How nice would it be to take a little break from life every once in a while? Picture this, a moment of peace, in which you simply get to relax for a minute, maybe listen to music too. Shortly after, you may now have a cute little piece of finished artwork in which you can hang up somewhere or generally have around.

     You can accomplish all of these simple things in the art of sketching. The only downside of sketching is that this overall pleasant experience is absolutely not guaranteed. Sketching, as a whole, is a form of visual art which involves often quick or messy freehand drawings. Sketching is different from a lot of other forms of art such as painting, digital drawing, and coloring as they are often unpolished or not as elaborate. While it tends to be more simple, and is a skill almost anyone can capture if they really put in the effort, sketching really does take practice and dedication and can produce captivating and profound results. It focuses on the whole of a subject and essence of the drawing, rather than capturing perfection. 

     Many people strive to be precise and perfect in the small movements and strokes of a pencil. Dedicating yourself to a small and unimportant sketch or general drawing of some sort is a very common fault of many artists, and doing so will almost always lead to frustration. That combined with the time it sometimes takes in order to make actual progress or finish a sketch are both things that are extremely hard to avoid while sketching. 

     Sketching can also be simply hard, especially for beginners. It's a very specific and unique form of art that really is different for everyone. Depending on how you hold your pencil to how your mindset portrays and deflects art, sketching can be an excruciating experience, or a pleasant delight, and it is most certainly not a one-way ticket. 

     While trying to focus and correctly draw one simple line or shape that pulls everything together, there are two ways you can handle this situation. One, you can scrap the entire sketch, perhaps out of practicality. Two, you can take a short break, (by short I mean less than a minute,) and continue trying, attempting to look at the error with a different perspective, perhaps accepting it and trying to work with it. One is quite superior in the world of sketching. If you talk to any artist in your life who spends time sketching, they will most-likely present to you a fact: perfectionism and sketching do not go hand in hand whatsoever.  While sketching can be quite frustrating and even excruciating in the moment, there are many other aspects to it. 

     Sketching often doesn’t take a big toll on one’s life. Sometimes just stepping aside and clearing your mind from anything stressful, while also finding a subtle way to express them in your art can be very calming, more so than annoying. 

     Even if you don’t find joy or much peasantry in the process of sketching, you’ll most-likely still find a sense of fulfillment or satisfaction. Sketching is also one of the few skills or hobbies that leaves you with a gift. I find finished sketches really pretty in many senses, though it’s generally nice to have a cute little drawing on your wall, hanging from the ceiling, or buried somewhere to find later as a pleasant surprise. It’s often as though that sense of accomplishment that is brought out when you finish a sketch follows you. 

     Sketching is an extremely expressive form of art, and there have been many physiological studies, including the “National Institute of Health’s Stance on Drawing” and “The Harvard Gazette.” These studies including many others show that people have actual physiological responses to others’ and their own sketching. Examples stated in these studies include: “improved communication,” “a heavy increase of positive emotions,” as well as “reduced stress levels.” A few more major examples that studies proved correct are, “anxiety and depression, to an extent, can be decreased by sketching.” Hence, a summary from these statements: sketching as a whole can make you feel generally more connected with the world around you, and you can find happiness and comfort in sketching specifically.

     Sketching, while it can often be difficult and frustrating, is an important and interesting skill. Sketching allows people to visually explore their deeper thoughts and emotions in a more serene and expressive way, without having to fully commit to a sketch as well.  It also promotes patience and perseverance. Growing in this talent requires continuous refinement and practice. Just as much patience. While we’ve already established sketching takes time, the amount of dedication you can truly put into it relies on patience. Every small error may encourage you to put down your pencil and never pick it back up. But sketching is the result of when you do the exact opposite.

      As you practice, over time, through many difficulties, you really only get better and better at sketching. Sketching, overall, is a great outlet and/or calming escape, and is a gift to anyone who decides to practice it. It is an interesting, fun hobby as well.  However you choose to pursue it, sketching is a remarkable skill that brings happiness and personal satisfaction into artists all around the world.

-Asha S.