Witnessing Your Artistic Growth

I have a fun idea to share for artists that have been drawing for years! Or even for artists who have only been drawing for six months. The point of the activity is to see your progress! The only requirement is that you need an old piece of artwork. The older, the better.

Ever since I saw the “Draw This Again” meme being passed around on deviantArt, a social media site for artists, I just had to give it a try on my own. Of course, the idea for the “Draw This Again” meme didn’t originate on dA; I’m sure people have redrawn their own art for ages. It became popular to post your images side-by-side on a set template (optional) to get a clear comparison of the old and the new artwork.

Screenshot of searching "Draw this again" on deviantArt

If you haven’t gotten it by now, I’m talking about simply finding an old piece of art you were fond of at the time, and redrawing it! It is a fun way to see how far you’ve come as an artist, and can be quite encouraging. Even if the time difference is only a few months (not recommended, though) and see tiny improvements, that’s still something to celebrate!

The first person to “create” this meme is unknown, but its origins trace back to deviantArt in 2010. That’s when it started to grow in popularity and many artists would join in on the fun.

Alright, alright, I’ll show you an example that I did. When I was a preteen, I absolutely adored anime and manga (and admittedly, I still do), so I attempted to draw my own manga, or comic. It was about a middle-schooler who had an incredible talent for singing, but would transform into a different persona so that her career wouldn’t get tangled up in her normal life. Like Hannah Montana... I swear I came up with it first! Anyway, I was fond of my characters and decided to redraw the protagonists of my silly series.

Keep in mind I haven't drawn consistently for the past ten years, and I've still kept my cartoon style, but... I don't know where I was going with this. Anyway, consider trying this yourself and see how far you've come on your artistic journey.