Try This EASY Exercise to Loosen Up Your Drawings (Game Changer!)

After spending a few years making tight art, I finally discovered how to loosen up my paintings through... drawing! Yup! Drawing is not much different than painting.

As it turned out, there was this pressure to create something beautiful when I painted. Naturally, this fear caused little to no freedom of expression. The art was trite, tight, and lifeless. There was a moment of frustration after painting yet another stiff piece that I picked up a pencil and just scribbled like a mad man. I remember it felt so good!

The next day I returned to the studio and immediately felt the passion and intensity in those scribbles, and that's how this all started. I unlocked a way to paint freely through drawing, and I hope this simple exercise will do the same for you.

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The Two-Square Exercise That Changes Everything

Here's the exercise that transformed my approach to loose, expressive art – and it's ridiculously simple.

Exercise 1: The Loose Square Take any drawing tool and indicate a square. I'm not trying to impress anyone with a beautiful, perfect square here. Just make a loose indication of one. Go ahead – be messy with it. If you want to incorporate some mixed media, you can get even looser with your basic square shape.

Exercise 2: The Tight Square Now draw another square, but this time paint everything almost exactly where it "belongs." Make it a nice, pretty shape – a safe, tight square. You can even go around that square with charcoal if you want.

Here's What You'll Discover

The contrast between these two squares will show you everything you need to know about loose drawing. The idea is to indicate a shape, and the loose version gets that point across perfectly.

For someone who has developed their vision and let go of the idea that things have to be perfect or tight, you'll see pretty clearly that if you want to be loose and expressive, you have to go outside those lines a little bit.

You have to push things to the point where maybe it falls apart, but give it just enough structure that it holds together.

Why This Works So Well

This is a very simple concept, but there's a lot to be learned here. You can practice with circles, triangles, rectangles – whatever you want. Simplifying it makes the learning easy.

Here's the thing: if you're trying to create a finished piece without understanding the basic idea of drawing loose, you're not going to be as successful. It's like trying to run before you can walk.

The Edge Game-Changer

Once you get comfortable with loose shapes, try this edge technique that really brings drawings to life.

Instead of drawing smooth curves, try breaking them down into angular lines. Take a coffee cup, for example – it has nice straight lines on the sides and lots of curves. But what if you interpreted those curves as a series of connected straight lines instead?

This jagged approach gives your drawings more character. The angles play off the edges of your paper in a way that smooth curves simply can't. Everything feels more dynamic and alive.

Start Scribbling Today

You can practice this with just a pencil or charcoal – whatever you have on hand. The key is giving yourself permission to be imperfect, to go outside the lines, to let things get a little messy.

Remember my mad scribbling breakthrough? That's what I want for you. Sometimes the most profound artistic growth comes from the simplest exercises.

So grab your pencil and try the two-square exercise right now. Feel the difference between tight and loose. Let yourself experience that freedom I felt when I first picked up that pencil in frustration.

Your drawings – and eventually your paintings – will thank you for it.

Continue Learning

If you enjoyed this hand drawing course, explore even more lessons on our Free Drawing Tutorials & Courses Hub — including the complete How to Draw – Beginner’s Course.

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What's your biggest challenge with creating loose, expressive art? Share in the comments below – I'd love to help you work through it!