They’re all brilliant and valuable sketching genres in their own right. So, I investigated all the different sketching disciplines I could find – field sketching, nature journaling, botanical drawing, mindful drawing, urban sketching, there are a lot. I was determined to find a way to help more people discover the joys and benefits of sketching nature. How do you now encourage people to pick up a pencil? Obviously, it takes time to improve, but the benefits for your wellbeing are immediate. Most of my sketches take less than 10 minutes. It’s the process of sketching, not the quality of the picture you produce that matters. Anyone who can pick up a pencil can sketch nature. A sketch doesn’t have to look good to be worthwhile. These barriers lie in our heads, not our hands. Try sketching a daisy and I bet you will be too absorbed in sketching to think or worry about anything else. It’s much easier to avoid a nature-based activity, like sketching, when you feel a bit self-conscious about a lack of outdoorsy knowledge or experience. We’re far too busy spending two, three hours every day checking our phones! And finally, many of us just aren’t into nature these days.
We’re far too busy in our modern stressful lives to fit around sketching daisies. Most of us are absolutely convinced we can’t draw well, and most of believe that you have to have a talent that you were born with versus thinking it’s a skill you can develop. You may even think twice before calling it a weed.
You’ll have formed your own little connection with it, you may appreciate it more. And as for your daisy, after you’ve carefully sketched it, you’ll see it in a new way. It can heighten your perception and experience of your surroundings, revealing sources of joy you never knew you had in your life, sources of joy that cost nothing to you or the planet. Whereas sketching is slower, requires concentration, and engages multiple senses. Of course, you could just take a photo versus sketching, but for most people, it’s quick and passive. And research suggests the more we can train our brain to notice these moments, the happier and more emotionally resilient we can become. These moments of wonder and delight may seem trivial, but they can trigger an upward spiral in our mood. We all know that spark of joy when you spot a rainbow, a fairy-tale toadstool or a group of ducklings on the river. Studies show that being in nature triggers a whole range of positive emotions, including joy and delight, wonder and curiosity, comfort and solace, all positive emotions that have been shown to reduce stress and improve our mood. This is why you can't lie in, even when you're exhausted If we can learn to see and appreciate nature with fresh eyes, we’ll start to love and take care of it again, and the best way to see something is to sketch it! Our relationship with nature is in big trouble, so green sketching is encouraging people to take ownership for their relationship with nature. The aim of green sketching isn’t to become a great artist but to become a happy, resilient nature lover! Green sketching is an invitation for us to think about sketching in a completely new way, not as an artistic practice but as a tool to see, enjoy and appreciate nature’s beauty in our own way, for our own wellbeing. Here we talk to Ali about why sketching in nature will make you healthier and happier.
‘I am now on a mission to save the world one doodle at a time,’ she says. Now an author and illustrator of The Green Sketching Handbook: Relax and Reconnect with Nature, she’s still working on climate change but in completely unique way. ‘I started to research it and realised that all the studies backed that idea that up.’Īli, who now lives in the Lake District, went on to found The Green Sketching Movement – she offers talks, sketching clubs, guided doodle walks and other events, all aimed and getting people outside to draw. Dr Ali started feeing more connected with nature when she started drawing it (Picture: Supplied)
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