Getting better at drawing by not drawing

I always feel like I get better at drawing after a long break from it.
When I finished manga-school in Japan I didn't draw for probably 2 months and that's not the first time I've gone for months without drawing.

The feeling that "I wanna draw!" isn't always present for me. It comes and goes and sometimes it goes away for a looong time.

But eventually after coming back to Sweden I found myself bored again and started drawing, first just random scribbles as usual but then I picked up some coloring pencils and realized I could actually use them to make since colored drawings.

I used to color with color pencils a lot in upper secondary high school, but I sucked at using them (but back then I sucked at all kinds of drawing) and I thought that since I basically hadn't practiced using them for over 4 years I'd still suck.
But lo and behold I had improved a lot since then! Without any training what so ever!

This was quite a suprise to me and got me thinking that maybe I had improved in other areas too without knowing it. So I started coloring some with water colors (toumeisuisai), which I have only worked with once or twice in Japan and then totally discarded for acrylic colors and "color-inks" which I like better.

I have never liked coloring with water colors and thought my drawings would turn out shitty like they often do when I use water colors, but instead they turned out very nicely. After coloring these drawings I no longer hate water colors!

Like I said, I have barely used these coloring methods recently and to have improved this much by doing what feels like nothing feels great! I think it's not just me, but it's like this for everyone. Sometimes the mind just needs a break to be able to rewire itself and let you see things differently. It's like how maybe you're trying to solve a difficult task and you just don't know what to do, and then after you sleep on it the answer suddenly comes to you.

And it's not just coloring, my lineart and the way I draw my characters has also improved. It's like during those 2 years at manga-school I never drew stuff as well as I can. I never drew characters with very intricate details in the hair, for example. This one teacher always used to tell my that the hairstyles I drew looked bad and stiff, well, now they don't anymore! I wish I could show that teacher my new drawings, cause I know she'd be suprised.

I still have A LOT more to learn about drawing, but atleast I am happy for now with the improvements I've made. I finally feel like I have a handfull of drawings that are of "portfolio-worthy-quality" and I've never felt that before about any of my drawings.

So, I guess the lesson is, even if you like drawing don't be afraid to take breaks some times ^o^


Water Color drawings:

 Color pencils drawings:

Digital: