How Long Does It Take to Learn to Draw?

You’ve got the brushes. You’ve followed the tutorials (you’ve probably got about a hundred more sitting in your folders). You’ve even opened Procreate with serious intentions more than once this week, thinking “Yep. Today’s the day. I’m locking in for real”… but still, that question hangs over your head:

“How long is this supposed to take?”

Let me tell you something right away—you’re not behind. You’re not late. And you’re definitely not the only one wondering this.

In fact, if you’ve read some of my previous posts like What’s Blocking Your Style or Afraid to Try New Styles?, you’ll know that learning to draw isn’t just about getting better at lines or color. It’s also about untangling and more importantly, managing the expectations we attach to progress.

So let’s talk about it. Let’s answer the question “How long does it take to learn to draw?” and maybe even flip that question into something more helpful and conducive for progress.

What Does “Learning to Draw” Even Mean?

Before we throw a number out there (because yes, I will give you a ballpark), we need to talk about what we mean by “learning.”

Is it:

• Feeling confident sketching something from memory?
  
  
• Understanding anatomy and perspective?
  
  
• Developing your own recognizable style?
  
  

These are all different milestones, and they take different amounts of time for everyone.

If you’re working in Procreate, you already have a major advantage. You’ve got layers, undo, time-lapse, custom brushes, symmetry tools, and more at your fingertips. You’re not just learning to draw, you’re learning to draw digitally, which has its own advantages and built-in features that may actually help you in this process.

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So… How Long Does It Actually Take?

Okay, here’s the general numbers. Take note that this isn’t set in stone, circumstances differ for every artist and progress is most certainly not linear. You may take longer, you may take shorter-- it’s alright. 

0–3 months : You're getting familiar with the tools. You’re learning how to use layers, getting comfortable with brushes (and maybe obsessively downloading new ones), and figuring out gesture controls (or keyboard shortcuts for PC art progams).

3–6 months : Your lines start getting cleaner. You might be exploring basic forms, trying out shading, or (finally) watching tutorials you’ve saved (maybe even a few of mine, like the Pet Portraits Purrfection or Artistic Lettering!). You’re starting to see shapes more clearly when you look at reference images.

6 months to a year : This is where your style might start showing up on purpose or by accident. You're gaining more confidence, drawing a little faster, and refining your ideas. You may notice you’re no longer just following tutorials, you’re playing and exploring.

1 year and beyond : You’re building a flow. Some pieces still frustrate you (that never really goes away, trust me), but your wins are bigger and more frequent. You’re either developing your style or realizing that you don’t have to rush it.

Instead of aiming for “I want to be good at drawing,” try “I want to draw 10 faces this month.” Or “I want to try drawing a cat using only one brush.” Small goals give you trackable wins, which keeps the momentum going. Giving yourself a huge unattainable goal will only hinder progress. You will go through ups and downs, that's normal. Small baby steps!

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What Slows You Down & What Can Help

Every artist moves at their own pace, but here are a few things that definitely affect how quickly you improve:

How often you draw – Daily sketching, even for 10 minutes, does more than a once-a-week deep dive. (Again, baby steps)
Fear of making ‘bad art’ – This one’s a biggie. If you’re hesitant to try new styles or techniques it can keep you stuck. Give yourself grace to fail. In art, you don't just grow with success, you grow with failure as well.
Mental health + mindset – Anxiety and perfectionism will creep in. It’s just the way it is for us artists. I found relaxing and keeping an open, conscious mind helps ease anxiety. Listening to podcasts and reading books about the matter also gives me a new perspective and helps me rise above the noise. 

There’s many different things you can do to help your progress:

Time-lapse replays – Watch your drawing play back in Procreate. You’ll spot patterns and improvements you didn’t notice while drawing. Feeling stagnant? You could be stuck in the same process loop and while that works for efficiency- perhaps you can change a couple steps in your process and see if that opens up to other paths you might’ve overlooked.
Custom brushes – Not just fancy texture brushes, but tools that fit how you draw. If that doesn’t resonate with you, try to step out of your comfort zone and experiment with tools that you’ve never used before.
Trying old tutorials again – Go back to a flower or animal tutorial you followed months ago and redo it. Seeing your progress is one of the most motivating things for your progress.

With all said and done, here’s the truth: you could draw daily for a year and still feel like there’s more to learn.

(There is. That’s the fun of it.)

But if you show up, even imperfectly, your growth will start to show. How you do anything is how you do everything, so show up and give it your best every time. The goal isn’t mastery. The goal is consistency. Every sketch, every mistake, every tiny improvement adds up.

My growth didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen from chasing perfection. It happened because I kept going. One drawing session at a time.

What’s Next?

1. If you've tried one of my beginner tutorials in the past, try to go through it again, maybe using Watercolor brushes and activities to use them on. Compare your results.

2. Want more structure? My Oil Landscape Painting course takes you from sketchy to stunning with 24 lessons, 18+ hours, and a bonus brush set of Artist-grade Oil brushes. You’ll be surprised how far you’ll come by the end.

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3. Or just take five minutes today. Open a blank canvas and draw something. The “how long” will take care of itself. The important thing is you showed up today.

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You’re not behind. You’re becoming.

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