Quality of Practice More Than Quantity of Hours

Story and drawings from Mary Townsend, art competition winner

I heard a theory that it takes about 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill. So in the autumn of 2019 I promised myself to sketch every day, hoping to improve on my just-above-average drawing ability.

I want to be able to produce artworks exactly as I envision them and not remain bound to copying photographs, trying to obtain the realism I’m looking for.

At first, extra practice did help but soon slowed down and I felt stuck.

After 6 months I wasn’t much closer to my goal than when I began.

I knew I needed help and I’d already come across the Drawing Academy online course. I was receiving regular emails with lots of practical tips and techniques.

The emphasis on learning to draw in the same way as the Old Masters made sense. It’s a tried and tested method. I see the proof every time I visit the National Gallery.

For me, studying with the Drawing Academy has been a game changer and I would recommend this course to anyone who is serious about improving their art.

Learning traditional skills from professional fine artists and teachers with video enhanced assignments, allow me to learn and practice at a pace that works for me.

Being able to get artworks properly critiqued is so important to progress, as is the support of the community as we share work and ideas via the online gallery.

In my opinion my drawing skills have improved more in the first three months of being a Drawing Academy student than the whole of the previous year struggling on my own.

My ability to observe is gradually moving beyond recognising objects to being able to break them down into shapes, lines and values. And my hand-eye co-ordination is also noticeably improving.

I’ve also learned that it’s the quality of practice more than the quantity of hours that masters a skill.

Although I’ve a long way to go, I know I’m moving in the right direction.

So thank you Drawing Academy for the lifetime membership and all the resources I need to make the journey an exciting and productive one.

Mary Townsend

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