When Our Memories Look Better Than Reality: The Power of Drawing Your memories

Discover how a drawing can bring your memories and emotions to life better than a photo, turning your moments into illustrations.

We all have precious moments etched in our memories: playing in the garden of our childhood, the family home, or that little secret corner discovered on an unforgettable trip to a faraway place. We take photos, sometimes hundreds, trying to freeze these moments in time… but nine times out of ten, the result is disappointing.

I don’t know about you, but I often find the colours less vivid, the details less perfect, and the landscapes somehow less grand. The initial emotion fades.

Then one day, I discovered that drawing my memories had a much deeper impact on evoking the feelings associated with them. A simple sketch—even imperfect—brought back emotions more vividly than a photo, which, despite accurately representing the scene, often fell flat.

This is exactly the exercise I encourage you to try, whether you love scribbling in a notebook or just doodling on a scrap of paper. You don’t need to create a masterpiece—just put down on paper the emotions you want to remember in 10, 20, or 30 years.

This drawing was created in 2021, in the garden of the friends who hosted us just before our big move to Canada. It brings back all the memories from that time, but above all, it reminds me of those friends you can always count on when life gets complicated. It’s more than a drawing — for me, it’s a symbol of friendship.

Photos vs. Illustrations: A Very Different Emotional Effect

A photo captures reality—and often too faithfully. Fifteen years later, the garden shed looks smaller, the flowers carefully tended by my mother appear less vibrant, and even the sunlight seems less golden than I remember. Our brain is to blame for this: it adds a beautiful filter to the scenery of our most cherished memories, embellishing them.

So when we look at a photo, a small disappointment creeps in—it’s never quite as magical as in our memory.

Illustration, on the other hand, has a major advantage: it allows us to recreate the exact colours, light, and details that shaped our emotions. In a drawing or painting, anything is possible. For example, you can:

• Enlarge the shed and add the blue shutters (even if they never really existed),

• Make all the garden’s most beautiful flowers bloom at the same time (regardless of the season),

• Add the cat napping on the doorstep, or the birdhouse you always planned to hang.

It’s often these small deviations from reality that make the drawing truer to our emotional memory.

My Experience With Photography and Drawing

For years, I took thousands of photos to remember every moment. I invested in high-end equipment, took photography lessons, edited every image… but something was always missing, that certain “je-ne-sais-quoi.” A part of the emotion remained elusive.

Then one day, I started drawing my memories. And surprisingly, a simple, totally imperfect sketch seemed to revive the emotions better than the best photo. I began in tiny pocket notebooks, with drawings smaller than a postage stamp. Then I increased the size, used India ink, added touches of watercolour or coloured pencil, and included imaginary but meaningful details. The result was gradual but extremely satisfying, giving me a living reproduction of memory and emotion.

Here are a few examples of my sketches, from the oldest and tiniest ones on the left to the more detailed ones on the right. Each one reminds me of a place — and all the memories connected to it — no matter the quality of the drawing.

Why Focus on the Decor/Scenery?

I’ve never been really good at drawing faces. So I focused on the places and settings of these precious moments. I realized it was not only sufficient to bring back emotions, but often more effective without any people: the garden and the light on the house alone evoked every moment spent there with family and friends, without needing to represent each individual.

This artwork is a memory of my visit to the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok. The blue-toned illustration on the right was created from the garden photo you see here. For me, this place was the backdrop to a beautiful day spent with my family. When I look at it, I can see my children feeding the turtles in the pond, dancing, and learning to spin silk with the young women from the museum. I can feel the softness and calm of the place all over again. It was a timeless pause — and each time I look at this piece, I am there once again in my mind.

For Who and How?

Draw your memories yourself: a small sketch is enough to bring back emotion, and often the most imperfect ones are just as effective as the most beautiful. The examples I’ve included may not mean anything to you, but to me they are little tickets to personal time-travel journeys.

Turn memories into custom artwork: if you want your memories to become part of your home décor, you can transform them into paintings. If you don’t feel confident drawing, you can entrust an artist to do it. Take the time to choose an artist whose style you love, share your memories, and explain the details that matter. Many artists offer this type of custom illustration (I do too!). Just make sure it’s not merely a Photoshop filter or AI effect applied to a photo, which may look pretty but lacks personal depth. If authenticity is important, ask to see the sketches and progress photos.

Every illustrated memory becomes a page of your story. Keep it for yourself, share it, or gift it—its emotional impact is often much stronger than a photograph.

Memory Ideas to Illustrate

• The house or garden of your childhood

• The exact place where a happy moment occurred (a proposal, a big announcement, your engagement, wedding, etc.)

• The café or place where you shared your best evenings with friends

• A vacation landscape that makes you dream

This sketch represents a holiday home that’s deeply cherished by our whole family. On its own, it has the power to bring back thousands of precious memories — even if it isn’t a polished work of art.

Tips for Drawing Your Memories

Start small, in a notebook or on A5 paper. I began in a tiny 4x6cm agenda; my drawings were smaller than a postage stamp.

Don’t aim for perfection—let your memories guide your hand. Just recognise the object or place enough to trigger the memory.

Add colours and details if you feel like it, even imaginary ones—they bring back the emotion.

Focus on the setting and key objects. You don’t need to depict everything; your memory will fill in the blanks. People are often unnecessary—your mind will naturally recall them more accurately than you could draw.

To truly see the effect, if you’re initially disappointed with your sketches, put them aside for a while. Turn the page, forget about them, and revisit them weeks or months later. That’s when you’ll feel their full impact.

Ready to transform your memories into illustrations? Don’t be afraid—try it, you’ll be surprised by the results.

If my illustration style speaks to you, discover my custom artworks and give yourself a meaningful gift: an illustrated memory to treasure forever.

Illustrate Your Best Souvenir