There is always something new to learn when it comes to sketching. Perfection is a goal for many, but I’ve learned to embrace imperfection.

That sounds odd, I know, and counter intuitive to creating good art.

Let me explain. Learning new techniques and growing as a sketcher involves getting things wrong, experimenting, finding what works and what doesn’t.

Give yourself permission to make mistakes

Giving yourself permission to get things wrong is immensely liberating. Mistakes are the lifeblood of creativity.

Put pencil to paper and scrawl, scratch, squiggle, do what you like. Try holding your pencil differently. Press hard. Be soft. Lose control. Don’t overthink. Be chaotic.

By doing all these things you learn and discover. Sure, you make mistakes, but you also grow.

I did this creating the image above. It contains a range of things and techniques to create a panorama in the dark fantasy style that I love. My aim was to give the viewer a ‘feast’ of things to look at in the picture. Not everything in the picture worked as I expected, but there are some nice contrasts that I can apply to future sketches.

The real beauty is in imperfection. Not perfection.