Bad Drawing Days - 7 Causes and How to Fix Them
We all have them from time to time. Those days when our drawings turn out badly, and we just don’t get why.
Just a few days ago your drawings turned out really good, and now they suck.
It begs the question…
Are Bad Drawing Days Inevitable?
While drawing is hard, it’s important to realize drawing is a skill, and as your drawing skillset improves, this is what you should experience:
Your bad drawings today are not as “bad” as your bad drawings from months or years ago
Your great drawings today are much “greater” than your great drawings from the past
Your “average” drawing quality overall goes up
The difference between your “bad drawings” and your “great drawings” becomes less wide
Meaning: As our skillset improves, the quality of your output will also go up, and your consistency improves.
That’s at least what I found with my own drawing skills. Here’s a comparison of a drawing that turned out bad from 2021 vs one from 2023:
Left: “Bad” drawing from 2021. Right: “Bad” drawing from 2023.
On the left, I lacked a few drawing fundamentals that made it turn out a bit messy. I didn’t know how to model edges. I didn’t have a proper process, less anatomy knowledge, so on and so forth.
In the right one, a Michelangelo sculpture study, the face actually turned out nicely.
The reason I call it “bad”, is that the design of the forearm is off. I lacked anatomical knowledge of the forearm insertions, and designed the form too square-ish, with an edge that’s too sharp.
Still, the right drawing is much better than the left, which proves the point: While bad drawing days will keep coming, your definition of “bad” changes as you get better with a structured drawing practice.
Alright, let’s get into the 7 Causes of Bad Drawing Days, and how to fix them!
7 Causes of Bad Drawing Days and How to Fix Them
Bad Drawing Cause 1: Skewed Development of Drawing Fundamentals:
Pen sketch from 2022 vs Pen drawing from 2024
You might be really great at one aspect of drawing, but lack others. When a drawing demands skills you lack, it turns out bad, if it happens to demand a skill you are good at, it turns out great.
In the pen sketches above you can see in the left one the marks are less clean, there are no anatomical landmarks in the face, edges are not developed, form is not modeled…
…while the right pen sketch has more of those elements going for it.
Here are some common examples of skewed development in drawing fundamentals:
You know how to measure lines and match values, but haven’t learned any perspective. As a result standing figures or frontal portraits are fine, but once the poses have more foreshortening and perspective in them, you are unable to make it work.
You focused a lot on drawing one subject, like portraits, and didn’t practice landscapes. It will take a while to build a visual memory for that new subject.
You always draw linearly with a pen, but haven’t practiced value drawing with pencil or charcoal.
You’ve never heard of or studied composition and design (big one!)
You’ve never heard of edges
The Solution
-> Be honest with yourself on what fundamentals of drawing you lack most, and learn how to practice drawing in a structured way with a tailored routine. Want to go even deeper? Check out my in-depth course Drawing Fundamentals In 7 Days.
Bad Drawing Cause 2: Lack of Planning & Process
Left: Side profile from 2021; Right: Side profile Sargent study from 2024
As you can see, the left drawing cuts into the left and top border of the paper, while the right drawing sits nicely in the middle of it, with enough space around it to breathe.
The difference is planning.
What differentiates a beginner from a more advanced artist, is that beginners jump into the drawing without making time to plan out the drawing and it’s process.
In fact, most are not even aware they have a drawing process or change it unknowingly each time they draw.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Do you jump straight into drawing, or do you take 5 minutes to look at your subject and make a plan?
Are you aware of your drawing process (or processes if you have several), or has that concept never entered your mind?
Have you ever planned the frame of your drawing, the background, and the arrangement of abstract shapes, lines, and values first (composition), or do you only focus on the subject?
Have you ever asked yourself what materials would be best suited for the subject, depending on lighting and style, or do you just draw with what you happen to have in your hand?
Answers to these questions should clarify if more planning & process awareness could level up your consistency!
The Solution
-> Make it a habit to pre-plan your drawing for 5 minutes before starting. Think about: frame, background, composition, materials, value scale, focal point, style, and whatever else you can think of.
-> Write out your current process once, as if you’d write down a factory process. Then ask yourself: Is this process missing something? How can it be improved?
Bad Drawing Cause 3: Dependence on Reference & Copying
Caption: Left: Great figure drawing reference. Right: Maybe a fine picture, but not beginner friendly to study figure drawing.
Often beginner drawings are only as good as their references.
If the reference already has great composition, design and other visual elements in place (like the dynamic muse reference on the left), then your drawing comes out great.
If you draw a bad reference with less than ideal lighting and too much noise (like the right reference), your drawing comes out bad…
…causing bad drawing days.
The Solution
-> When you draw from references, choose great ones. There are many great artist reference sites. Take a bit of time to find a good one.
-> Over time create your own references (Yes, make your own photos!) and draw from life. Nothing else will teach you to design for yourself.
Bad Drawing Cause 4: Lack of concentration and presence
Left: Quick sketch with purposefully scattered attention; Middle: Same sketch done with a bit more focus. Right: 2 Marks done with varying degrees of concentration
For most people who start out drawing, it can feel tiring very quickly.
