Make (Sneaky) Art

Make (Sneaky) Art is a playful invitation to develop your daily sketching practice. Artist and author Nishant Jain invites readers to actively engage with the world with lessons, ideas, tips, and techniques. In the first half, Nishant shares prompts for exploring media and composition. Next, he strives to answer fundamental questions, “Why should you make room for art in your life? Why learn the language of line and shape?” With humor and joy, Nishant illustrates how a sketching habit can connect us more deeply to ourselves, the world around us, and importantly, to each other.

Nishant Jain left halfway through a Ph.D. program in Neuroscience to become a writer instead. To better observe his new world as an immigrant in America, he began walking about with a sketchbook. His unique art style has emerged from the urge to draw quickly with minimal supplies and the desire to observe and appreciate urban life. He has shared his art, ideas, and writing in news media worldwide. Nishant works as an independent artist, writer, and podcaster in Vancouver, BC.

Learn more about Nishant’s work at sneakyartist.com.

In this demo, Nishant, also known as “The Sneaky Artist,” shared tips on how to start and finish a sketch onsite with limited time and tools. He shared some recent travel sketchbooks and discussed his minimalist art supplies with Art Toolkit founder and host Maria Coryell-Martin. Nishant pulled from his experience drawing from observation in public spaces and shared techniques to help start and finish drawings quickly. Participants learned how to improve their skills, develop their taste, and build sustainable drawing habits by focusing on the subjects of their interest, even in densely packed urban spaces.