The Instinct to Make a Mark

Do you remember when you first started drawing or coloring?

My earliest memories of making marks go back to kindergarten, but I know I was drawing long before then—because now, as a parent, I’ve seen all three of my kids instinctively start to draw the moment they realized their hands could make a mark.

From that realization on, anything that could be used to draw was used—walls, tables, floors, even their own faces! If you have kids, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That pure, uninhibited joy of making a mark is universal.

Why Do We Have the Urge to Draw?

At first, it’s about the physical joy of movement—pressing, scribbling, smearing, feeling the connection between our body and the surface. Then, the next stage emerges: the desire to represent something, to capture what we see. That’s when frustration often sets in—when our marks don’t yet match the images in our minds.

I’ve seen this in my kids, especially when they try to draw their favorite superhero and get upset when it doesn’t look “right.” It’s a shift from pure exploration to the need for accuracy and imitation. In this stage, for many, leads to the idea that they’re “not good at drawing.” But drawing, like anything, is a skill that can be developed. And with time, each person’s unique way of making marks—whether precise or expressive—begins to emerge.

But where does this desire to make a mark even come from? Why do we feel such a strong urge to leave a trace of ourselves?

Mark-Making in Ancient History

This instinct goes all the way back to our earliest ancestors. Some of the first known human-made marks are the hand stencils in the caves of Argentina, Indonesia, and Spain, created over 50,000 years ago. Early humans placed their hands on rock walls and blew pigment around them, leaving behind an imprint—a signature, a record, proof of existence.

Beyond hands, these ancient artists drew animals, symbols, and scenes of daily life—not for productivity, but for expression, storytelling, and connection. This is the foundation of art itself: the ability to translate our experience of the world into marks that hold meaning.

Mark-Making as a Way to Connect

We do this today, just in different ways—through painting, writing, dance, photography. It’s not about being “good” at art, but about responding to an inner impulse. Mark-making grounds us, soothes us, helps us process emotions.

For me, I see marks everywhere—in the natural lines of tree bark, in the shifting patterns in sand, in the way water reflects light. These found marks inspire me to make my own, and the process becomes a meditation—both calming and invigorating at the same time.

Image to the right is a reflection of trees on water. I love the movement and feeling of this!

Try This: A Simple Mark-Making Exercise

If you feel the urge to make a mark but don’t know where to start, try this approach:

Look around you. Notice the lines, shapes, textures, or patterns present in nature or your surroundings. What catches your eye?

Take a pencil and paper. Let your hand move across the page, inspired by what you see. You’re not copying, you’re responding.

Let your emotions guide you. The more you draw, the more your own feelings, energy, and rhythm will naturally infuse into your marks.

You don’t need a perfect idea to start. Just start. One mark leads to another, and before you know it, you’ve created something uniquely yours.