You can use pre-existing stories and sketches to teach yourself something relevant. For instance, if you have to learn about fashion design, copies of fashion sketches or renderings that were drawn by famous designers can help you identify particular trends or elements that you are supposed to learn about. Similarly, you can use stories written by other authors to read and learn about what it is that you are supposed to teach yourself.
Another way to use stories and sketches to teach yourself is to create original ones on your own. That is, take the elements you are supposed to learn and compose a story about them or draw a sketch that resembles those elements. If you have to teach yourself about the history of a particular war general, write a story about him and include the major facts that you are required to remember. If you need to study geometrical shapes, a sketch drawing that you do yourself can help you get practice making the shapes as you go.
A story or sketch will make it easier for you to learn from when the content is personal or has a significant meaning to you. Whether you compose your own story, draw your own sketches or use pre-existing ones, it's important that you feel connected to them so that you have a genuine interest in the subject matter. From there, you will be able to appreciate teaching yourself what it is you need to learn because of the fact that it is relatable or personal.
Anytime you use stories or sketches to teach yourself, you need to be sure of what the main point of the lesson is. Identifying the point means knowing why you are reading or writing the story, why you are designing or viewing a sketch, and how it applies to the overall facts you are required to learn. If you select a story or sketch that fails to provide you with a point that's relevant to the lesson, then you should select something else that is more helpful.