Do you remember doodling on your paper as a child? Or, maybe you were the best drawer in your class when you were in grammar school. Or, maybe you loved drawing, but someone else in class was better than you, so you gave it up.
What Stops You?
Drawing is a very personal activity. You attempt to represent something you’ve seen or something you’ve imagined with your drawing. Children, especially, are very sensitive about criticism and comparison, and when they draw something they’re proud of, they can easily feel like its garbage when someone else’s work is bragged on. But, drawing is a very important activity for your own development.
Figure Things Out
Drawing helps you to figure things out. Some people think better when their hands are busy, and drawing serves this purpose for many. When you had to stop cluttering up your pages in school with doodles, you cut off part of your learning style. Not only does the physical activity of drawing help you, it also accesses the right side of your brain – the creative side – basically doubling your brain power.
Tap That Creativity
This brings you to another benefit of drawing – creativity. Inventors often make sketch after sketch of their newest idea, and these drawings help them to determine the best structure for their work. If you’re not an inventor, drawing will open up the linguistics locked inside your brain. It also brings the intelligence that is used to recognize shapes, space, and perspective to the forefront. All of these different brain activities are part of your intelligence, and contribute to your overall IQ. By activating this part of your brain, you may unleash the latent creative genius.
Improve Your Confidence
You’ll make a lot of mistakes drawing. The up side to this is that you’ll learn that making mistakes is ok. Your confidence will start to grow, as you learn to admit that something you’ve done can be improved, and there is no penalty for imperfection. This is especially true when drawing portraits, because the human face is always in motion, always evolving. When you draw a portrait, and others recognize who it is, it’s a great feeling. If they don’t recognize who it is, you can go about fixing the drawing.
Express Emotion
Drawing is a great way to express your emotions. You can explore the depth of your feelings through the art of drawing, whether anyone else ever sees the drawings or not. A portrait of an enemy, drawn showing his character the way you see him, can help you to calm down and focus.
Strengthen Your Brain
Enough can’t be said about the benefits to your brain when you start drawing. Every time you draw a line with any kind of purpose, you are building dendrites in your brain – the nerve connections that shape thought, reactions, and instinct.
Whether you draw portraits or doodle; whether you work on your own or take lessons, you’ll be amazed at the enrichment your life gains through drawing. Get that pad today, and start with those pencils, to make a healthier, happier you.
Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
Laura Green loves everything to do with art, when she isn’t drawing in her spare time she is writing about it. She currently works for Portrait Club, a company that teaches you to draw online.