Inside the Artist's Textbook by Mary Formanek

SECTION ONE Material Learning about the exhibit. Reading basic information about the show Identifying who, what, when, where, and why about the exhibit.

INSIDE THE ARTIS

ST’S

About the Exhibit

Inside an Artist’s Math Textbook Exhibition About Stuck somewhere, waiting or listening with pen in hand? Chances are you’ll start doodling. Printed letters grow faces and legs, an underlined word turns into a pile of boxes, or a decorative border appears round the edge. Wait long enough and the whole thing may get blocked out or scribbled over! What are doodles? Doodles may be shapes, patterns, drawings or scribbles— anything we produce in an idle moment while the focus of our attention is elsewhere. It’s amazing how creative we can be without even trying! Strangely, doodles seem to take shape of their own accord, as if they had a life of their own in a parallel world. So you may suddenly find a circled word transformed into a sun beaming down on a desert island, punctuation turned into arrows or flowers, or a lover’s name emerging bold as brass from a memo. “Because we doodle without thinking our doodles can be very revealing—like Freudian slips or body language that we are not aware of.” “Doodles may be shapes, patterns, drawings or scribbles—anything we produce in an idle moment while the focus of our attention is elsewhere.” Your doodles may meander round the page or be gone over so intensely that you’ve made a hole in the paper. They may be precise, slapdash, complex or childlike, but they are unlikely to look like works of art. Doodles are a form of drawing, but the more contrived they look, the greater the conscious effort that has gone into them. So, strictly speaking, some of the wonderful doodles in this book are not really doodles at all because they have been given a lot of thought and done specially for the occasion. Not that this makes them any less intriguing! Why Doodling? Meetings and phone calls can be very tedious and some people hate doing nothing.They get tense and frustrated if they are short of time or have no opportunity to voice their

opinions, so they while away dead time by doodling. Doodling helps relieve boredom and frustration and the urge to doodle gets stronger as stress levels rise. Doodling is like a safety valve that allows pressure to be dispelled in a playful and creative way. Doodling has been defined as ‘to scribble or draw aimlessly, to play or improvise idly’. The word ‘play’ is interesting because we now know that play helps children deal with situations they find difficult. For example, playing ‘doctors and nurses’ can help a child cope with anxiety relating to illness. When you are on automatic pilot and only half attending to what you are doing, you may find yourself thinking of something that has been at the back of your mind. Underlying preoccupations surface and, before you know it, take shape as doodles. Doodling maps the wandering of your mind as you plan a new venture, worry about money, or dream of a lover or holiday. At an unconscious level this seemingly aimless pastime may actually be helping people sort out their problems. Doodles are like fragments of a map that shows how someone’s mind works.

Johanna Basford 57

SECTION TWO About Doodling

Material Learning about doodling Learning about types of doodling Learning how doodling started Having a open mind to doodling

DO OD LI

Doodling

Doodleing : A Definiton

A doodle is an unfocused or unconscious drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes. Stereotypical examples of doodling are found in school notebooks, often in the margins, drawn by studentsdaydreaming or losing interest during class. Other common examples of doodling are produced during longtelephone conversations if a pen and paper are available. Popular kinds of doodles include cartoon versions of teachers or companions in a school, famous TV or comic characters, invented fictional beings, landscapes, geometric shapes and patterns, textures, banners with legends, and animations made by drawing a scene sequence in various pages of a book or notebook. Many geometric doodles are really subdivision rules, where you repeat the same pattern over and over in a nested way. An example of a geometric doodle made by using subdivision rules. Etymology The word doodle first appeared in the early 17th century to mean a fool or simpleton. It may derive from the German Dudeltopf or Dudeldop, meaning simpleton or noodle (literally “nightcap”). The meaning “fool, simpleton” is intended in the song title “Yankee Doodle”, originally sung by British colonial troops prior to the American Revolutionary War. This is also the origin of the early eighteenth century verb to doodle, meaning “to swindle or to make a fool of”. The modern meaning emerged in the 1930s either from this meaning or from the verb “to dawdle”, which since the seventeenth century has had the meaning of wasting time or being lazy. In the movie Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Deeds mentions that “doodle” was a word made up to describe scribblings to help a person think. According to the DVD audio commentary track, the word as used in this sense was invented by screenwriterRobert Riskin.

