1. It’s a problem solving tool.
Architecture is a problem-solving profession. You actually think through drawing. When you sketch, you’re making a physical manifestation of your thoughts. There’s a direct link between your mind and your hand. You have a thought, you make a mark. In a way, you’re dumping your brain onto a piece of paper. Once something is on paper, you can riff on it to test new possibilities. It helps you decide what works and what doesn’t work.
2. It’s quick.
Sketching is so much faster than hard-lining a drawing in a CAD or BIM program. You can sketch in 10 seconds something that would take you 10 minutes to draw in Revit.
3. It’s mobile.
You can sketch anywhere, on the fly. If you’re out walking the earth, and a brilliant idea crosses your mind, you can whip out a sketchbook and record the idea before it withers away.
4. It’s Inherently Satisfying.
Sketching can be an end unto itself. You can do it for the sake of doing it. Sketches don’t have to be done for practical or professional reasons. It’s fun to get out a pen and paper and let your mind wander.
5. It’s a wonderful communication tool.
You can sketch to communicate ideas to other people. So often verbal descriptions fall short. A concrete image – something you can point to – is an invaluable tool to communicate ideas. It clears up ambiguity. You can point at a sketch, and be like: There! That!
6. You make discoveries through sketching
Sketching is like jazz. You can riff on it in real time. You can rapidly iterate. As you sketch, you’ll almost certainly make new discoveries and uncover new possibilities along the way. Ideas will reveal themselves to you in a way that they wouldn’t have otherwise. An errant mark can blossom into a fruitful concept.
7. Drawing is human.
Sketching is an art – a uniquely human activity. Part of what it means to be a human is to have the ability to express your consciousness. People have been expressing themselves through drawings since the stone age. Remember those cave paintings from art history class?
8. Sketching is more valuable now than ever, precisely because it’s a dying art.
The more rare something is, the more valuable it is. Well…as long as it’s useful. Sketching is definitely useful. Therefore it is valuable.
9. It’s potentially profitable.
I personally have never sold a sketch or a piece of art, but think about all the art you’ve seen for sale in coffee shops, online, art-shows, etc. If you were so-motivated, you could use your sketching prowess to make cash money.