Hi, I’m Marina — mom of three and the person behind this blog. Most of my drawing happens in short, stolen pockets of time: while dinner’s in the oven, during a nap that might end any minute, or after everyone’s finally asleep.
I started Marina Drawing because I kept noticing the same thing in tutorials online — they assumed you had a free afternoon and a quiet desk. I don’t have either, most days. So everything here is built around what actually works when your drawing time is fifteen minutes, not three hours: fewer steps, faster techniques, and the specific hand mistakes that make a sketch look stiff (and how to fix them without starting over).
I’m not a formally trained illustrator. What I am is someone who draws constantly, in the margins of a busy life, and who’s learned through a lot of rushed, imperfect sketches which shortcuts actually hold up and which ones don’t. That’s what you’ll find in every tutorial here — tested in real time-crunched conditions, not written from a studio with all the time in the world.
If you’re squeezing drawing into nap times, commutes, or the ten minutes before everyone wakes up, this blog is for you.