Art of the Doodle: Discover Your Inner Artist by Eleanor Kwei

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Eleanor Ele anor Kwe K weii

 A division of Book Sales, Sales, Inc. 276 Fifth Avenue Suite 206 New York, New York 10001 RACE POINT PUBLISHING and the distinctive Race Point Publishing logo are trademarks of Book Sales, Inc. © 2013 by The Book Shop, Ltd. This 2013 edition published by Race Point Publishing by arrangement with The Book Shop, Ltd.  All rights reserved. No No part of this publication publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,  without prior written permission from the publisher. publisher. EDITOR Linda Falken DESIGN Tim Palin Creative Doodles featured in this book are used with permission from:  A. Lindholm, L. Lindholm, E. Kwei, R. Kelly Kelly,, H. Van Van Asseult, and W. W. Pomeroy  Pomeroy  Doodling  kit and is not to be sold separately This book is part of The of  The Art of Doodling kit separately.. ISBN-13: 978-1-9379 978-1-937994-17-4 94-17-4 Printed in China  2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1  www.racepointpub.com  www .racepointpub.com

C on onten tents  ts  Turning Doodles into Art

4

1

Just Making Marks

9

2

Abstract Geometrics

29

3

Organics: Patterns Derived from Nature

37

4

Representational Art

59

5

Literal Art: Words and Symbols

71

6

The Hardware—Not So Hard!

79

7

Doodled Arts and Crafts

88

Letting Go of Your Artwork

94

How to Use Your DoodleJournal 

96

  Turr ning Dood   Tu Doodles  les  int o Ar Art 

Manypeopledoodle—whileonthephone,attendingclassesormeetings, orjustsittingaroundwaiting,withapeninhand,scrappapernearby orjustsittingaroundwaiting,withapeninhand,sc rappapernearby.. Itseemsthatmostpeopledoodlewhilethey’ Itseemsthat mostpeopledoodlewhilethey’reconnedtoonespot, reconnedtoonespot, engagedinaconversationorattendingalecture engagedinaconv ersationorattendingalecture,andthey’ ,andthey’reinarelax reinarelaxed ed state,allowingapartoftheirmindtowanderwhiletalkingorlistening. Doodlingisnotathinkingactivitybutaspontaneousone,subliminal, personal,andultimatelyrevealing.

Ifyou’veeverseenyourfriendsorcowork Ifyou’vee verseenyourfriendsorcoworkersdoodling,youmight ersdoodling,youmight havenoticedthatpeopledoodlethesametypesofthings—lines, words,stickgures,geometricshapes—butha words,stickgur es,geometricshapes—buthavedistinct,instan vedistinct,instantly tly recognizablestyles.Thespecicimagescanbetelling,likehabits, semiconsciouslyexpressingthedoodler’ semiconsciouslyexpressingth edoodler’sexperiencesandwishes. sexperiencesandwishes. Whatifyoucouldharnessyourdoodles—thatverypersonal visuallanguage—andgentlyexpandandde visuallanguage—andg entlyexpandanddevelopthemintoartistic velopthemintoartistic showpieces?Thefollowingcha showpieces ?Thefollowingchapterswillintroduceyout pterswillintroduceyoutoabroad oabroad imagevocabulary.Ifyouar imagevocabulary .Ifyouarealreadyadoodler ealreadyadoodler,startwithwhat ,startwithwhat you’vealways you’ vealwaysdone.Ifyouar done.Ifyouarenotadoodler,t enotadoodler,trysomeofthe rysomeofthe exercisesthatinteres exer cisesthatinterestyouonpracticepaper tyouonpracticepaper.Whenyoubegin .Whenyoubegin tofeelmorecomfortable,attemptsomeofthee tofeelmorecomf ortable,attemptsomeoftheexercisesinthe xercisesinthe ,whereeasy-to-followpromptswill accompanyingDoodleJournal ,whereeasy-to-followpromptswill helpeaseyouintollingagivenspacewithdoodles.

5

1

 2

3 6 •  A Gui G uide de to t o Dood Do odll ing

Theobjectiveofthis guideandtheexercises intheDoodleJournal  aretoenableyouto developabroader artvocabulary.Then youwillbefreeto incorporateyourown sourcesofinspirationin yourownuniquestyle andexpressyourself creativelythrough doodles,anywhere, anytime.Evensimple shapescanturnintothe mostelaboratedoodles.

Does Doodling Help  withh C ononcen  wit centrtraat ioionn? Somepeoplethinkdoodlinghelpswith concentrationbyprovidingafocusforthe eyesandhandswhilethemindabsorbs information.Accordingtoleft-brain/right-brain theorists,thetwosidesofthebrainoftenwork togethertohelpuscopeorhandleproblems. Doodlingisverymuchanactivityoftheright brain(inthemoment,intuitive,instinctive, creative,musical,recognizingfacesand patterns).Thefunction,howev patterns).T hefunction,however,ma er,maybeto ybeto aidtheleftbrain(linear,methodical,analytical, logical,reasoning,thinkinginlanguage)in processinginformation.

Right-braindoodling (drawingspontaneously, jllingaspacewithoutaplan)

Left-braindoodling (planning,measuring, dividing,consideringratios)

  Turning   Tur ning Doo D oodd les ini nt o Art 

•  7

 Right-brai  Righ t-brainn dodoododll i ng

Left-brain doodling

G uide t o Dood Do odll ing 8 •  A Guide

Chapter 1

Just Making Marks 

 Minnimal  Mi imaliist Ar Art  Dots 

Inthischapter,you’lldiscoverhowthe mostbasicmarkscanholdtheirownin sophisticationandbeauty.Startwithsimple dots.Well-placedabstractdotarrangements areoftenseeninsophisticatedminimalistart, butthereisnothingnewabouttheappreciation ofworkingwithdots.Fivethousandyearsag ofworkingwithdots.F ivethousandyearsago, o, theGreeksgroupedbrightdotstogethertoidentify constellationsinthenightsky.

