DRAWING IS GOOD FOR YOU.
In the inky darkness of the caves of Lascaux more than 15,000 years ago, early humans carefully painted sketches of wild animals on the walls using stains from plants and minerals. This was during the last glacial period, when much of northern Europe was still covered in sheets of ice. Food was scarce, and conditions were brutal.
Imagine what life must have been like for these ancestors. And then imagine taking time from what must have been a harsh daily struggle for survival to create pictures on dimly lit rock walls.
Why?
Many scholars say that drawing is a defining trait of the human species. We just can’t help ourselves.
Art is used by therapists to reduce stress levels in patients. Kindergarten teachers use drawing to improve hand-eye coordination. There’s even research that suggests doodling helps people to focus and retain information during dull meetings.
AND IT CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER ENTREPRENEUR.
In a business setting, simple drawings can help you share your vision with your colleagues, and when they can see what you’re attempting to explain, you’re more likely to get buy-in from them. Often, a rough sketch on a scrap of paper is enough to help another person grasp your idea.
What’s more, drawing doesn’t impose the limits on the imagination that verbal language does. There are times when there are no words to capture the picture in your mind. But a blank piece of paper, a pen, and your imagination are boundless. Your funniest-looking doodle could be the inspiration for a product that no one has ever imagined before, which means of course there would be no words for it.
The very act of drawing warms up your creative muscles and trains you to pay closer attention and to see hidden connections. Those early artists at Lascaux were early experimenters with using pictures to share thoughts and ideas. And taking the time to create those images did more than provide us a glimpse into how they saw the world, it actually helped to shape the human brain so that we could become the uniquely creative creatures that we are today.
MAKING ART IS A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF WHO YOU ARE.
It’s a shame, then, that so many people stop drawing because they feel like they’re not good at it. After all, making art is a fundamental part of being a human. It’s one of the things that makes us who we are. It makes us better than who we are. So pick up a notebook and a colorful pen or two at your local art store and begin to embrace your creative legacy today.
