Nishant Jain: “The Why is the Point”

 

11/14/25 Nishant Jain speaking at Couth Buzzard Books,
Greenwood neighborhood

Well-known for his “tiny people” sketches, the Sneaky Artist was in town to promote his new book, Make (Sneaky) Art. The standing-room-only crowd at Couth Buzzard Books was riveted as Nishant Jain told us about how he went from a would-be writer to a viral-Instagram sketcher (with more than 300,000 followers).

An excellent public speaker, the Vancouver, B.C., artist and author said he wasn’t interested in writing a book about “how to draw,” because how skillfully a person draws isn’t the point. “The why is the point, not how,” he said, going on to explain how drawing regularly can change our lives. He challenged all of us with this: The next time we feel like pulling out our phones, what if we pulled out a sketchbook instead? “Your sketchbook will tell you who you are,” Nishant said. “Your sketchbook makes you human.” (Given that much of the audience was sketching him as he spoke, I think he was preaching to the choir. 😉)

Since I got there too late to grab a seat, I ended up having a better view of Nishant’s audience by standing in a corner. 

Material note: I was trying to make Nishant stand out from the others by coloring his shirt (which wasn't really yellow) -- and I had a typical acrylic marker fail! A huge blob of paint blurped out, so I had to spread it around quickly and very messily. Ugh.

Later, I moved even further back to get more of the bookstore in the background and some other audience members who didn’t get a seat.

I’m happy for Nishant that Seattle gave him a good turnout. I heard later that the store sold out of his books at the event!