Why Creative Confidence Matters More Than You Think

One of the things I have noticed over the years is that people often underestimate how far creative confidence reaches beyond drawing. Most people think learning to draw is about producing better artwork, but after spending hundreds of hours sat around coffee shop tables with complete beginners, I am not convinced that is the most important thing people gain from the experience.

Back in January 2022, I started a free project called Drop In & Doodle. The idea came from a situation I found myself in regularly. Because of the nature of my work, I spend a lot of time drawing in coffee shops. If you sit there long enough with a sketchbook open, somebody will eventually start a conversation about what you are doing. More often than not, that conversation would end with the phrase, "I wish I could draw."

What always interested me was that people rarely said they disliked drawing. In fact, most seemed genuinely fascinated by it. The problem was that somewhere along the way they had decided it was something other people could do but they could not. That belief often seemed to have very little to do with their actual ability and much more to do with confidence.

Drop In & Doodle was my attempt to remove as many barriers as possible. Rather than running a formal art class, I turned up with a handful of Posca pens and invited people to join me for a draw. There was no expectation that attendees would stay for the entire session. People could drop in for five minutes or stay for two hours. There was no curriculum, no pressure and no requirement to see yourself as an artist before taking part.

The project was also aimed entirely at adults. Children already have plenty of opportunities to be creative. Schools, youth groups and family activities provide lots of chances to pick up a pen and make something. Adults are often a different story. Once people leave education, creativity can quietly disappear from their lives. Work becomes busier, responsibilities increase and many people stop making time for themselves altogether.

Over the years, I have watched all sorts of people come through the sessions. Some were parents looking for a little bit of breathing room in the middle of a busy week. Some were retired and looking for social connection. Some were dealing with loneliness, anxiety or difficult circumstances and simply needed a reason to leave the house. While everybody arrived for different reasons, a surprising number left with something similar: a little more confidence than they had when they arrived.

What struck me was that the confidence people gained rarely stayed within the boundaries of drawing. Learning to put pen to paper without worrying about perfection has a habit of changing the way people approach other things. You become more comfortable making mistakes. You stop expecting yourself to get everything right first time. You begin to trust that problems can usually be solved if you keep moving forward rather than giving up at the first sign of difficulty.

Those are valuable lessons whether you are drawing a monster, starting a new hobby or navigating a difficult period in life.

The sessions themselves have moved around a bit over the years. We started at Strays before spending time at the Cornish Bakery and the Arts Centre Café, eventually finding a long-term home at the Cosy Club. Throughout that journey, Art Pop-Up have worked incredibly hard to secure funding and keep the project running, while Posca have generously supplied pens that have helped hundreds of people discover that drawing can be much more accessible than they expected.

Unfortunately, both the funding and pen sponsorship have now come to an end. As things stand, Drop In & Doodle has just two weeks left to run before the project closes.

That would be disappointing, not because it would mean fewer opportunities to draw, but because it would mean losing a space that has helped people connect, build confidence and spend time together in a way that is becoming increasingly rare. The drawings have always been important, but they were never the whole story.

If you work for, or know of, a business, charity, organisation or community group that might be interested in supporting a free creative wellbeing project for adults, I would love to hear from you. Four years of sessions have shown just how much value can come from something as simple as a table, a few pens and a welcoming environment.

Even if the project does come to an end, it has reinforced something I have believed for a long time. Creativity is not really about producing perfect artwork. More often, it is about giving yourself permission to try something, make mistakes, and discover that you are capable of more than you thought.

- Korp