span><\/i>of doing it just seems miserable.\u00a0 You don\u2019t even care to see the final product that much, you just want it behind you so you can do something that doesn\u2019t suck.<\/span>\n\nIf that\u2019s the case, your failure to launch might be telling you there\u2019s something fundamentally misconceived about the task at hand.\u00a0 There have been way more times than I can count when I\u2019ve sat and been unable to do the thing for hours, then I decided to try drawing it from a different angle or with a different composition, and suddenly it just flowed out and the piece came together\u2014or at least I could see a clearer path to the end from that point.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n\nThere are people who\u2019ll disagree with me on this\u2014some of them industry professionals who have way more right to talk about it than I do\u2014but drawing isn\u2019t as linear as moving boxes from one place to another.\u00a0 There\u2019s never just one way to draw a thing, or to solve a problem you encounter when drawing it.<\/span>\n\nFor some artists, it really is as simple as sitting down and drawing the subject in the way they best know how, at a steady pace until it\u2019s done.\u00a0 Others work in bursts, but get a comparable amount of work done in the end. Simply learning your style and how to work with it goes a long way.<\/span>\n

    Part 2: Physical<\/span><\/h1>\n

    Untense<\/span><\/h2>\nHand, arm, and shoulder injuries <\/span>are omnipresent among artists<\/span><\/a>. And once again, that dastardly anxiety\u2019s to blame.\u00a0 You can actually prevent physical injury by consciously untensing before you draw.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nAnd it\u2019s more important than you might think. Stress <\/span>has been shown<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>cause muscle rigidity<\/span><\/a> and poor hand-eye coordination in athletes. Fewer physicians study digital artists, but we can assume the same for us. That means less fluid, less controlled drawings and a higher risk of repetitive strain injury.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nThis is a several-step process, beginning with when you first sit down.\u00a0<\/span>\n\n \n

    Step 1: Back against the seat<\/h3>\nAnd keep it there.\u00a0<\/span>\n\n\"\"\n

    Images from <\/span><\/i>Quartz at Work<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\nUpright sitting is preferable, although the requirements aren\u2019t as rigid as shown here. If you can avoid forward sitting, do so whenever possible. If you're using a flat tablet or a drawing monitor set at an appropriate angle, you should only need to use it while drawing on paper. Reclining is OK, but makes using a tablet harder on your arm.<\/span>\n\nAnd if you must use the forward sitting position, bend at the waist as shown. Hunching with your upper back is a one-way ticket for the pain train.<\/span>\n\n\"\"\n

    <\/h3>\n \n

    Step 2: Do This Stuff<\/h3>\n
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    If you\u2019re reading this release your shoulders from your ears, unclench your jaw, and remove your tongue from the roof of your mouth. We physically tend to hold onto stress in least noticeable ways. Relax.<\/p>— devyn (@sentfromdevyn) August 6, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote>