How I Reconnected With My Art

There was a point when drawing stopped feeling creative to me.

I’d been relying on the grid method for years, and while it helped me get accurate results, it took something from me. Every drawing felt the same, controlled, predictable, lifeless. I wasn’t creating anymore. I was copying.

Over time, that disconnection ate away at me. Drawing had always been my anchor, I’d been doing it for over 20 years but suddenly, it felt like a chore. I stopped picking up the charcoal and stopped drawing altogether. And when I did, it was as if I’d lost the part of me that made me an artist.

That loss hit hard. It brought anxiety, frustration, even a sense of identity slipping away.

So I made a decision - to do something I wasn’t good at. To strip everything back and start again, freehand. No grid. No shortcuts. Just me, my hand, and the paper.

It was humbling. The drawings were messy, the results uncertain but for the first time in years, I felt alive when I drew. I could feel myself improving, piece by piece. Every mark carried intention again.

And then it shifted. The likenesses were accurate, but they also had soul. I could see me in the work. The confidence, the control, the freedom it was all there.

After two decades of drawing, I finally felt like an artist again.

Freehand drawing didn’t just improve my work, it reconnected me to it. It reignited that fire, gave me a distinctive style, and most importantly, reminded me why I fell in love with art in the first place.

If you've ever felt that disconnection from your art and find your way back, I'd love to help you out.