Part 1: Make a Mark: 5 Ways to Build Confidence in Sketching and Design

Sketching can be one of the most powerful tools in a designer’s process — but for many students, it’s also the most intimidating.They worry about “getting it right,” about not being able to draw well, or about making mistakes they can’t undo. In set and costume design, though, sketching isn’t about accuracy — it’s about thinking on paper. Here are five simple, creative principles that can help unlock your students’ confidence and get them sketching with energy and purpose.

1. Sketch Big, Move Big

Give your students permission to draw large.When they stand up, stretch out their arms, and use big sweeping movements, they start to sketch with their whole body, not just their fingertips.

Try using rolls of paper across tables or the floor, or pin A1 sheets to the wall. Swap the pencils for charcoal, brushes, or even sticks dipped in ink. The aim is energy and flow, not precision.

👉 Tip: Play music and set a timer for two minutes — speed and movement stop the inner critic from taking over.

2. Embrace Mistakes as Part of the Process

The fear of doing it “wrong” is one of the biggest barriers to creativity.Design sketching should be messy, exploratory, and alive — not careful or precious.

Ban erasers. Encourage students to draw over, cross through, and layer.Mistakes often lead to unexpected ideas — a smudged line might become a shadow, or an accidental mark might spark a whole new set concept.

👉 Tip: Using charcoal sticks or pencils can help students experiment more with sketching and focus more on ‘mark-making’ than perfection.

3. Make It Collaborative

When sketching becomes collective, it becomes playful.Try laying a huge roll of paper down the middle of a table, and have students sketch side by side — or better yet, rotate drawings every few minutes, adding to someone else’s ideas.

This takes away ownership and ego.It turns sketching into a conversation — one that mirrors the collaborative nature of theatre itself.

👉 Extension idea: After a group mark-making session, have each student choose one section of the shared drawing to develop into a design concept.

4. Reframe It as “Mark Making” — Not “Drawing”

The word drawing can feel loaded — some students instantly think, “I can’t draw.”But when you talk about mark making or visual exploration, the pressure lifts.

Offer a range of tools — sponges, masking tape, collage, textured rubbings — and encourage expressive, experimental marks. Focus on how a texture, rhythm, or tone might communicate character or atmosphere rather than realism.

👉 Tip: Show examples of designers’ messy sketchbooks and early concept drawings. It helps students see that design is about exploration, not fine art.

Show your students this short video of Rae Smith sharing her initial sketches, in preparation for designing the show War Horse: Watch the video

5. Value the Process, Not the Product

Remind students that a sketch is a tool for thinking, not a final artwork.The best design sketchbooks are full of scribbles, arrows, notes, and layers — visual diaries of thought.

Start every session with a short warm-up mark-making activity that doesn’t “count.”

Remind them that the sketches are just for them and, for many designers, their initial sketches are just for themselves. No-one else sees them. This builds confidence and creates a routine where sketching feels like thinking aloud visually.

👉 Mantra: “Sketch to explore, not to impress.”

✏️ Final Thoughts

Set and costume design sketching isn’t about perfect proportion or polished shading — it’s about visual problem-solving, energy, and storytelling.

When students feel free to make marks, experiment, and collaborate, they stop worrying about the final result — and start creating designs that are dynamic, personal, and full of life.

“Sketching in design isn’t about drawing well — it’s about drawing to think.”

🌟 Coming Next on the Blog

This post is the first in my new Make a Mark series — a three-part exploration of how we can help students sketch, play, and design with confidence in the theatre classroom.

Over the next week, I’ll be sharing two follow-up blogs packed with practical, creative activities to build on these ideas:

🎨 Part 2, coming this week: Make a Mark: 10 Creative Set Design Sketching Starters

👉 Quick, playful exercises to help students explore space, shape, and atmosphere through mark making.

👗 Part 3, released on Thursday: Make a Mark: 10 Creative Costume Design Sketching Starters

👉 Imaginative, expressive prompts for exploring character, movement, and fabric through sketching.

Stay tuned — or subscribe — to get both posts straight to your inbox.Together, they’ll form a complete toolkit to help your students make their mark in set and costume design.

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