awkwardarbor:

It disturbs me how many people don’t know the anatomy of a pen/pencil/brush/stylus/tool of choice when held by an artist. I would have thought this was common knowledge!

There is a tube inside your tool of choice that is filled with art. When you first pick it up for the day, there’s a very small blockage (the red part in the diagram that I have helpfully provided for you) of bad or awkward art that has sunk down and settled near the tip. The only way to get rid of it is to draw it out onto a page/canvas.

Once you do that, you can get to the good art! It’s totally normal. It happens to everyone. That’s why people do warmups before they draw – they know that awkward art is lurking right near the tip, so they’re getting rid of it.

New artists especially seem to not know that it’s there, and sometimes they might think their bad art blockage is never ending, but if you keep drawing, you’ll get to the good art. Sometimes that awkward art blockage can build up a little bit if you go a long time without drawing, too. Just keep going, though. I promise you that you can break through it, if you just keep going.