03/11/2025
Artists are told to niche down. And before I go any further, I’ll acknowledge: I’m not a full-time artist. I do have a full-time creative job and freelance work on top of that, so take this with whatever grain of salt you’d like.
It’s true that you don’t need to know how to draw to be a graphic designer. You definitely don’t need to paint. Learning materials and how to work with them is time-consuming, messy, and yes, it can be expensive.
But I get so much out of my painting and drawing practices that I can bring back to design. Composition, color, negative space—painting and drawing teach you so much about design, and design teaches you so much about drawing painting. A rising-tide-lifts-all-boats approach isn’t for everyone, and this could be a neurodivergent thing, but it’s always been my default mode (and we all have to learn to work with ourselves).
And honestly? Even though I love love my tech, it never hurts to step away from the computer 😉
