I Can't Draw! (Part 1)

A 3-part workshop for people who struggle with drawing

Hey y’all!

Last week, I did something new and (for me) nerve-racking—I taught a live, in-person drawing workshop! I teach online classes regularly but have not hosted many in-person events. I was invited to speak at a local art museum and before I could think about it too much, I said yes! Like many artists, I’m relatively introverted and awkward when given a microphone, so I was pretty nervous!

Anyways, the event happened last Thursday and it went pretty well, so now I’m sharing the workshop and drawing exercises here with you! This will be a 3-part series, with Part 1 below.

Here’s a summary of the workshop: Many people believe they can’t draw, but what they really mean is they can’t draw the way they think they’re SUPPOSED to draw. I’ve gotten stuck in that mindset too, but over the years, I learned to let go of the rules, comparisons, and expectations to draw more freely, have more fun, and find my own unique artistic style. This workshop aims to help you ditch the rules, let loose, and find your unique way of drawing!

Me nervously speaking at BRAHM last week

Who Am I?

So first, I thought I'd introduce myself and discuss some of my projects. I’m Christine Nishiyama and I'm a full-time artist. I went to school for graphic design and then became a self-taught artist and started working as an illustrator. I’ve been running my creative business, Might Could Studios, for the past 12 years. Under that umbrella, I have lots of different projects, including:

• Traditionally published books: Layla and the Bots graphic novel series with Scholastic

• Self-published picture books: We Are Fungi and We Are Jellyfish

• Craft books: Might Could Make a Book and Sketchbook to Style

When not making books, I also:

• Write weekly essays on my Substack, I Might Could Do That!, sharing my process and thoughts on artmaking

• Teach online classes on Skillshare, with 25+ on drawing and artmaking

• And draw in my sketchbook!

And the drawing in my sketchbook is really the thing I love the most. Making little drawings for no reason other than to do it, drawing whatever little story or character appears on the page just for the fun of it. And so, that brings me to why you're here today—for a drawing workshop.

But… I Can’t Draw!

Through teaching myself to draw and creating more than 25 art classes over the years, I’ve learned what's really holding people back from drawing how they wish they could draw. But I'm getting ahead of myself—so let’s back up.

I’m guessing many of you came here today because you like reading and looking at picture books. And then, when you sat down and saw paper and pens lying in front of you, you may have panicked because you believe that you can’t draw. Or more specifically, you believe you can’t draw well. So let’s start there.

Most of us grew up drawing as kids, whether scribbling with crayons as a toddler or doodling our favorite cartoon characters as we grew older. As kids, we drew simply because we liked to—because it was fun and we enjoyed it. But at some point, we started to notice the quality of our drawings.

Rules + Judgment

Maybe someone—a parent, an art teacher, a sibling, a classmate—told you you were drawing something the “wrong” way. Or maybe someone told you there were artistic rules to follow, and you weren’t following them, so therefore, your drawings were bad.

Comparison

Or perhaps, instead of encountering the rules, you ran into comparison. You noticed the quality of someone else’s drawings—an older sibling, a friend, someone who could draw well in your eyes. And then, you looked at your own art in a whole new light. You began to notice the lack of quality in your drawings. Your art wasn’t nearly as good as theirs.

A Changing Mindset

And so now, when you tried to sit down and draw, your mindset was suddenly different. You weren’t drawing because you liked drawing or because it was fun. You were drawing to live up to the comparison to someone else or achieve some ideal of perfection.

And that’s when most people quit drawing.

Crushed Creativity

I want to pause here, and ask you: when did you first begin to believe you couldn’t draw? Did something happen that made you think you drew badly? Did someone tell you the way you drew something was wrong or tried to show you the right way? (For you readers: I'd love for you to share any of these experiences as a comment here on this post!)

Most of us have a story like this, and it makes me so sad. It breaks my heart to think of all the art the world has missed out on because people’s creativity got crushed so early in life, stopping them from exploring it and seeing where it could go.

After 10 years of teaching artists—hearing our common experiences and seeing our similar struggles—I believe this learned “I Can’t Draw” mindset is the biggest obstacle to overcome in artmaking. Even for artists and people who regularly draw!

Once we believe we can’t do something well, that belief lingers in the back of our minds for years, clouding our experience. And I get it, I’ve been there. The jump from can’t to can is extremely difficult.

But my goal here isn't to change your mind from believing that you can’t draw to you can draw. That’s too big of a shift to make in one little workshop. My real goal today is: I want to take you from I can’t draw to I might could draw.

The Might Could Mindset

Might Could is kind of my mantra in life, as well as the name of my business. It’s southern slang here in North Carolina and is sort of in-between “can” and “can’t”. If someone asks you, “Hey, do you want to teach a live workshop in February?”, you’d reply, “Sure, I might could do that.” You want to, but you’re not totally sure that you can. The desire is there, but so is the doubt. Maybe you can, maybe you can’t, but you might could! I grew up hearing this phrase often from my mom and grandma.

Some people think the phrase is non-committal (sorry, planners) and some people find it frustrating (sorry, grammar nerds). But I love the gently optimistic mindset “might could” encourages. It inspires me to remain open, expand my idea of what’s possible, and stay light-heartedly positive.

Once I adopted might could as a belief system, it became much easier to approach my dreams and overcome challenges. Rather than already making up my mind before I even begin, might could puts the ball in my court. It encourages me to just try. The Might Could mindset reminds me that it’s really up to me if I can or can’t do something.

Next Up: The Three Big Artistic Challenges

In Part 2 of this workshop, we’ll see this mindset in action with what I’m calling the Three Big Artistic Challenges. Within the world of drawing, a large majority of people (even professional artists!) often believe and say to themselves: “I can’t draw faces, hands, and horses.” And again, I get it! Those things are extremely hard to draw!

So next week, we’ll look at each of those challenges and two different ways of approaching them: “I can’t” vs “I might could”!

Thanks for reading, see you next week!

<3,
Christine

P.S. Don’t forget to share your experiences with artistic rules, judgment, comparison, and whether you believe or have believed that you can’t draw in the comments below!