How learning to draw challenges perfectionism
If you can move, you can dance.
If you can speak, you can sing.
If you can write, you can draw.
Do you believe that? If not, why not?
I always used to say, ‘I can’t draw!’, but during lockdown, I started taking short creative classes online. It took me a while to realise it, but one day I looked at a drawing I'd made, and I liked it. I looked back at previous drawings and liked some of them too. When did that happen?
More recently, in April 2025, I started a drawing for beginners course. From day 1 it was confronting my perfectionist tendencies — and rewriting them too.
When folks say, ‘I can't draw’, I think they often mean: When I put pencil to paper, it doesn't immediately look how I want it to look. At least that's what I meant when I said it. But that’s not what drawing is. At least, it doesn’t have to be. When I watch artist’s draw, that’s not what they’re doing.
Drawing is about looking, expressing something of what we see, and editing repeatedly — gradually getting closer to a better representation. It’s about having a go, and it’s not linear. Sometimes (often!) I veer away from what I want to show. That’s okay! It’s all part of the process.
It's funny that it's taken me this long to realise this, because it's exactly the same with every other creative process I engage with: Try, edit, repeat.
One of these birds is not like the other. All part of the process 😄
Textiles, writing and basically everything creative
Last year, I had the same revelation during a Textiles and Foundation course I joined in September 2023 and completed with an exhibition in June 2024. When I was trying to stitch images of different animals, using machine embroidery and appliqué, I looked at what I’d done and disliked it.
But then I realised I’d stopped creating too soon.
It was as if I poured some flour in a bowl, ate a spoonful of it, and got frustrated that it didn’t taste like cake. A bit of flour looks and tastes nothing like cake… yet! It’s just the first step, with perseverance, it’ll get there.
Nowadays I practise habit stacking when I don’t like what I’m creating:
When I think, ‘Oh no, It looks awful.’
Then I think, ‘That just means it's not finished yet. Keep going LiLi, you can do this!’
Fig 1: My first attempts at a goldfinch, which nearly led to me giving up & abandoning it
Fig 2: My latest goldfinch, after I realised I needed to keep going & kept practising
I realised that writing is: step 1) chuck anything on the page, step 2) edit. Considering I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, it took me quite a while to understand this, but I really get it now. Once my mindset changed, writers’ block became a thing of the past for me — it’s hard to feel blocked when it’s okay to write “I can’t think of anything” over and over until something else comes through,
What helps?
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron has helped me A LOT, especially doing morning pages — basically judgement-free brain dumping. (Sidenote: I wrote a secular guide to The Artist’s Way for anyone who wants/needs it.)
I’m reading The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington, one of the gems is:
“If you think that something is impossible — it is. The most important thing is to believe that you can reach your goals.”
When we think something is impossible, it stops us taking action to make it happen — that’s why it took ages for me to even think about going to a drawing class. The authors encourage folks to ask “what if…?” to move from thinking something is impossible, to possible, to probable, to given; and they centre daydreaming and imagination as essential tools for doing that. (They call it having a vision, but I like my wording better 😉).
Encouraging and supportive learning environments are key. Being judged can have such a negative impact, especially when you factor in rejection sensitivity too. I feel lucky that so many of my experiences with adult education have been supportive (and that I’ve been boundaried enough to walk away from the ones that weren’t).
Being on courses helps me because it combines interest, novelty, and connection in a way that my interest-based nervous system needs!
What about you?
How do you like to practice & explore your creativity?
What helps you to feel comfortable with being messy & imperfect?
Do you allow yourself to make mistakes as you learn?
What helps you to be kinder to yourself?
What environments and materials do you find supportive — classes, books, videos, podcasts, friends?
I’d love to hear from you!
Babes, feel free to message me in our whatsapp group.
And, follow me on Instagram if you’d like to accompany me on my creative journey.
Warmly,
LiLi
About LiLi K. Bright
I’m a writer, facilitator & textile artist who loves supporting folks to connect with nature, creativity, themselves & each other, especially working with marginalised and minoritised communities
I enjoy public speaking, artist residencies, poetry readings, obsessing over trees & birds like the massive nature nerd I am, and making textile collages using reclaimed fabric discarded by industry
I lead queer nature writing workshops & walks, nonviolent communication training, and climate future dreaming at CherryTreeWalk.com, and you can find me on Instagram @cherrytree_walk.