Sketching & Sweating : Why Art and Exercise Feel the Same to Me
I’ve been thinking lately about how making art and moving my body — running, hiking, climbing — actually feel really similar. One is a state in which I’m probably the stillest you’ll ever find me, the other a sweaty muddy mess, and yet internally, they feel very similar.
They both give me time outside, which is where I feel most like myself. They’re both quiet in their own way. No notifications, no pressure to perform, just me doing something slowly and intentionally. Even if it’s hard or messy, it feels good to be fully focused on one thing.
Above: Designing botanical brandmarks, hiking up ‘The Roaches’, playing in my sketchbook using scenes from google earth, parking outside a cycling cafe for a coffee on a long Sunday ride
Drawing forces me to slow down and really look at something. So does climbing a ridge or jogging a familiar trail. It’s the same feeling — just noticing, being present, getting out of my own head.
They’re also both things I do mostly alone but that help me feel more connected to the world. Kind of like mini resets when everything else feels noisy and fast.
Sometimes I just feel like the world is too overwhelming. The lights are too bright, the noise is too loud, the pressure is too much and every screen is trying to sell me at least five new subscriptions.
… but when I go outside, move my body, and focus on the little details and shapes that make up the world around me, all that simmers down, and for a moment, no one is trying to sell me anything, and I am just me.
