How to Improve Your Art Style FAST: 18 Creative Drawing Exercises Every Artist Should Try

Do you ever look at your art and think, “Why does my style feel so flat?” or “I want to improve my art, but I don’t know where to start”?

You’re not alone.

Whether you’re a beginner, a self-taught artist, or someone just stuck in a creative rut, your artistic growth depends more on how you practice than what tools you use.

In this guide, you’ll find 18 dynamic drawing exercises specifically crafted to help you improve your art style fast.

These exercises are pulled from personal experience and from my original art book, DIZZY! Sketch Collections, which focuses on raw creativity, sketching from intuition, and style exploration.

These aren't just warm-ups—they're powerful drills to build muscle memory, unlock creativity, and challenge the way you think and draw.

Let’s dive in!

🔥 1. Automatic Drawing (Freeflow Scribbles)

Let your hand move across the page without a plan. Just scribble. No expectations.

Don't focus on any shapes or how good or bad the doodles might look. Just scribble and draw with no intentions until you feel calm and relaxed.

I put this exercise as the very first because it's the first one I do every day as a warmup before I start on my important work and projects.

It's the perfect exercise to help me drift into a flow state where I can work effortlessly on the real tasks.

What it improves: Creative flow, intuition, subconscious imagery.

This is especially powerful for unlocking your imagination when you feel stuck and it's capable of defeating art block instantly.

I will always recommend this exercise first because it is the easiest one to use that consistently helps with improving my skills and building my drawing confidence.

✏️ 2. Freestyle Drawing (No Reference, No Plan)

Pick any topic or focus and start drawing without any reference or guide—let your imagination lead.

For example, say you choose to focus on facial expressions, draw as many heads and facial expressions as you can without looking at reference, completely off the dome.

Fill as many pages with these topic focused, spontaneous drawings as you can. A lot of them might come out looking weird but that is the beauty of it because they will be unique.

You are transforming your style and building confidence in the process

What it improves: Artistic confidence, spontaneity, stylization.

This exercise and number 1 are my absolute favorites to practice every day and truly one of the best ways to explore and develop your personal art style.

👋 3. Opposite Hand Drawing Challenge

This is one of the more interesting exercises.

I don't do this one that often, because it comes with a very uncomfortable feeling. However, for the short period of time I did this exercise, my art skills had a significantly noticeable level up.

It's simple: draw with your non-dominant hand.

What it improves: Coordination, muscle memory, loosening up and a new art style.

Expect clumsy results—but that’s the point. You’ll stop overthinking and discover new shapes and forms.

I'll leave some surprises for you, but I will add, it's almost as if both hands have two different personalities, with two very distinct drawing styles. See for yourself.

📚 4. Manga Reference Study

Choose a manga panel you love. Recreate it with your own twist.

What it improves: Composition, stylization, inking technique.

Use this to explore how professional artists solve artistic problems—then remix it in your style.

📸 5. Photo Reference Breakdown

Pick a photo and simplify it into basic shapes and forms.

What it improves: Observation, accuracy, stylized realism.

This helps bridge the gap between realism and stylized drawing.

🙈 6. Eyes Closed Gesture Drawing

Close your eyes and draw a quick pose or face.

What it improves: Spatial awareness, muscle memory.

It may seem silly, but it teaches you to "feel" proportions and flow.

🕶️ 7. Silhouette Speed Sketching

Draw only the silhouette of objects, characters, or poses.

What it improves: Gesture, form, composition without over-detailing.

It’s one of the most effective drawing exercises for beginners to grasp the power of shape language.

🔺 8. Shape-Limited Character Design

Choose 3-5 shapes (e.g., circle, triangle, square). Use only those to design a character.

What it improves: Creativity, stylization, visual balance.

You’ll quickly learn how to push shape design for maximum visual interest.

🔄 9. Re-draw It in Opposite Styles

Take one of your drawings and redraw it in a completely different style (e.g., realistic, cartoon, anime, abstract).

What it improves: Versatility, creative flexibility.

This is one of the top drawing style development exercises used by professionals.