We are so used to be in conceptual “thinking mode” in school and at work, that we are not used to be in “visual mode”, using our hands. As a result our concentration quickly diminishes.
Here are some situations you might be able to relate to:
After a few minutes of drawing, you start making more rushed marks thinking “maybe if I just wing it something good will come out”.
You constantly move your drawing position around, instead of having a stable one.
When you are excited about drawing a reference, you are highly engaged and drawings turn out great.
When you draw a reference you don’t really like, you aren’t engaged, and drawings look careless.
The Solution
-> If you struggle with concentration and presence, practice it separately through 20 minutes of daily meditation (there are great guides all over the internet).
-> Make it a habit to sit straight, get into an alert but comfortable position, and decide to fully focus for a set period of time on the drawing.
-> Listen to music without vocals while drawing to improve your focus, e.g. classical music, jazz, or electronic beats.
Bad Drawing Cause 5: Using Materials You Are Not Used To
Caption: Faber Castell Pencil 7B, the same tonal mark on 3 different papers.
Materials matter for great drawing outcomes. Take the image above.
The paper on the very right resulted in a much smoother tonal mark than ones on the middle and left, even though it’s the same 7B pencil, applying the same pressure.
With the paper on the right, you’ll have an easy time making smooth tones, with the ones on the left you’d pull your hair out trying.
The materials you use most, are the ones you understand best.
Ask yourself:
Are you always using the same drawing tools and papers, or do you constantly switch both?
Have you ever taken the time for dedicated material experiments to find your preferred ones, or are your materials just the ones you “happen to use”, just because…
Are you aware of which materials suit which drawings best? For example when to draw on toned paper versus on white paper.
If you don’t understand which tools work best for which drawings, then materials will cause you bad drawing days. It’s avoidable!
The Solution:
-> Test drawing lines and value scales with 3 different drawing tools (pen, pencil & charcoal) on 3 different papers. Take note: Which combination feels best and works for you? Which one works against you?
-> Start noticing which materials work best for what kind of drawings. E.g. toned paper for darker drawings, white paper for high-key drawings. Chose the right tool for the right job.
Bad Drawing Cause 6: Lack of Problem Solving
3 toned paper drawings of the same head. Notice how head 1 and 2 have elements that work and elements that don’t work. Those that work went into head number 3.
Boldini studies of the same painting. Notice the second head looks a bit more proportional, while the line and tonal quality is nicer on the left one.
Sometimes, even with great planning, process awareness, and all the other causes addressed, you might find yourself stuck at a difficult drawing. It challenges you and you are not sure why.
You probably experienced this before:
You start the drawing strong but find yourself midway confused, unable to figure out how to proceed without messing up the drawing.
You start the drawing, but just can’t figure out why it already looks bad from the start.
Well, the good news is: This will only cause you bad drawing days if you don’t expect it.
Instead realize: Drawing is visual problem-solving.
The Solution:
-> Expect to run into visual problems you haven’t encountered before while drawing, and develop the ability to think them through, make decisions, and move on consciously step-by-step.
-> A helpful trick: Mentally go through all fundamentals of picture making in your head. What’s the value design, what’s the composition, are the lines confident, Are the shapes clear, Is the anatomy accurate, are any features off, does anything dominate, Is the focal point still the focal point, Does anything look careless, etc.? Then correct each.
-> If your first attempt turns out bad, take 5 minutes to analzye why. Then start from the beginning. Make at least 3 honest attempts. You’ll find your 3rd attempt is already much, much better than the first. Remember: You can take as many attempts as needed.
Bad Drawing Cause 7: Not Caring
The photo on the left is from my holiday in Vietnam. I’m excited to draw it. The one on the right is a free stock image. I feel no connection to it.
This is a less technical cause of bad drawing days, but worth mentioning.
To create great drawings, you have to care.
Meaning, you must want to create a great drawing out of the subject you are looking at, and set the standard for yourself that this is something worthwhile depicting on paper.
Not caring can be due to a lack of reflection on why you are drawing in the first place. Ask yourself:
Why do you draw? Have you ever thought about this and can give a well-reasoned answer?
Why do you like great drawings and paintings? Can you describe why, when you see one?
What’s your drawing goal and how do you wish your drawings would look like eventually?
If you don’t develop a connection to why you want to draw certain subjects, and draw in general, and you don’t have a vision of where you want to take your art… well, then you’ll have more bad drawing days!
The Solution:
-> Spend some time thinking about WHY you draw.
-> Spend some time finding master drawings and paintings YOU love, and think about WHY you like them. Draw them.
-> Spend some time creating drawing goals for yourself, and a vision of how YOU want to draw.
Closing Thoughts
That’s it. I hope those tips will make bad drawing days a rare occasion for you.
If they do happen remember: You can work through them, figure out why they happened, and learn a ton from them.
Often bad drawing days teach you the greatest lessons on what you need to work on to level up your skills.
Until next time!
