The Simple Sketching Practice That Got Me Making Art Every Day

My routine, tips for making it stick, and every supply in my dining room setup, plus a little encouragement for creating a daily art practice of your own.

A few weeks ago, I started a daily art practice. Something I’ve been wanting to do for years but could never quite make happen.

And then, somehow, it happened quite easily.

Maybe I was putting too much pressure on it in the past. Maybe I thought a daily practice needed to take more time or mental energy than I actually had to give. Or maybe I was trying to force myself into a routine that worked beautifully for someone else but wasn’t right for me.

Who knows.

What I do know is that for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been sitting down at my dining room table every morning to make a little ink and watercolor sketch, and the whole thing has been surprisingly rewarding. It has become a morning ritual I genuinely look forward to.

Maybe the best part is that I’ve been able to come to it with almost zero pressure and zero expectation of what the finished sketch should look like. I’m not trying to make something sellable. I’m not trying to create a masterpiece. Most days, I don’t even know what I’m going to draw until I sit down.

It’s simply about showing up, making something, and seeing where it goes.

If you follow along with my Substack Notes, you may have noticed that I’ve been sharing these sketches almost daily. Because of that, I’ve gotten quite a few questions about the practice itself, along with the materials and supplies I’m using, so I thought I’d put everything together in one place including a full breakdown and links to every product I use.

Funny enough, I assumed this would be a quick little post. Then I kept thinking of one more thing I wanted to tell you, and another thing I thought might be helpful, and suddenly it wasn’t so little anymore.

Don’t let the length of this post fool you, though. The actual practice is incredibly simple. I just want to give you enough information that, should you decide to try something similar, you can make it as easy as possible to get started.

So, let’s get into it.

The Practice

I think one of the biggest reasons this practice has stuck is because I’ve kept it simple.

Minimal materials. Minimal setup. A small time commitment. No pressure to create anything sellable or even particularly good. I’ve also given myself permission to work loosely and not get too hung up on getting everything “right.”

That last one is a big one for me.

Will this exact practice stick forever? I have no idea. I’m only a couple of weeks in, so we’ll see what happens.

Will it stay the same? Honestly, I hope it changes. Maybe it will expand. Maybe my materials will shift. Maybe someday I’ll want to spend an hour painting every morning instead of twenty minutes sketching at the dining room table. Or maybe this particular practice will run its course and make room for something completely different.

For now, though, it’s working. And I’ve learned enough from it already to understand that sometimes the secret to making more art isn’t finding more discipline.

Sometimes you just need to make it easier to begin.

A Few Tips for Making It Stick

If you’re thinking about starting a similar practice, I’ve been paying attention to the little things that seem to be helping this work for me. Here are a few that might help you too.

1. Clean Up and Prep After Each Session

Wash your brush. Get fresh water. Clean your palette if it needs it. Throw away your used paper towels. Put everything back where it belongs.

It sounds like several steps, but the whole thing takes me about two minutes. And when I sit down the following morning, everything is ready for me.

There’s no dried paintbrush to deal with. No searching for supplies. No messy workspace to clean before I can even begin.

The fewer obstacles you put between yourself and making art, the better.

2. Choose a Regular Time

Pick a general time when you’re going to show up and make it a priority.

For me, mornings work beautifully. I sit down at my dining room table before I get too far into the day and before a hundred other things start competing for my attention.

Your time might be completely different. It doesn’t really matter when you do it. What matters is creating a little pocket of time that belongs to your art.

3. Pair It With Something You Already Do

One of the easiest ways to build a new practice into your life is to connect it to something that’s already there.

Sketch with your morning coffee. Add it to your lunch break. Spend twenty minutes painting after dinner. Paint something in the evening instead of automatically reaching for your phone.

You get the idea.

My dining room setup works so well because it’s right there in the middle of my everyday life. I don’t have to go anywhere. I don’t have to haul out a bunch of supplies. I just sit down and begin.

4. Keep It Simple

Most of my sketches take somewhere around 15 to 20 minutes. Some are quicker. A few take longer.

If your time is limited, set a timer. Choose one simple subject. Fill half a page instead of a full spread. Give yourself ten minutes and see what happens.

A daily art practice does not need to become another giant thing on your to-do list.

In fact, I think the smaller you can make the commitment in the beginning, the easier it is to keep showing up.

That’s really the whole idea.

5. Be Flexible with Your Subject

While I mostly paint from life, usually objects sitting right in front of me, I have zero objections to working from a photo reference either. Both are completely valid.

I do find it helpful to have at least a loose idea the day before of what I might sketch. Right now, with so much growing in the garden, I almost always have a vase of flowers somewhere on the table, so those have become an easy default.

But I’m also perfectly happy sketching something incredibly ordinary. An apple. A teapot. A bottle of Dawn. Whatever.

The subject really doesn’t matter as much as showing up does. So don’t let finding the “right” thing to paint become another obstacle. Look around, grab whatever catches your attention, and begin.

And should you need a few more ideas for making art a regular part of your life, I recently shared 10 Simple Things That Will Help You Make More Art. There are plenty more practical ideas in there that might help.

My Supplies

To be honest, the supplies I’m using are incredibly basic.

A sketchbook. A fountain pen with ink. Watercolor.

That’s really the heart of it.

Everything else is either an extra or one of those very ordinary things you probably already have around the house.

Here’s my basic setup:

• Sketchbook

• Fountain pen with permanent black ink

• Watercolor paint and palette

• Neocolor IIs

• Brush

• Water and a container

• Mini Spray Bottle

• Paper towels

And now that you know what you actually need to create a practice like this, I’m sharing all the fun details with paid subscribers, including the exact supplies I’m using, my current watercolor palette, favorite products, and a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Let’s get into it.

The Full Supplies Breakdown