This post is by Sketchbook Skool student Lisa Woodward, whose travel sketches are profiled in this video by Hingman Leung. Hingman was so impressed by Lisa’s illustrated travel journal that she wanted to show that it’s never too late to learn something new. Here, Lisa writes about the benefits of giving in to the desire to be creative.
About a year ago, I suddenly felt a very strong drive to be creative. I have no artistic background, and I’ve had little space for it during the years of family and career, so it was truly a surprise.
I decided to learn to sketch and paint with watercolors. I had little idea how to begin, but I stumbled onto Sketchbook Skool and Danny Gregory. That was like rocket ignition for my creativity! Sketchbook Skool’s practical exercises helped me move quickly to a place where I started drawing, and then started liking what I was drawing.
The most important gift was Danny’s good-natured encouragement. He insists that we can develop creativity as adults, inspiring through his own example, teaching me to trust my learning and ignore the inner critic, and encouraging me to start posting my drawings and connecting with an online community of people at every level of experience and ability.
It was a natural step to starting a visual journal, as I’ve been travelling a lot. What I didn’t expect was how much the process of sketching as I travel would change the quality of my experience. I literally see the world differently, and engage with people differently, through this medium. This feels wonderful. Who knew?!
Want to learn how to keep a visual journal? Check out our next kourse, Urban Sketching.
