Name That Smell

“This smells like…home.”

Junior Ashlyn Smith closed her eyes with content. She seemed at peace as she moved her pencil across the paper, creating something out of nothing. Smith concentrated on her work and everything around her faded out, memories of home filling her mind. Something about that smell…

To Smith, the aroma of French vanilla coffee beans smelled like home. She took another whiff of the brown paper bag in front of her—not knowing that actual coffee beans were inside—but that wasn’t the point. The point of the exercise was to reveal the buried memories that were linked to the distinct smell, then sketch those memories.

Smell is one of the most abstract senses, making it the hardest to visualize. An artist has to be truly creative to sketch straight from their senses.

It is extremely difficult to sketch something without a reference photo—let alone drawing something solely based on the memory of a certain smell. Abstract and life drawing are two skills artists work on for years to completely master. Despite the difficulty, art instructor Liz Dittrick’s drawing and painting 2 kids were up for the challenge. The next few pages are filled with the sketches art students made after smelling coffee beans, perfume, peanut butter, or a candle.