Effects on memory According to a study published in the scientific journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, doodling can aid a person’s memory by expending just enough energy to keep one from daydreaming, which demands a lot of the brain’s processing power, as well as from not paying attention. Thus, it acts as a mediator between the spectrum of thinking too much or thinking too little and helps focus on the current situation. The study was done by Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, who reported that doodlers in her experiment recalled 7.5 pieces of information (out of 16 total) on average, 29% more than the average of 5.8 recalled by the control group made of nondoodlers. Notable doodlers Many American Presidents (including Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton) have been known to doodle during meetings. Poet and physician John Keatsdoodled in the margins of his medical notes; other literary doodlers have included Samuel Beckett and Sylvia Plath. Mathematician Stanislaw Ulam developed the Ulam spiral for visualization of prime numbers while doodling during a boring presentation at a mathematics conference. Doodling is a recurring device in the comedy of Larry David. In the 8th episode of Season 5 of Curb Your Enthusiasm David states that he “can’t draw to save my life but yet I’m a very good doodler.” The long-running comedy series Seinfeld, created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld includes a notable episode entitled “The Doodle”, in which a crude drawing of George Costanza provides the mise en scène for subsequent friction between characters.

SECTION THREE Doodling + Memory

Material learning how doodling effects memory Understanding memory Deciding if there are pros and cons to doodling relating to memory

Doodles and Memory

Doodling and Memory In early 2009, those people who have always doodled in meetings, while on the phone or in classes got to collectively say, “Told you so,” as a study was published in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The study, led by Jackie Andrade, evaluated whether doodling could actually increase memory or cognitive ability. Though this study used a small sample group, only 40 participants, headlines across the world exalted the benefits of doodling as a memory saver. What Andrade’s study did find was that people allowed to doodle while listening to phone calls had about 29% greater memory retention than those in a “non-doodling” control group. Since the study’s publication, the results have been used to suggest that doodling in classes or meetings could improve focus and increase retention of material. Though the study did not test this theory, Andrade believes that more focused activity such as drawing something purposefully with lots of concentration or texting would likely have an opposite affect and lead to less material retention. There are some analyses of Andrade’s study that don’t automatically jump on the “doodling” bandwagon. For instance it’s pointed out that sample size was small, and the study would require replication in order to see if results are really proven. Another thing that wasn’t tested was the degree to which random drawing might be combined with daydreaming, and whether people who daydreamed suffered more or less focus or memory ability. For those naysayers, doodling may be viewed as not necessarily harmful to memory, but also not necessarily of great benefit. Still many who routinely sketch or draw unpurposefully during boring lectures feel quite justified in keeping up with the practice. There are similar studies that do show certain things may help improve focus and memory. Research in 2007 suggest that students who chew gum while taking tests actually improve their test scores by about 5%. For teachers who command complete focus and allow neither gum chewing nor doodling, they may actually be lowering their students’ performance ability, though it is again hard to extrapolate these conclusions from just a few studies. There is one way in which doodling can definitely im-

prove memory of a certain sort. At the end of February each year, there is National Doodle Day. This is a charitable event meant to shed light on the difficult diseases of epilepsy and neurofibromatosis. Many celebrities compose doodles on this day, which are then printed and sold as various media to raise money for awareness of these diseases and to directly help those who suffer from them. Individuals and groups can enter too, and popular doodles are chosen to be reprinted. In this respect, maintaining memory through random drawings about devastating illnesses serves a very important purpose.

Doodling Improves Memory, Reduces Daydreaming Candice Bergen

We usually think of doodling as a sign that someone isn’t paying attention, but, according to a new study, doodling actuallyimproves memory recall. It’s good news for celebrity doodlers and bored office workers alike. For the study, published today in Applied Cognitive Psychology 40 volunteers were asked to listen to a boring two and a half minute phone message that gave the names

