10,000 bad drawings (200/10000)

[Shyam Sailus]

Hello everyone
I have decided to get out of my comfort zone and decided to draw 10000 pages of drawing.
This thread is a way to encourage everyone to draw. I think the key is to not take it seriously, not get mad when you can't do something yet and never give up.
I thank you, art students. Thank you for your dedication to the arts.

[Julia]

Ah ah! I believe you meant 10,000 drawings and not 10,000 pages of drawings? It is still an awful lot!
Maybe @gavpartridge is right : try to get a few decent ones, it is a challenge in itself since, as we progress, we're mostly seeing faults in our past drawings...
You can post them here for a little bit of cheer up!

[Shyam Sailus]

@Shyam-Sailus

(sorry I cant photograph all 100 drawings)

9900 more

[Heather Boyd]

@Shyam-Sailus yes I agree with @Julia 10,000 drawings like you have two heads on the bottom left -count as 2 plus 4 ghosts plus 3 rats, 10 bags is a lot easier to work through and achievable. You don't want to make something so unreachable, because choosing and completing the right goals for yourself is very important to avoid burnout and feel and know you can actually apply what you've learned in your own creations (I have fallen victim to this). Even 50 drawings/sketches that work on a specific skill like character design and then later 50 drawings/sketches for one of your best characters in 50 gestures etc... What @gavpartridge said on quality, I agree.

It's great that you have completed 100, but I'd be more focused in even taking ones you've drawn and push them more, if those ghost characters are not your on -make your own, if they are create many more with what others have said above about 10,000 drawings not pages.

Anyways just something to think about.

[Shyam Sailus]

@Heather-Boyd

Story from the book Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an “A”.

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

[Norman Morana]

Hi @Shyam-Sailus I like this goal of crating 10,000 drawings. There’s a lot to be said about getting those pencil miles in. I want to back up @Heather-Boyd on this and suggest you try to find a little more focus on your 10k drawings, too. I like your example of the divided class, and I have no doubt that by just making 10,000 drawing you’ll improve a substantial amount.

Ten thousand drawings is a bit of a vague goal. If you want to try and get a little more out of it, and possibly have better work in the end, maybe try to make some goals for yourself to go along with the 10k. If you’re wanting to make a career out of art or get a job, figure out what those could be and see how you can focus your drawings to that. Maybe something like “this 1k drawings will focus on figure drawing” or this “100 on perspective.”

There is a trap you can easily fall into if you’re only focused on moving the pencil. I myself fell into this for a few years after college. Despite drawing and painting everyday for years I had very little work that I liked and no portfolio level work to show for it. Maybe a mix of both, you need some quality to go in with this giant amount of quantity.

I wish you all the luck on your 10k drawings, this will be an exciting journey for you!

[Joanne Roberts]

I think you have set a great goal and it seems to be working for you. Challenges are all about what you personally want to get out of it, and this is obviously what you want. Congratulations on your 100 drawing pages in 20 days. I see some from the classes here. I hope you are getting a lot out of them. Developing a process and a daily habit will both definitely benefit you. I am excited to see where you go in the next month. !!!!!!!

[Jules]

I love this idea! I am such a perfectionist that I am always scared to draw things and share them. I think because I won’t draw things in case they turn out bad, I am majorly missing out on some amazing works I could create. I have a giant project I’m working on (you can see it on the forum under HELP (Please) where I am going to be failing a lot and it is so hard and scary! Way to be brave! And don’t give up!!!

[Julia]

Totally agree with @Joanne-Roberts. 100 in 20 days, it s amazing! And they re not even bad! Keep up the good work!

[burvantill]

This sounds familiar. I think the SVS Holy Trinity has touched on this topic in the past. What I get from it is, that it takes a lifetime to become a master at something and to just keep churning out your art, that you will get there. Keep a positive outlook on this project so you don't get burned out and know that even if you slow down, that every little bit you do will get you one step closer to your goal(s). I say goal(s) because it seems as soon as we artists get to what we think of as our goal, we immediately see a new one on the horizon. Good luck. =)x

[Shyam Sailus]

@Shyam-Sailus

[Shyam Sailus]

@Shyam-Sailus

[Shyam Sailus]

@Shyam-Sailus

[Shyam Sailus]

[arielg]

I dont understand this.
so if you get to 10000 your drawings will then always be appealing?

to me all my drawings are bad, because i don't care about appeal yet, because i'm learning. when I think i've got the foundations right, i can try to work on my appeal. I mean as in constant drawing.

[Shyam Sailus]

@Shyam-Sailus

[Shyam Sailus]

@Shyam-Sailus I'm Currently learning Frank Reilly Portrait Drawing...

[Heather Boyd]

@arielg even when you are working on the fundamentals, your lines will get better, your understanding and ability to draw shapes in perspective to form will improve and so what you mean by appeal will grow over time. I don't understand drawing and learning the fundamentals as separate from visual appeal, just a progression forward. @Shyam-Sailus is drawing 10,000 works to keep on moving forward, understanding and applying on the go. That's my impression at least.

[arielg]

@Heather-Boyd well its obvious that someone not learning the fundamentals and doing 10k will improve much less than a guy who is actually doing the job, which is much harder. doesn't necessarily mean the first guy wont improve, but he will have much less understanding and thus more probable less improvement.

my question was - why is the need for 10k bad drawings? its very dependent on your attitude when you draw.
it sounds like every drawing should be bad. why? and also why should a drawing be any good if you haven't got fundamentals yet? well it can.
I just don't understand the purpose of all this. there are marathons of iteration, like draw 100 faces. or 100 eyes. or 250 boxes/cylinders.
which focus on improvement. this 10k bad drawings seem to focus on continued bad drawing?? can you explain this...?

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@arielg I believe it's called 10,000 bad drawings in order to remove the pressure on the artist to make good work. it gives artists the permission to screw up, experiment, and have fun. In my opinion, the right title should be just '10,000 drawings'. it could be bad, it could be good. The quality is not important.