The benefits of drawing and colouring as an adult

It is possible that you have met or someone has shared with you a text about the benefits of drawing, which suggests, for example, that if you need to recover energy, draw landscapes and, instead, opt for a rainbow to combat sadness. There's more: if you're angry, draw lines; If you feel anguish, make a rag doll; If you are desperate, draw paths.

Drawing and your brain

Drawing helps to concentrate and apart from personal satisfaction, drawing (as well as painting and sculpting, for example) stimulates our brain and helps us improve our memory and our capacity for introspection, so we can assume that art can protect against the decline of certain brain functions with age.

There are people who find pleasure in the drawing itself, because they like it and they are good at it too, others do not have as much dexterity but it helps them to express what they otherwise would not express. And remember that art can even be used as a therapy tool, since it can help express emotions that are hidden and understand our own ghosts and fears.

And you, when did you stop drawing?

All humans like to draw from about 40,000 years ago. And it is something that almost everyone can do. As they write in Scientific American: Drawing is simply making lines and points on paper. If you know how to write your name, you can draw. 

Moreover, we began to draw before knowing how to read and write. All the children have drawn at some point in their life.  So why do we stop doing it? Many children discover other ways to explore their world, engage in other activities or, more often, simply lose interest. Their knowledge develops faster, so there comes a time when they do not know how to draw what their brain sees , which happens especially when we try to capture the perspective when we are 8 or 9 years old. As a result they become frustrated and lose interest.

So, basically, we stop having fun while drawing. As children we enjoyed drawing without worrying about anything else, but there comes a time when we have to learn how to show light, space, composition, form, line. After that, we have to train to play again.

Do not stop scribbling, at least

Even if we no longer buy sketchbooks, nor can (or want to) dedicate hours to this activity, this does not mean that we have to abandon the drawing completely. Occasionally, everyone tends to scribble, sketch or shape an idea, because drawing is part of the human species. The sketches, quick drawings, improvised diagrams and others are a way of daydreaming in a graphic way that is beneficial to the creative process. These quick drawings also increase manual dexterity and reinforce the connection between your motor activities and your visual system.

Paint and colour

Right now it is quite popular to do some certain activity connected to drawing: colouring books for adults. Rhythmic, regular and smooth movements with an impact on paper or coloring filling in delimited spaces can make the person focus so much on the task that is being carried out - that can disconnect from other intrusive or anxious thoughts. It is, in short, an exercise of concentration and relaxation.

There is similar situation with calligraphy, an art increasingly practiced that follows both Chinese traditions, of more than 4,500 years ago, as well as European, inherited from the monks of the Middle Ages. Practicing calligraphy, similar to simple sketches and scribbles predisposes to full consciousness, to the 'here and now,' so it has a lot to do with meditative states. mental in which there is no place or stress, nor worries, nor muscular tensions, nor intrusive thoughts.

Need for motivation

All this works only if we are interested. Emotion marks both our attention and our retentiveness. If it bores us to draw, there is little use for us to force ourselves to try do create something with a pencil and a piece of paper. I think it'sa myth that other people can motivate you. The motivation comes from within and is based on your interests and personal goals.

The fact that we can learn to draw more than correctly does not mean that we are going to be geniuses, nor that we are going to be more creative, no matter how much effort we put into it. Drawing is an acquired skill that can be very useful in creative work without necessarily being a creative expression. You can draw very well without being creative and, of course, be creative without even knowing how to pick up a pencil.But it is true that creative people are fascinated with this activity in itself: they explore it with desire and intensity, and investigate every aspect of what interests them and this is valid for drawing, writing, playing an instrument or anything that appeals to us.

In any case and if you still aren't convinced, you can always go through the hashtag #inkmarch (for this month, then just change March to the next one)on Instagram to inspire you. It is a challenge that was born in 2009 and that consists in making a daily drawing : a whole month of drawings at your disposal. 

PS. All the drawing are mine, made quite a long time ago. I'm thinking about retaking up my hobby. What do you think?