Is Drawing a Valid Form of Meditation?
My journey continues as I discover the answer… for myself and for you
Thanks for the terrific response to my first blog. I realize this one comes a little hard on its heels, but we have an event scheduled for next Wednesday Aprill 30th that is directly tied into it that you will not want to miss if you live in the SanFrancisco Bay Area, so hear goes.
As a child growing up in Cornwall, the Southern tip of the British Isles, I would drink in the landscape and began drawing the flowers which adorned it at an early age.
Moving to the Cotswolds in my teens, I would draw incessantly, both prior to and during my first two years in art school. I would urban sketch in the Regency town of Cheltenham where I lived, and would do plein air sketching of the amazing landscapes in the hills and valleys of the Cotswolds. I wish I had those drawings now, but they are long since gone.
As I covered in my last blog post, after decades spent in the desert without any personal art expression I was reconnected to my first love when I started drawing on my iPad with my finger.
My iPad not only saved my sanity, it reset my life goals. But it was not until I picked up a traditional pencil that I re-experienced the meditational aspect of drawing and sketching.
My friend and fellow Brit, Katy Lea, suggested we start drawing again and we embarked on our new journey armed with pencils and small sketchbooks we could fit in our purses. We visited the Shoreline Lake Park in Mountain View, sat down, and began sketching.
We were overwhelmed with excitement when we sat in the car and reflected on the experience. We knew we had hit something major in our lives and decided to launch an ad-hoc group we named Art Hiking to which we invited our friends, iPad art students, as well as new folks.
People showed up and together we walked around the lake and began teaching those who needed it, how to draw. Suffice it to say, not a lot of hiking occurred, but a lot of art! We created a logo for our group (on our iPad of course) and we even created small bags we sewed together with an ironed-on logo. We filled the over-the-shoulder bag with the same small sketchbook we were using by Moleskine and pencils by Blackwing - a kneaded eraser and a pencil sharpener. We even included a pen! Moleskine have since discontinued the tiny sketchbook we loved, but their other sketchbooks are still great if a little overpriced. A less expensive alternative are those by Royal Talens. This one is small (5x5 so it fits in your purse) with thick paper good enough for any type of medium including watercolor or even gouache.). Of course, if you are just sketching you can use anything, just as we did when seeking cheaper alternatives.
As we continued sketching together, we both noticed the effect was restorative as if we had been meditating. Artists often talk about this as going into the zone. Katy’s sister was deeply involved in mindfulness and meditation and she told us there is a direct connection between Drawing and Meditation.
The following might be a bit dry, but if you read to the end of the blog you can see why I am sharing all this with you and what we have in store for you at The Joy of Drawing that will make this a reality for you (if not already!)
Scientific Research Makes the Connection
While this personal experience was anecdotal, the science behind it is clear.
Like meditation, drawing requires focused attention. When you’re deeply engaged in sketching, especially from observation, your mind naturally quiets. This is the process of what we nicknamed “going into the zone” at art college.
Repetitive mark-making such as hatching creates a rhythm that mirrors breathing exercises in medittion.
Goof references: Frederick Franck, the awakened eye and from the same author, The Zen of Seeing-Drawing is Meditation.
Psychologist Mihaely Csikszentmihaly identified a condition he called the “flow state” - a meditative-like zone of focus - often achieved through drawing or sketching, This state boosts mood, lowers stress, and improves emotional regulation.
Drawing without focusing on perfection or outcome mirrors the nonjudgemental awareness core of mindfulness. Practices we use on our sketch walks such as blind contouring and continuous line drawing help emphasize presence over product - in other words they teach you how to be in the moment without worrying about the result!
Neurological Overlap Between Drawing and Medication.
Research in neuroimaging showed that both drawing and meditation modulate core large-scale brain networks. During focused drawing individuals often shift out of self-referential thoughts and into task-positive networks akin to those engaged during mindfulness of meditation.
Quantitative EEG studies revealed that drawing can elicit increases in brain rhythms associated with relaxation and meditative states.
This is just a little of the scientific research that has come to the fore over the past 50 years, but in our own “unscientific” artistic terms it means:
You said it, “going into the zone!
Finally, here’s why I am writing this blog now
Quite apart from the fact this is about my own journey, it invites you to join myself and Sonia Brittain, our Creative Director who is also an avid sketcher, at our free Sketch Club outings in and around the Bay Area.
We have scheduled these throughout the Spring and Summer starting next Wednesday, April 30th. Each month we will meet up on the final Wednesday and you can find schedules on our website.
Here is the link to join us next Wednesday April 30 at, you guessed it, Shoreline Park in Mountain View where we will meet up at the American Bistro directly off the free parking lot. We will be wandering over to the Rengstorff House and from there, over the bridge to some amazing meadows that Katy and I loved sketching.
Join our Monthly Sketch Club for FREE this coming Wednesday, April 30th. And bring any friends with you, also for free. We, of course, will welcome any small donation you choose to make when we end. Bring a small sketchbook (or large) and we will meet up at the American Bistro at 11am. If you are late we will send you our mobile so we can text you our location. If you don’t remember to register, just come along anyways!
Hope to see you there!