. UrsaMajor

. . . . Orion

Coverasmallareawithdots.Dottingquicklyoftenleav Coverasmallareawithdots.D ottingquicklyoftenleavestiny“tails estiny“tails”thatkeepthedots ”thatkeepthedots fromlookingclean.Soifyouwanttomakedotsthatar fromlookingclean.Soifyouwantt omakedotsthatareneat,takeyourtimeandplac eneat,takeyourtimeandplace e themdeliberatelyonthepaper.Considermixingsizesandvaryingspacing themdeliberatelyonthepaper .Considermixingsizesandvaryingspacing.Thentakeyour .Thentakeyour dotstothenextstagebyusingcoloredmark dotstothenexts tagebyusingcoloredmarkers.Differentsiz ers.Differentsizemarkerswillcreatear emarkerswillcreatearange ange ofdotsizes.Upclose,dotslookslik ofdotsizes.U pclose,dotslookslikedots. edots.

10 •  A Gui G uide de to t o Dood Do odll ing

It’shardnottoassociatecoloreddotswiththeFrenchImpressionistGeorges Seurat(1859–18 Seurat(185 9–1891).Hiss 91).Hisscienticallybasedpointillismtechniqueinv cienticallybasedpointillismtechniqueinvolved olved  juxtaposingd  juxtapo singdotstoc otstocreateap reateapainting. ainting. Seuratplaceddotsofpurecolorclosetoeachotherinmeasuredratios, allowingviewerstovisuallymixthecolorsonthecanva allowingviewerstovisu allymixthecolorsonthecanvas.Ifyoulookat s.Ifyoulookata a Seuratpaintingcloseup,itlookslikeajumbleofdot Seuratpaintingcloseup ,itlookslikeajumbleofdots.Butwhenyoustan s.Butwhenyoustandat dat adistance,thedotscometogethertoformac adistance,thedotsc ometogethertoformacohesiveimage. ohesiveimage. Theleaf(above)waspaintedinthepointillists Theleaf(above)w aspaintedinthepointilliststyle.Thesmallerimageisa tyle.Thesmallerimageisa detailshowingtheindividualdots.Paintinglikethistak detailshowingtheindividualdots.P aintinglikethistakespatience,butthe espatience,butthe subtlybeautifulresultswillbeworthyourwhile.

Just Making Marks 

• 11

Lines 

Linesdenestructureanddirecttheeyestowardfocalpoints Linesdenestructureanddirecttheeyesto wardfocalpoints.. Thereisadenitivequalityaboutlines,includingcurvedones, butdrawnlinescandepicteventheorg butdrawnlinescandepicte ventheorganicformsfoundinnatur anicformsfoundinnature. e. Onewaytohavelinesbemorenatura Onewaytoha velinesbemorenaturalandforgivingistosoft landforgivingistosoften en themorusebrokenlines.Ifyou’ themorusebrokenlines.I fyou’rehavingtroubledra rehavingtroubledrawingfreely wingfreely,try ,try looseningyourgriponthepenandrelaxing(butnotbending)your wrist.Thepentipshouldbarelytouchthepaper. Mostarchitectscandrawverystraightlinesfreehand,andan Mostarchitectscandrawv erystraightlinesfreehand,andanyone yone candrawalinethat’’sprettystra candrawalinethat sprettystraight.Butbewarned:ifyouwan ight.Butbewarned:ifyouwantto tto drawaperfectly straightlinefreehand,itwilltakelotsofpractice! straightlinefreehand,itwilltakelotsofpractice!

12 •  A Gui G uide de to t o Dood Do odll ing

 An other  Anot her exampl exa mplee of hohoww you yo u can soft soften  en   a shape sh ape by usi u sing ng a ligh l ightt touch  t ouch 

Justt Making Marks  Jus Mar ks  •

13

 Strii pes (Par  Str (Paralallelell LiLines nes))

14 •  A Gui G uide de tot o Dood Do odll ing

 Anyt hihing  Anyt ng goes goe s in  i n   doododll ing. InIn thi  do t hiss for f ormm of   sell f-ex  se f-expressi pression, on, t here is  i s  no good go od or bad, no righ r ightt or   wrong,  wr ong, not n othihing ng tot o prove pr ove or   judge. The key k ey isi s to t o rel re l ax  and sim simplplyy dodo it. Justt Making Marks  Jus Mar ks  •

15

Extra Credit 

Aninterestingeffectcanbeachieved bymakingyourparallellinesowover forms,asinastripedfabricdraped overanobject.

16 •  A Gui G uide de to t o Dood Do odll ing

C urvrvyy Line Lines s 

Humansarenaturallydrawn tocurves.Observethecurved linesyouseeonthehuman body,innature,andinobjects aroundyou.Practicemoving yourwristtodrawsmallcurved lines.Todrawlarge,sweeping curves,moveyourwholearm.

ArenderingafterHenriMatisse’sDancers Dancers

Justt Making Marks  Jus Mar ks 

• 17

Tocreateshapesandpatterns,make yourcurvylinesintersect. Becomingcomfortablewithdrawing smooth,curvylinesenablesyouto depictmanyeffectsofnature,such ascloudsinthesky,blowingwindor owingwater,orthecurvedlinesof grassandleaves.

18 •  A Gui G uide de to t o Dood Do odll ing