Restart all over again

Hello there ! Quite new on this website, and happy to found it... I have a little problem that I would be really glad to have your opinion on.
I am not sure the title is quite clear so I will try to explain myself a little better.

I kind of draw since I'm 15 (I am now 20), but with super long pauses (like, one year ahah). I mean, I draw A LOT when I have free time (during holidays), then, with school that I really have to work on, I do nothing almost all the year. Then, it kind of ache, you know ? I see my paper, my pencils, I want to do something, but I can not. (Ok, I know, I can, but my mom will kick my ass if I spend too much time drawing). (Ok, I am finding excuses).

Let's get back to the subject ; I am nearly restarting all over again every time. Because in several months, I lose a little my capacity to do anything at least not horrible, since I haven't practice to do body, movement, faces, expressions, ...

So... I was wondering ; does it happen to you ? What do you do, when all you seem to do is faces that a 5 year can do ? (ok, I am overreacting). Hope you understand me

Take 15 minutes to practice every single day. Find the time. Schedule it into your daily routine :)

This is common and I'm sure your not the only one. It happened to me too. I practicing all over again too after a 4 month "break". kill procrastination and take your time. do it little by little each day then increase how long you do it each day till it still doesn't interrupt your schedule. Good luck. :)

I disagree with you. Once you know something, you can never unlearn it. Sometimes I wont draw for long periods, not years but months and yet I am same as before. I think you need to just warm up before you draw something.

Shivani, not being able to "unlearn" something is definitely true for conceptual understanding. I'm a certified teacher, and I spent a healthy amount of time studying the difference between concepts and skills. Once a concept is learned and fully understood it will last a lifetime. You might have to dust off a concept if you haven't thought about it in years but you'll never fully forget it.

Skills, on the other hand, need to be practiced. Art, especially at the application level, is a skill. You can loose skills fairly quickly if you stop working on them. That's why warm ups and daily practice, even just 15 minutes like Elmuercielago said, are so important.

I think this is something that can be very personal in nature. Some people are very fast learners and retain their gained knowledge and skills very well, even with long periods of time between the drawing. Other people get 'rusty', forget how to accomplish certain things or lose some of the motor skills they developed through practice.

In most cases you do end up with a headstart when you get back to practicing, which makes it easier to work up to your previous level and go from there, versus starting 'completely from scratch'.

But everyone is different in how they learn and forget, so it's best to assess each person's situation individually and try to avoid generalized statements. Working with what someone experiences sounds like the best way to learn in my opinion!