🖊️ 10. One-Line Contour Drawing

Draw a subject without lifting your pen.

What it improves: Line confidence, fluidity, control.

This is ideal for digital artists trying to improve line art and flow.

🧪 11. Layered Sketching (Transparent Overlays)

Draw the same subject 3 times:

1. Loose structure

2. Refined shapes

3. Final details

What it improves: Process control, cleanup workflow, refinement skills.

It mirrors how professional concept artists work.

😲 12. Emotional Expression Remix

Pick one emotion (like anger or joy) and draw 6+ versions of it in different styles or angles.

What it improves: Expressiveness, character acting, storytelling.

Your characters will become more alive and readable.

🔄 13. Upside-Down Drawing

Flip your reference upside-down and draw it as-is.

What it improves: Observation, accuracy, shape recognition.

It tricks your brain into focusing on actual form, not what you think you see.

⬛ 14. Negative Space Sketching

Draw the spaces around a subject instead of the subject itself.

What it improves: Spatial thinking, balance, composition.

This is crucial for artists trying to level up their drawing from life or imagination.

⏱️ 15. Timed Thumbnail Sketches

Set a 5-minute timer and draw as many thumbnails or quick scenes as possible.

One of my personal favorites.

When I finish with this exercise, I have multiple mini drawings filled with ideas that I can expand on and explore at a later time or just draw it in a bigger more refined version.

This is great for content creators who need multiple sources of content material for daily posting!

What it improves: Quick thinking, composition, efficiency and stockpiling your drawing database.

This builds your ability to create multiple ideas fast & essential for storyboarding or comics.

🧵 16. Texture Replication Drill

Find a texture (wood, fabric, metal) and replicate it in your sketchbook.

What it improves: Shading, surface rendering, observational accuracy.

Perfect for digital artists learning how to simulate materials like leather, skin, or stone.

🔄 17. Perspective Shift Challenge

Take one of your old drawings and redraw it from a new angle or perspective.

What it improves: 3D visualization, depth, dynamic composition.

It’s tough—but essential for artists who want to tell better visual stories.

🎬 18. Storytelling Sequence Sketches

Sketch 3-5 panels that tell a short story—no words.

What it improves: Narrative flow, panel composition, sequential art skills.

Whether you want to make manga or comics, this is one of the most important drawing exercises for storytelling.

🔥Want to Level Up Even Faster?

Put your new drawing skills to work in our monthly Anitoku Art Contest! Each contest has a fun, creative theme and cash prizes up to $100 and more for the top 3 winning artists.

Beginners, hobbyists, and pros are all welcome.

👉 Click here to join this month’s contest!

💡 Bonus Tips to Improve Your Art Style Even Faster

• Draw only in pen: Not allowing yourself to erase or hit the undo button will force you to be more precise and patient with each movement.

• Track your progress: Revisit the same drawing every month using a different drill.

• Mix exercises: Combine freestyle drawing with emotional remix or silhouette speed sketching.

• Study other artists: Find artists with a style you admire and deconstruct their work.

• Get feedback: Share your exercises with others and invite critique.

• Don’t skip the “ugly” phase: Awkward drawings are part of the growth.

Why These Drawing Exercises Work (Even If You’re a Beginner)

These aren’t random prompts. They're strategic art style development drills that hit all the skills you need:

• Muscle memory

• Stylization

• Line confidence

• Visual storytelling

• Spatial awareness

• Composition and design thinking

By rotating through these exercises weekly or monthly, you’ll start seeing real growth—not just in technical skills, but in your ability to express your unique voice as an artist.

Final Thoughts: Start Small, Grow Fast

You don’t need expensive software or fancy gear to improve.

You need discipline, creativity, and direction—and that’s what these exercises offer. Try just 2–3 per week, and you’ll be surprised how quickly your art style evolves.

Want even more sketching challenges and behind-the-scenes pages from my sketchbook?

Check out DIZZY! Sketch Collections—my art zine filled with freestyle drawings, nature sketches, and weird experiments that helped me build my art style from scratch.

💬 Your Turn

Which drawing exercise are you going to try first? Leave a comment and share your results!