I know the feeling. Between working 40 hours, coming home to take care of a two year old and cook dinner, then the one hour (or so) I get before it's time to get the little ready for bed and asleep, I can't wind down long enough to draw. I log on, start catching up on the boards and posting, and the next thing I know, my leisurely hour is up!
I need to draw more. I want to draw more.
I just need more time!!
"If I fail, they write me off as another statistic. If I succeed, they pay me a million bucks to fly out to Hollywood and fart." --- George A. Romero
"If I had any dignity, that would have been humiliating" --- Adam Savage
Virtue Server: Kheprera, Malefic Elf, Lady Omen, Night Rune, La Muerte Roja, Scarab Lafayette, Serena Ravensong, Kyrse, and Arachnavoodoo among others.
I really want to take a drawing class, but I can't make the time outside of my job and my drafting classes to take one until at least next fall.
I have wanted to take art classes for a long time. After our budget stabilizes, we're going to look into a family thing, as our son loves to draw (not just color, he likes to "draw" things). I think we would all benefit from not just the time spent together.
"If I fail, they write me off as another statistic. If I succeed, they pay me a million bucks to fly out to Hollywood and fart." --- George A. Romero
"If I had any dignity, that would have been humiliating" --- Adam Savage
Virtue Server: Kheprera, Malefic Elf, Lady Omen, Night Rune, La Muerte Roja, Scarab Lafayette, Serena Ravensong, Kyrse, and Arachnavoodoo among others.
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To help focus my drawing skills, today I signed up for a non-credit class at one of the local community colleges. The class is called Drawing: So You Think You Can't Draw. While I don't think I can't draw, the description sounds a good place to start.
One of my biggest problems is actually finding time. I work all day where I can't really break out a sketch pad, but then when I get home I usually log myself into the game and I don't actually do any drawing. My hope is that the pressure of a class will help get me drawing. There's a part of me that also feels that I'll draw if I want to, and if I'm not now it's because the want isn't big enough.
Though if the class helps me to get better, to the point where I'm happy with what ends up in my sketchpad, I'm pretty sure I'll be much more content to take time away from other things to devote to drawing.
Oh the mind games I play with myself. 
It's a lot like playing Ping Pong without having to take up so much space for the table.
But, I'm hoping this class will fulfill two things for me. First, to give me a firm shove down the artistic path I want to be on and second, to help me get my pencil working in a coordinated effort with my imagination.
Anyway...I'm excited.
Cosmic
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Here's a suggest (worth every penney you paid me for it!)
When you get home, do NOT play COH until you've drawn for X amount of time. Playing COH is the "reward" for doing your "work." Make it a reasonable, doable, achievable amount of time - even if its only 30 minutes or a hour. But stick to it.
You might also want to get one of those 3x5 sketchbooks. The really thick kind, and do yourself a favor, tag a pencil or pen to the back of it, either with double sided velcro, or the old string and tape method!
This frees up 2 stigmas, the need to draw on larger or standard size paper, cause you don't need to always draw big. Good drawings can be done on napkins if you take the time. Not that I suggest that... especially if you're out eating Mexican.
The 2nd stigma is that you can keep the sketchbook nearby and draw in transit (on the bus, train, streetcar) or just draw parts. A face here, and expression there, a hand study, a lip study, some logo designs, a flower, a sneaker, the list is endless.
A sketchbook this size isn't for masterpieces, it's for practice, and fun, and continuity of that urge to create!
In college my local art store had these great bristol pads that were 5 x 7. I did some of my favorite pieces on those, just cause it was handy while I was in class, and it was such a nice surface for a marker.
an example done at home looking at a book on old celebs.
Doodling is an underrated art form. Not everything that touches the blank page has to be great, sometimes it's just a brain fart! 
Thank you all so much for the suggestions. I actually did a little drawing last night and some this morning before leaving for work.
My lines were incredibly shaky, but I'm hoping that will improve in time. I did realize that I need a new pencil though. The one I'm using is a fairly fat mechanical pencil that as I was trying to draw just felt too large. I have a bunch of drawing pencils, but what I really need to get is a sharpener that won't leave shavings all over the place.
I was drawing while sitting at my computer, trying to draw a character that was on the screen. The fact that the character kept moving through idle animations didn't help. I took a screenshot, so I'll try again tonight.
I think I also need to get out one of my drawing books and go through all the basic steps for drawing a figure. While I wasn't pleased with what showed up in my sketchbook, I was very happy to actually be doing something.
The basic steps thing will definitely help. 
To help focus my drawing skills, today I signed up for a non-credit class at one of the local community colleges. The class is called Drawing: So You Think You Can't Draw. While I don't think I can't draw, the description sounds a good place to start.
It's a lot like playing Ping Pong without having to take up so much space for the table.
One of my biggest problems is actually finding time. I work all day where I can't really break out a sketch pad, but then when I get home I usually log myself into the game and I don't actually do any drawing. My hope is that the pressure of a class will help get me drawing. There's a part of me that also feels that I'll draw if I want to, and if I'm not now it's because the want isn't big enough.
Though if the class helps me to get better, to the point where I'm happy with what ends up in my sketchpad, I'm pretty sure I'll be much more content to take time away from other things to devote to drawing.
Oh the mind games I play with myself.
But, I'm hoping this class will fulfill two things for me. First, to give me a firm shove down the artistic path I want to be on and second, to help me get my pencil working in a coordinated effort with my imagination.
Anyway...I'm excited.
Cosmic