How To Make A Great Sketch in 30 Minutes! LET'S GO!

The 30min challenge is a daily exercise I've been promoting on this Patreon for a while. The benefits are many; it allows artists to streamline their process quickly, boosts their creativity, and opens the window for feedback from other artists in our community. Competition is great and useful, but it's true that trying to come up with something "decent" in 30 minutes might be a big reason not to try. In today's posts, I want to give you a few tips for you to approach this challenge quickly and don't miss the benefits of this habit.

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1. Focal Point

Focus on the most fundamental characteristic of your goal and put your attention on that focal point. Leave the rest as loose as necessary. Here is how I often do it: pay attention to the level of render and detail the red area has, that's where I focus my energy and time. Due to the limited amount of time, having more than two points of high-quality work might be difficult to achieve, but one is fine.

2. References  

Creating from imagination is a great exercise, but you might not feel bright every day. Since you should try out this exercise on a daily basis, using references might help you streamline your process. Once you read the topic, seek for references that might fit the theme and feel free to make a simple interpretation of it. Remember, you don't need to make an exact copy; take it as simple practice. You can boost your drawing skills with shapes-only line art or maybe just values using brush strokes.

3. What a "Decent" Sketch is?

Last but not least, I'm not here to judge you (unless you're asking for it), so what we consider 'decent' is really up to you. There's nothing wrong with setting goals, but be mindful of your limitations. The more ambitious the goal, the harder it might be to achieve within 30 minutes.

I suggest not setting the bar too high at the beginning of this journey. You're likely to face some level of frustration regardless, so it's best to keep things simple for the first few days or weeks. A 'decent' piece doesn't need to be a fully rendered masterpiece as long as it's understandable. As mentioned before, you can achieve a lot with just simple lines or brush strokes, especially if painting is more your style.

A few weeks ago, a patron named Nutty mentioned, 'I find it nearly impossible to make a somewhat decent image in 30min, any tips and ideas on how to improve?' If you're mainly facing technical issues, the tips I've shared should help. However, if you're not satisfied with any results, consider this question: 

What's the most visually simple aspect you enjoy in a picture, painting, or sketch? 

Making a great sketch is about identifying visually what matters most to you, and focus on that to meet the "decent" expectations. I hope this helps. Now join us on Discord and drop your art! Thank you for your support.