Doodles and Memory

of several people and places, reportsEurekAlert. Half of the participants were asked to shade in shapes without paying attention to neatness while they were listening, and the other half were not. After the test, they were asked to write down the names and places that were mentioned in the message. The doodlers recalled on average 7.5 names of people and places, while non-doodlers only recalled 5.8 items. Lead researcher Dr. Jackie Andrade, University of Plymouth in Englandexplaines in The Guardian : If someone is doing a boring task, like listening to a dull telephone conversation, they may start to daydream ... Daydreaming distracts them from the task, resulting in poorer performance. A simple task, like doodling, may be sufficient to stop daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task. Andrade told Newsweek that she was inspired to do the study because she was interested in daydreaming. She said:When you have something really boring to do in a laboratory, you aren’t just doing that task-you are thinking about shopping, picking the kids up from school, what you’re going to have for tea. We don’t usually take those things into account. Daydreaming takes up a lot of mental energy and can be distracting. I had the idea that maybe some small, simple task would catch just enough energy to keep you focused on the [main] task at hand, and though it wouldn’t make the task you’re doing less boring, it could help you focus. The study was well timed, as today is National Doodle Day in the U.K., an event created as a fun way to raise money for people affected by epilepsy and neurofibromatosis. Celebrities includingGillian Anderson, Ben Kingsley, and Ricky Gervais, have submitted their doodles to be auctioned on eBay to benefit the charity. There is also a U.S. National Doodle Day on May 7th to raise money for people affected with neurofibromatosis. The sketch above was submitted by then-Senator Barack Obama last year. Here’s the work of a few extremely focused celebrity doodlers being auctioned on the charity’s website this year.

The Power of Doodling By Melissa Walpole

Have you ever felt embarrassed when you were caught doodling in a meeting? Felt a twinge of guilt that perhaps others perceived you as not paying attention? Well relax, not only are you in good company but one could argue that you are exercising the creative side of your brain and in fact are retaining more information than your daydreaming counterparts! Leonardo Da Vinci, Frank Gehry and even Bill Gates are all doodlers. Visual language is nothing new. Humans have been expressing themselves through doodles for thousands of years. But how does this apply to learning? A traditional definition of doodling is to “scribble absentmindedly.” But what if doodling could actually help free up your mind to focus on what was being presented? A study published in the Applied Cognitive Psychology journal in 2009 found that people who doodle during lectures can retain up to 29 percent more of the information that is being presented. At Oxygen Learning our classes are designed to be experiential and engaging. We are going to encourage anything that helps learners down that path. As soon as you step up to our classroom and are greeted by one of our signature welcome signs—complete with cloud doodles and a personal invitation—you know that this is an environment that is going to encourage creativity. We may even challenge you to think outside the box with a colored marker or a box of chalk. Sunni Brown, author of Gamestorming, did a TED talk about Doodling titled “Doodlers, Unite!” In this talk she argues that doodling has a profound effect on creative processing and should be embraced and encouraged. “Doodling

Doodles and Memory

can actually be a successful multi-modal learning exercise” said Brown. She proposes a new definition for doodling: “To Doodle: (the real definition) to make spontaneous marks to help yourself think”. Shouldn’t any behavior that can help you to think be encouraged?

Bored? Try Doodling To Keep The Brain On Task by Alix Spiegel

This is definitely something that I need to go think about, right after I sharpen my colored pencils. President Obama’s doodle, sketched as part of a “National Doodle Day” to benefit the charity Neurofibromatosis, contains likenesses of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Democratic colleagues Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles Schumer of New York. Courtesy Wayne Berzon/Neurofibromatosis Inc. Doodle Gallery:

Doodles and Memory

What did past U.S. presidents doodle in their margins? Four years ago at Davos, the famous world economic forum, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared on a panel with Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and the rock star Bono. After the panel, a journalist wandering the stage came across some papers scattered near Blair’s seat. The papers were covered in doodles: circles and triangles, boxes and arrows. “Your standard meeting doodles,” says David Greenberg, professor of journalism at Rutgers University. So this journalist brought his prize to a graphologist who, after careful study, drew some pretty disturbing conclusions. According to experts quoted in the Independent and The Times, the prime minister was clearly “struggling to maintain control in a confusing world” and “is not rooted.” Worse, Blair was apparently, “not a natural leader, but more of a spiritual person, like a vicar.”Two other major British newspapers, which had also somehow gotten access to the doodles, came to similar conclusions. A couple days later, No. 10 Downing Street finally weighed in. It had done a full and thorough investigation and had an important announcement to make: The doodles were not made by Blair; they were made by Bill Gates. Gates had left them in the next seat over. Oodles Of Doodles Gates is a doodler, and he’s not alone. Lyndon Johnson doodled. Ralph Waldo Emerson doodled. Ronald Reagan drew pictures of cowboys, horses and hearts crossed with arrows. Most of us doodle at one point or another. But why? To understand where the compulsion to doodle comes from, the first thing you need to do is look more closely at what happens to the brain when it becomes bored. According to Jackie Andrade, a professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth, though many people assume that the brain is inactive when they’re bored, the reverse is actually true. “If you look at people’s brain function when they’re bored, we find that they are using a lot of energy — their brains are very active,” Andrade says. The reason, she explains, is that the brain is designed to constantly process information. But when the brain finds an environment barren of stimulating information, it’s a problem. “You wouldn’t want the brain to just switch off, because a bear might walk up behind you and attack you; you need to be on the lookout for something happening,” Andrade says. So when the brain lacks sufficient stimulation, it essentially goes on the prowl and scavenges for something to think about. Typically what happens in this situation is that the brain ends up manufacturing its own material. In other words, the brain turns to daydreams, fantasies of Oscar acceptance speeches and million-dollar lottery wins. But those daydreams take up an enormous amount of energy.

