10 things you should know about drawing.

1. Drawing isn't easy and most people think they suck at it. Mathematicians are some people that think they suck at drawing. Not all, but like 105% of the majority does. That's a joke. It's like 100% or something. Some artist come to the conclusion that they suck by showing it to someone and having their drawing critiqued or by critiquing it themselves. If someone tells you your drawing sucks, tell them they suck. Try approaching or gathering constructive criticism. Here's 10 questions you can ask about your art to get real answers for you and from them.
   
2. Never compare your art to someone else's. You each have individual styles. At least we hope you do.
3. Tracing is completely allowed to learn how to draw if your trying to learn a style.
4. Don't crap on yourself. I used to get upset with myself when my drawings, to me, looked like they were crappy. This led me to drawing over and over again trying to accomplish a 'good' drawing. Since I thought my drawings were bad I threw them away. If you warp your mind and think to yourself, "Someone else might love it," you may let go of that negative energy and you'd be amazed how many people will fall in love with it. Though you can use the negative energies to fuel your creative need to push yourself, by converting the energy to positive and accepting the flow of the line as it's drawn, it's easier to become accustomed to your line style and learning new ones in a positive manner may help push your drawing techniques further. Don't beat yourself up. Also, learn karate or judo since you may get beat up a lot.
   
5. Don't throw it away. Never. Just keep them until you are at least 37 years of age. Then re-think it then.
6. Try different pencils, ink mediums and sharpeners. Pencils can be forgiving, but sometimes they aren't. Sharpening pencils sometimes helps and you get different line and edge effects. But wait, are you using a #2 pencil for your drawings? Try using crayons, or pens, to fill in color or just to draw with. This helps your hand relax or find new angles. Then when you go back to the pencil you can use what you learned from the pens to condition your hand to draw in particular manners.
7. Get fixative to preserve your pencil drawings.
8. Date and sign your work. I don't care if you name it, but date it and sign it.
9. Speaking of signing things. Your signature is the closest authenticity to who you are. There are curves and lines in each signature that come naturally when it's time to leave their mark on the paper. It's the only real thing we carry on from when we are taught penmanship in elementary school. I bet it was difficult for most, but I remember sitting and struggling with it until I came up with something I liked. Then I found this stroke. It was almost like a loop. I rather enjoyed making that loop and since my hand had learned that stroke it became a part of my drawing in some instances. Sometimes I'd start my drawing with that first letter stroke of my name then swoosh it off and let it go. If you have a particular letter, or if you are fond of your signature, try using elements from them to make your art.
10. Doodles are awesome and are in my opinion, the freest, and funnest form of drawing.