When I turned a love of doodling into illustrating and eventually designing, one of the first and most prominent pieces of advice teachers, mentors and the internet pushed was the necessity of drawing daily. Professionals in the industry and iconic quotes from deceased greats seemed to routinely circle back to a central, and unavoidable, truth: practice, practice, practice.

And all that proved to be true, at least for a while. The more I did, the better I got, the more my confidence grew, and boom, I’d earned a degree in the damn thing. But as the usual happenings of life filled my calendar coupled with an unfortunate appetite for immediate artistic mastery, free time to just draw seemed out of reach. And that’s not groundbreaking. Runners, gardeners, yoga masters, painters, pocket watch technicians or any person with any hobby knows it takes discipline to do one thing 365. Especially when that one thing is also supposed to be your 9-to-5.

I recently started a new job and found myself excited to create again. I had to get back in the saddle and make time for free time. Procreate felt like a desolate sad place, filled by canvases with only a few doodles I started knowing they’d never see the finish line. My brushes were dry, my brain was dry, and I wanted to learn new skills fast. Again, with that wanting to be great immediately thing, it can be a real crutch.

It felt like I was stuck in a viscous goop. Some designers might call this a creative rut or maybe something more like writer’s (designer’s) block. For me, nothin’ but viscous goop.

That’s when I found Flo. Of course, I’d done some researching and browsing, Behancing, Pinteresting and YouTubing the last few months to get inspired or learn a new trick here and there. Flo, though, takes you step by step, almost line by line, through fun illustrations guiding you on technique, craft and honestly, relaxation.  

While the product is eye-catching and seemingly celebratory, the bottom line is it’s copying. But copying for practice, that’s something I could get used to.

I think it’s imperative to have illustration skills and be able to create original works to be a successful designer, at least for me it is. But Flo taught me it’s okay to take hours to yourself to draw, and it doesn’t need to be groundbreaking, it doesn’t need to be perfect and well, it doesn’t even need to be original.

I learned a new method for drawing trees. I learned how to texturize a hillside. I learned how to set up an isometric grid. I learned how to use drawing assist to my advantage. I learned how to highlight and shade in a new way. I learned how to draw a palm tree correctly! I have a new foundation of better and faster techniques I can implement into my own drawings. Thanks, Flo.

Check out Art with Flo on her website or on YouTube or click each drawing to watch these specific tutorials.