Ergo The Doodle This brings us back to doodling. The function of doodling, according to Andrade, who recently published a study on doodling in Applied Cognitive Psychology, is to provide just enough cognitive stimulation during an otherwise boring task to prevent the mind from taking the more radical step of totally opting out of the situation and running off into a fantasy world. Andrade tested her theory by playing a lengthy and boring tape of a telephone message to a collection of people, only half of whom had been given a doodling task. After the tape ended she quizzed them on what they had retained and found that the doodlers remembered much more than the nondoodlers. “They remembered about 29 percent more information from the tape than the people who were just listening to the tape,” Andrade says. In other words, doodling doesn’t detract from concentration; it can help by diminishing the need to resort to daydreams. It’s a very good strategy for the next time you find yourself stuck on a slow-moving panel with an aging rock star and verbose former president.

SECTION FOUR Doodling + Learning

Material Asking how doodling helps learning and the learning process Understanding a new way to look at doodling

Doodles and Learning

People Who Doodle Learn Faster

Doodleing

New research published today shows that doodling helps you learn. In fact, say scientists, students should be encouraged to doodle while they take notes in class. If you’re anything like me, your notes from about the age of seven all the way through postgraduate research are filled with doodles and scribbles in the margin, usually of things that have absolutely nothing to do with whatever you’re meant to be understanding. It turns out we may have been on to something. The researchers argue in a recent article in Science that doodling (about the topic at hand, mind you) can be used in a number of ways to help further science education. They say it can engage people who might otherwise not pay attention; it helps them learn how information is presented; it inspires learning and retention of information; and it can assist people in communicating that information later. Given the quality of many of the diagrams I was presented with in class through high school, a bit of doodling practice could go a long way. So, go ahead and draw in the margins. It’s helping you get the most out of that boring meeting — science says so!

Humans have been doodling in snow, in sand and on cave walls for more than 30,000 years. George Washington, Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan and Vladimir Nabokov were doodlers. Bill Gates and Frank Gehry are among today’s active doodlers. Yet most of us haven’t reflected on why we feel compelled to draw. In fact, many parts of our society -- including businesses, schools and colleges -- frown on doodling and consider it a waste of time. While we can’t overcome cultural biases overnight, we can certainly ask a relevant question: Why is doodling so universal? What is doodling doing for us? Virginia Scofield, an immunologist at the University of Texas at San Antonio, knows from personal and professional experience what doodling does. After struggling with organic chemistry in college, she decided to try doodling the complexities of the subject rather than memorizing them from the textbook. Scofield happened upon what native doodlers have known for a long time: Doodling can improve cognitive performance. Because of her success in transforming her own learning process, Scofield incorporated doodling and visual note-taking into her university classroom for more than two decades, and she told me it notably improved the success rate of her students. Scofield is not the only one who’s learned to be impressed by the Doodle. Jackie Andrade, a professor at the University of Plymouth,published a study finding a 29 percent increase in information retention gained by doodlers. She noted that, contrary to popular belief, doodling seems to prevent people from losing focus on boring or complex subject matter. It gives learners who may otherwise mentally check out an opportunity to check back in. Other researchers exploring the impact of doodling and drawing have come to equally significant conclusions about this deceptively simple act. A recent article in Science argued that drawing in science education caters to individual learning preferences and motivates students to engage and explore content in a more meaningful way. And classroom research

