I tried drawing in public and realized why people stare at tablets

Getting back into sketching at the park

I ended up at Pyeonghwa Park in Mapo last weekend, mostly because I had a few hours to kill before meeting some friends for dinner. It was one of those days where the weather was just nice enough to feel guilty about staying inside. I brought my tablet along, thinking I might finally get around to sketching something, which is a habit I’ve been trying to keep up with for months. I saw they were running these ‘garden drawing’ programs, and while I didn’t join the formal event, the atmosphere was contagious enough to make me open my canvas app.

The messy reality of starting from scratch

I really thought I would just whip out a quick, clean digital illustration like I see on those social media feeds. But within ten minutes, I was annoyed. My lines were wobbly because the sunlight kept hitting the screen at a weird angle, and I spent twenty minutes just fussing with the brush settings. I remember reading about artists doing concept storyboards or character design, and I honestly felt a bit embarrassed looking at my screen compared to the organized, logical layers they use. I just had one giant, messy layer that I kept undoing. It’s funny how I always imagine I’ll be productive, but usually, I just end up staring at a blank canvas until the battery starts to dip below 30 percent.

Comparing notes with professionals

Later that day, I popped into a nearby exhibition center—I think it was around the Gangdong Arts Center area—to look at some original sketches. Seeing real pen-and-paper drawings alongside digital output was a bit of a reality check. Everything looked so effortless in the exhibition, but then you look at the ‘making-of’ sections, the scratched-out ideas, and the half-formed thoughts that didn’t make the cut. It’s weird how we put so much pressure on ourselves to have a polished portfolio or even a certification, like the Adobe ones people talk about, when in reality, most of the work is just iterating through a hundred bad sketches before you find one that works. I looked at the price of entry, which was maybe around 15,000 won or so, and felt like it was worth it just to see the mistakes, not just the masterpiece.

The digital vs analog struggle

I’ve been debating whether I should try using those recycled eco-friendly paint sets they sometimes provide at these public events. There’s something about the friction of actual pigment that I just can’t seem to replicate on a screen, no matter how good the stylus response is. When I’m at a desk with my computer, it feels like work—like I’m prepping for some web design certification or trying to make something ‘marketable.’ But at the park, even if I’m struggling with the screen glare and the fact that I can’t draw hands to save my life, it feels slightly less like a chore.

Still not sure if I’m getting better

I walked away from the park with three finished sketches that I’m still not 100% happy with. The colors look different on my laptop than they did on the tablet, which is always a headache I forget to account for. I’m not sure if I’m actually learning to be an ‘illustrator’ or just killing time in a more expensive way. Maybe the point isn’t to get perfect at it. I keep thinking about whether I should register for an actual class, but then I worry that taking the fun out of it by making it a formal task will just make me stop entirely. For now, I think I’ll just keep dragging my tablet to random cafes and parks, even if I only end up drawing the same tree five times.