I would like to start with my own personal relationship to sketching. I sketch frequently. I sketch in the margins of my notes, I sketch on Post Its, I sketch formally and for fun. I love it.
I sketch all of the time, but I'm not good at using it to communicate with others. In fact, I don't do it. So as I'm reading this great article about how we sketch, when we use it and why, I begin to think of the formative experiences in life that keep me from sketching to communicate with others.
It starts in school. I bet almost everyone here can remember the first teacher that told you "Now is not the time to draw." In fact, I heard it over and over again--doodlers and sketchers alike being called out for drawing in their notes and on their homework. Visual thinking was a second class citizen in the K-12 room (in fact, when I taught I found myself saying the same things).
I fear it has never occured to most teachers that instead of telling a child not to draw that instead they should have taught them how to draw and make it relevant. Instead of teaching budding designers to hide their skills and force words when it isn't appropriate, they could have encouraged visual thinks to explain and think visually.
I am a shy sketcher--because sketches are rough and messy. They are not appropriate for others to see because you just don't doodle on your notes. At least, I fear this is my mindset and why I am reluctant to sketch out thinking in front of others to clarify what words cannot.
I read "Why We Sketch" by Jared Spool. And what Spool succeeds in beautifully, is advocating for sketching and explaning why sketching is a necessary and beneficial skill.
Firstly, sketching "leverages the visual." In fact, he points out that words don't always work, as much as we may want them too. Therefore, some sketches emerge out of need. These are judged useful not by beauty or messiness (which is the matter of time a sketcher has) but by the clarity of communicaton, often more effective than words.
Secondly, sketching "communicates ideas." We use sketches to visualize some ideas out (important details) and leave others out. He quotes Buxton when discussion that rough sketches reflect rough ideas and detailed sketches reflect fine tuned ideas.
In addition, we use sketching to remember things. This I do, though privately, and its usually a scene of a narrative I'm working on that music inspired and is quickly fading. It can be used for note taking--tell that to your 12th grade government teacher! These sketches help the visual thinker internalize key points and commit them to memory.
We sketch to think. I do this the most. I have a thought and words won't come out. So I sit and sketch until the idea has life breathed into it. It grows and changes--the light box comes out and I fix things, change things. These are growing and living sketches.
We sketch to reflect on someone else's idea. Maybe we don't understand an idea someone has told us, so it gets worked out on paper. Then the sender can tell you better where you are right and wrong in your interpretation.
We sketch to document. These show results.
Sketching is powerful. It is an important tool that shouldn't be shoved under the rug or punished when we are young learners. It is a vital way to explore the world and communicate with each other.
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