Sunni Brown

Doodles and Learning

use it to get clarity around a concept, I use it to relax, I use it to communicate ideas with others and get their refinement of them, I use it to map complex systems for companies, I use it to run innovation games for business, I use it to get insight on something puzzling me. So how do you get better at doodling? It’s a delightfully easy task. Learners can start with the Visual Alphabet, a series of six flows—the point, line, arc, angle, spiral and loop, and the six forms—the oval, eye, triangle, rectangle, house and cloud. With these 12 “letters,” prospective doodlers can articulate any visual representation of any concept they can imagine. All it takes is a commitment to learning this language, native to our brain’s visual cortex, and applying it to challenges either at work or at school. Rather than talking in circles about a complex subject, try doodling it using words and pictures. Show your teachers and colleagues another way to see information. The insights and aha moments will arrive naturally in the process.

shows that not only do learners better understand concepts through simple drawing, but it sets the stage forinnovative and divergent ways of thinking. For a nation with an ego wounded by our decreased scores on the Torrance Creativity Test, this unfettered access to creative thinking shouldn’t be underestimated. Just ask Google, the only company on record with an official Chief Doodler on the payroll. Google’s culture is well known for its 80/20 “innovation time off” rule. And for many employees, that time is spent using simple visual language to doodle, sketch and prototype new business opportunities. Indeed, many companies seeking an edge are looking to applications of hand-drawn visual language as a prospective lifeboat. In a hyper-competitive marketplace, thinkers need all the mojo they can muster. To the throngs of doodlers around the world, this evidence is likely just the beginning of our gentle “I told you so” moments. Learning that accommodates more than text-based or verbal information amplifies the effects of cognition and creativity. And when the Science article suggested that drawing should be recognized along with reading, writing and speaking as a key element in education, it was a hallelujah moment for doodlers around the world. I’m one of them. I use doodling for a variety of reasons: I

Doodling to Learn Increases Your Retention of Information Up to 20% listenning to RSA Animates might help with your retention of information, but actually creating your own sketchnotes while listening to a lecture, YouTube or classroom discussion will increase your chances of retaining information 20% or more. In his book, The Sketchnote Handbook, Mike Rohde cites research from Jackie Andrade at the University of Plymouth, UK: Andrade asked 40 volunteers to listen to a monotonous two-and-a-half minute telephone message and jot down the names of people who had been invited to a party. Half of the participants were asked to shade in shapes on a piece of paper while they listened to relieve the boredom. The shading task was chosen instead of more creative doodling because it was less likely to make people feel self-conscious.

Doodles and Learning

More Doodling Makes For Better Learning Audrey Watters

Doodling is often seen as a sign of distraction. If you’re doodling, you’re not paying attention. If you’re drawing, you’re not taking notes. You’re not listening. You’re not learning. But research published in the latest edition of the journal Science challenges the anti-doodling stance. It contends that not only can doodling help students learn, but that drawing is an important tool for scientific discovery. The researchers — Shaaron Ainsworth, Vaughan Prain, and Russell Tytler — argue that scientists rely on visualizations in order to make sense of their observations and discoveries. Words alone — as notes or as longer explanation and analysis — aren’t enough. By extension then, creating drawings is important for all those engaged in scientific inquiry, whether they’re scientists or students. “The most striking thing was the effort that students would apply to learning about science when they read and then drew what they could understand from the text.” The research suggests that when students draw a scientific concept, such as a sound wave, they understand it better. But just as important as their understanding, perhaps, drawing helps them feel more engaged and excited about learning. “The most striking thing was the effort that students would apply to learning about science when they read and then drew what they could understand from the text, and how much enjoyment they derived from doing this,” researcher Shaaron Ainsworth told LiveScience. “This was in comparison to just reading text, or indeed writing summaries after seeing diagrams or seeing pictures and text. In my experience, learning through drawing is often therefore both effective and enjoyable.” The researchers make it clear that drawing shouldn’t replace other forms of work. Students should still talk and write about their research. Argumentation and explanation are still necessary skills for students to engage in. Furthermore, drawing and doodling need to be in the service of learning. Coloring in a diagram of the digestive system, for example, doesn’t help a student understand digestion.

