Nuki News #2 - Art Exercises

Previous Issue of Nuki News:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/32996988 

In my pursuit to getting used to drawing on a laptop, I’ve been doing these exercises! There’s a huge difference(for me) going from drawing with a tablet on a desktop, to drawing directly on a screen in my lap. It almost feels like learning how to draw all over again!

As you can see, it's pretty rudimentary! 

To build off of the previous Nuki News, I mentioned I was ‘hacking my mind’ - when you’re trying to change something in your life and form a new habit, it’s not easy. We’re always used to our routines and what we do day to day, and it’s typically the easiest(or more accurately, laziest) thing. Sleep in, lay on the couch, play video games, check messages for the 100th time, etc. To go into it more, I knew I wanted to be able to draw away from my desk and eventually be just as capable of drawing on a couch/in bed with a screen tablet as I am drawing at my desk on my Intuos Tablet. 

One of the biggest risks(for me) of investing over a thousand bucks on a portable drawing device had been “when am I going to actually USE it??” I’d borrowed my pal DeadStraybear’s iPad Pro for a month in 2019, and realized it was rare that I ever felt like using it. So I put off buying my laptop to consider that risk more heavily. When I finally bought it, I’d devised a way to get myself to draw on it *daily*! Practice! As an artist I tend to have periods where I lament not getting enough fundamentals or practice in. Another tactic is to make ALL content I make for my patreon done only on my laptop! So all the drawings I post for the AMA or Nuki News is purely from my laptop. 

Now, I have a reason to draw on it, what’s gunna get me to actually draw on it? This one is more mental for me - and to you, it might sound extreme! I tell myself “I’ll never make it as an artist unless I do these drawing exercises every day.” A strong part of sticking to habits is using different language to describe myself in my mind. If I say “I’m an artist” then I know I need to do this exercise every day. Just like if someone says “I’m a runner.” They probably run every day, rain or shine!

Now, what helps and makes this work(I’ve successfully done this for 3 weeks now, more than enough to form it into a habit) is that this drawing exercise is ridiculously simple -  it’s just lines, arcs, shapes, ovals, circles. It maybe takes me 30 minutes at most to get through it all. It also helps that I do genuinely believe it is true- an artist who practices these exercises will be limber and well-controlled with their hand-eye coordination by doing this. 

If Issue #01 of NukiNews was about your environment affecting your mind, this issue is more about your mind affecting your actions! To summarize, your habits make you who you are - if you want to change your habits, change what you call yourself. And make sure the habit is ridiculously simple that will help you achieve your long term goals. A runner needs to run every day to keep their body in shape for it, and an artist needs to exercise their hand-eye coordination skills daily to make sure their drawing quality is up to scruff! 

(Disclaimer: My opinions on what an artist ‘needs’ to do is just my opinion, I can totally get if it doesn’t work for you! I’m not trying to falsify any artist who doesn’t do art exercises like this daily, I didn’t do them until the start of this year, it's just what I tell myself to trick me into doing it!)

Is there anything you’re trying to get in the habit of doing? Maybe it could be simplified further! What could you tell yourself that would motivate you to do it daily?