Why I Sketch for 10 Minutes Every Single Day (Before I Even Touch a Painting)

How It Started

For a long time, I avoided starting certain paintings because I thought they were too difficult. I'd just sit there and stare at the blank canvas. Then this warm-up idea clicked.

I played basketball for about 10 years, so the idea of a warm-up before the "real" activity came naturally. Grab a random brush, a color, a reference, and make a sketch. Bad or good, it doesn't matter. The point is to start.

As I'm writing this, I've made more than 250 sketches.

I'm Mihai, and I sketch. Almost Every day, before I start painting, I do a ten-minute portrait sketch. Sometimes at home too, in pencil instead of paint. It started as a warm-up. Now it's a ritual I can't skip.

No Pressure, No Expectations

There was no pressure and no expectations going in. You could even call it play. Some sketches turned out good, some absolutely terrible. I won't tell you which is which. I'll let you decide.

Usually I just use whatever's left on the palette, though over time I've found colors that work better depending on the figure, the intention, or even my mood that day.

What the Brushes Taught Me

The other big lesson has been brushes: the sheer variety of marks you can build a portrait with. This applies to landscapes, cats, objects, anything.

You can see the difference between a liner brush and a small hog brush right away, the hairy texture versus the straight line. What happens if you swap in a large hog brush instead? Or an oversized synthetic brush for an entire portrait? It's practice, but it's also play and experiment.

At some point I noticed I kept reaching for the same favorite brush, so I forced myself to switch it up just to keep things interesting. An almost-dry brush is another favorite of mine: a portrait made with a dry brush ends up looking more like a drawing. Make it tiny. Make it normal size. Let the portrait run right off the edge of the page.

It's Rhythm, Not Perfection

You'll have days when everything flows and days when nothing does. Even after 10 good days in a row, a bad one will show up. It doesn't matter. It's a lot like life: not always sunshine and rainbows, but you make it work anyway. It's more about rhythm and consistency than perfection. And like most people say, you don't learn much from the days that go perfectly.

This exercise keeps my mind and hand connected. Now I genuinely enjoy it and look forward to seeing what shows up on the page. It helps me focus on the task at hand and get into the process faster.

Beyond Painting

It's applicable to anything. If there's something you want to do, find an easy, fast way to enter the process without judging yourself. The point is the process, not the result. The intent is to paint. The portrait is just an outcome.

Is there something in your life you could apply this to? Dancing? Playing the piano? Excel? :))

At first this was just a test. I didn't expect any of the sketches to be good. But I enjoyed it. Now I think I can make a decent portrait in 10 minutes with almost any brush, and I'll keep testing new ones just to see what happens. I've found I prefer the process of play over the result itself. Sometimes I finish one portrait and immediately want to start another.

Get the First 26 Sketches

I put together a small PDF with the first 26 sketches from this practice. It's on my website, and you'll get it when you subscribe to the Studio Letter. I also have a shop with paintings, sketches, tote bags, and a few other things, if you'd like to support the work directly.

These sketches are a glimpse into the studio process: raw, honest, imperfect. I hope this nudges you toward a simple habit of your own, even if that habit is Excel :))

Want the first 26 sketches? Join the Studio Letter and I'll send you the PDF.

If you already have a daily habit like this, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Now, back to my sketches and paintings. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to learn Excel :))

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