✨ Analogue Art is More Important Than Ever
I originally wrote this post on the now-defunct Substack platform. It was written back in 2025, but over a year later, I feel it’s more important than ever and stand by every word.
Hello, you brilliant, creative soul
How are you really? Have your hands touched paper, thread, ink, glue, or clay lately? Have you given yourself the gift of creating something slow, imperfect, and beautifully analogue? I hope so. Because there’s nothing quite like getting out of your head and into your hands. It’s not just art, it’s medicine.
Someone asked me the other day why I chose to use fine-liner pens as my art-making tool. It's clichéd, but the pen chose me!
I just had a sense that I REALLY wanted to learn to draw with fine-line pens, specifically draw flowers. From memory. Free-flowing. As a way to lose myself in the process of creativity.
Drawing with a pen also means there's no going back. Once the line is on the page, you have to work with it. Mistakes become part of the artwork and have to be embraced. No erasing, no do-overs. There’s a life lesson in there.
Going back to the drawing board taught me a great deal after years of working more digitally. Mostly, it's to look again. To be still enough to notice the curves of a petal, the sudden twist of a stem, the tiny gaps where light sneaks through.
Each line is a little moment of devotion to attention. Something that has been lost and maybe even eradicated in some instances of our digital age.
In a world that's becoming faster and more digitised by the day, analogue art isn't nostalgic; it's necessary.
We're Drowning in Digital and Starving for Something Real
This shift from digital to analogue has made me realise something important about what we're all going through.
I posted this note on Substack the other day, and it seemed to really resonate:
Every day, we're hit with a tsunami of information. Notifications, emails, updates, reels, reminders, pings, pongs, and always the pressure to keep up.
It's no wonder our minds feel foggy, our focus is scattered, and our creativity... well, often it gets buried under the weight of it all.
But here's the thing: we don't need more tools to help us keep up. We need tools that help us slow down.
That's precisely what analogue art gives us. Drawing, knitting, pottery, playing the piano... heck, just looking at a flower for 2 minutes!
It's the antidote to the speed and hustle.
What Analogue Art Gives Us That Screens Never Can
Analogue art doesn't demand polish. It doesn't come with pop-ups or performance metrics. It meets you where you are, and asks only that you begin.
Here's why it matters now more than ever:
It grounds you in your body and celebrates imperfection. The scratch of the nib on paper, the wobbly lines, the smudges: they're meditative and beautifully human. Unlike digital tools, there's no quick fix or magic shortcut.
It creates time. Yes, really. Five minutes of drawing or crafting feels longer and deeper than twenty minutes of doomscrolling. It's a pocket of presence on an otherwise noisy day.
It lights up your brain in powerful ways. According to the science of neuroaesthetics, engaging with art, especially tactile, hands-on forms, can boost focus, lower stress, and increase feelings of connection and wellbeing.
It’s not hyperbole to say that when we work with our hands, something ancient wakes up; something we desperately need to be well and live a meaningful life. A way to exercise not just our bodies, but our creativity. Because to be human is to be creative.
If You've Lost Touch with Making Things
This post is especially for you if:
You used to love drawing or crafting but haven't touched a sketchbook or knitting needle/paintbrush/[fill the blank] in years.
You've been feeling stretched thin and disconnected from your creativity.
You're someone who thinks, "I'm not really an artist... but I used to love making things."
You don't need fancy materials. You don't need to "get it right." You just need a pen, some paper, or your preferred crafting material, and five quiet minutes.
Honestly, your hands will remember the way.
What This Looks Like for Me
My 100-day art-making challenge is called The Secret Garden Within. I brought together everything I love: pen and ink, coloured pencils, and collage.
I show up daily to work on it, and each week I create a new piece of art.
Committing to this challenge gives me a real sense of purpose. Like the 30-day flower challenge before it, this challenge doesn't let me rest on my laurels in the pit of perfectionism or let the inner critic steal my attention and push me to give up altogether. I have to keep going and work with what I have. Plus, making hands-on analogue art of any kind always gives me a deeper sense of wellbeing and accomplishment than scrolling ever could.
A Small Invitation
So here's my gentle but firm invitation to you: Step away from the screen for a moment. Pick up a pen. Let your hand wander.
Don't worry if it's "good." Don't worry if it "makes sense." Just draw something. Anything. A flower. A cup. The mess on your desk. Your breath.
Because in a world obsessed with speed, the simple act of putting pen to paper or hands to craft materials - slowly, imperfectly, deliberately - might be the most relaxing, even profound, and dare I say rebellious thing you do all day.
Have an inspired day 💕
