“You can't do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh.” John Singer Sargent
Flex your creative muscles by experimenting with different ways to draw. Don’t limit yourself to pencil and paper. Grab a brush and spread paint on canvas. Use your finger or a stylus on a digital tablet. Don’t limit your subject matter. Start with what you know and love but don’t let it become a prison. Expand your vision! Don’t limit your style. Imitate the techniques of other artists until you create your own. Most artists begin this way. Here are six reasons you should draw every day.
Drawing improves your coordination
As a person draws with a pencil or brush, charcoal or crayon, efficient hand movements are developed. Drawing signals neurons in your brain to deliver the specific action that must be performed. As a result, fine motor skills arise. These motor skills improve as you gain dexterity, strength, flexibility and eye-hand coordination. The fine motor skills developed by drawing eventually become mental shortcuts that are implemented by your brain in daily living.
Drawing liberates concealed emotions
Drawing is a perfect way to express inner emotions and feelings without words. When you put your emotions on paper or canvas, it relieves negative emotions that are hidden within. Artistic expression opens your mind and cleanses it. Engaging in self-reflection plays a major role in helping you better control your emotions.
Drawing enhances your creativity
Simply holding a pencil, pen or paintbrush in your hand triggers your mind to start imagining. If you consider yourself “right-brained,” drawing will unleash your creativity. If you consider yourself “left-brained,” drawing will unlock your creativity. Regular artistic activity nurtures your creativity and challenges you to take risks, which translates to a willingness to explore new ideas, experiences and challenges in other areas of your life.
Drawing enriches you and others
Drawing allows you to experiment with your talents, thoughts and emotions and express them to others. Your art not only enriches your life but brightens the lives of others and may help them cope in difficult circumstances. As you share your art in community, you’ll connect with likeminded people and cultivate a healthy, rewarding social life.
Drawing is therapeutic
Studies show that drawing relieves feelings of anxiety and fear, improves cognitive and tactile abilities, and alleviates stress. One study suggested that engaging in art significantly lowered cortisol (stress hormone) levels, and the participants felt much more relaxed after an art session. People with lower stress levels are at a lower risk for heart disease.
Drawing makes you more observant
Drawing improves your proficiency as a visual learner. You’ll find yourself becoming more observant of your surroundings. As you’re exposed to light, shadows, color, perspective and the innumerable features of your environment, this attention to detail will find its way into your drawing and other art. Your eyes will be trained to look for intricate designs, patterns and forms that may have previously escaped your attention.