Doodles and Learning

This latest research published in the journal Science isn’t the only work on the topic, and others have made similar assertions about the value of drawing and doodling. A study published in the 2009 Applied Cognitive Psychology journal found that people had a 29% increase in information retention if they doodled while they listened. And a recent CNN op-ed on doodling pointed to Google — the only company with a “Chief Doodler” on the payroll — as a great example of the importance of balancing creativity, innovation, science, technology, and yes, doodling. The researchers from the latest Science article say they’ll continue to examine what impact drawing has on the mind, in terms of learning, engagement, and enjoyment. Despite what seems like good news for doodlers, there are lots of other questions that arise from their findings: how does your skill at drawing impact your learning? And how will the rise of new computer technologies change the way we take notes? Many e-books, for example, still make it difficult to take notes in the margins, let alone add doodles and drawings. Will tablets and apps enable this sort of thing? Or is this research another sign that we shouldn’t be too quick to abandon the notebook and pencil?

Doodle at the Right Time to Boost Learning by 29% When faced with a long or boring lecture, phone call or other interaction doodling can improve your recall of key information by 29%. This was the finding of a randomized controlled study recently reported in Applied Cognitive Psychology. This is a strange finding because normally a second task

would distract us and lower performance. Jackie Andrade, the University of Plymouth professor that did the research believes that the doodling may work because it keeps us from engaging in daydreaming and losing focus completely. Doodling in the face of boredom then becomes a way to maintain not disrupt mental focus and should result in improved recall and learning. Although simple, any technique for maintaining mental focus in a difficult task environment (boring, interruption prone, noisy, etc.) is key to improving cognitive performance and will be covered on the Next Brain Blog. I am interested in hearing from readers that use doodling or other secondary techniques to improve mental focus.

SECTION FIVE Material Learning about Hieke Weber. Identifying indvidual style. Noticing her techniques. Learning more about why she makes the creations she creates. Learning about her as a person, not just a name on a discription next to art.

Heike Weber

Heike Weber Introduction Heike Weber’s doodle art fills entire rooms! Not only is Germany-based artist Heike Weber a bit of a whizz with a permanent marker, she must also have the patience of a saint when creating these mesmerising repeat pattern installations.Weber creates her artwork by tracing thousands of lines on the walls, floor and sometimes even the ceiling of the space she’s decorating. Starting by drawing the pattern on a sheet of paper, she then transfers the design onto each surface.They may look like pretty random designs but Weber very carefully selects the amount of white space between each line to give the impression of movement. We can’t even begin to imagine how long these painstaking installation take to complete - we wonder if Weber felt as dizzy creating them as we do looking at them

Baroque Worlds and White Cubes Martin Engler, Freiburg, August 2004 From the German by Jeanne Haunschild

The Baroque [...] curves the folds round and round. Drives them to infinity, fold on fold, fold after fold. The endlessly ongoing fold is a characteristic feature of the Baroque. (Gilles Deleuze: Le pli. Leibniz et le baroque) The perhaps most fascinating feature of Heike Weber’s work remains hidden from the exhibition visitor: namely the fact that to begin with at least, everything is white, immaculately white. Before the actual drawing act begins, before Heike Weber tackles the site with bright-colored permanent felt markers, the entire room has already been transformed into a three-dimensional sheet of paper. The artist’s temporary workplace is covered in white PVC and makes up a projection room in which the viewer can recapitulate for him/herself the genesis of the floor and ceiling drawings as a poetic after-image. A white cube that only exists as a statement, as an aesthetic backdrop that inevitably vanishes, effaced by the drawing that appears in situ. This provisional arena gradually fills with reductional graphic gestures, which in a leisurely, but nevertheless laborintensive process floods the room. A flood that swells over several days, beginning with space-determining coordinates that slowly invade the space available. The gently flung-out lines begin at the pillars and niches, steps or corners and are propelled into the room, gathering an unimagined force and drive. The minimized graphic lineation and the smallest of expressive tools turn into a flat all-over that breaks around barriers. Gesture gains serial dynamism within the framework of the white cube and is bundled into a swinging, space-flooding motif. The foundation of her work is the idea of a neutral space whose potential is first realized through the drawing and is what consciously positions Heike Weber within the critically reflected tradition of Minimal Art. Judd’s cubes, Andre’s

Hieke Weber

metal plates or Morris’ serial objects had focused for the first time on the referentiality of art to its neutral environs. Via these ‘specific objects’ that are, at first glance, stark and absolutely uneventful, the actual exhibition room—a still very formalistically understood context—became tangible as the central category of a newly evolving work concept. However, Frank Stella’s “What you see is what you get”, or the radical wish of this heterogeneous artists’ group in the late-modernist New York of the 1960s to make the viewer and his/her perception into the constitutive factor of their art, is something Heike Weber takes literally and thereby leads the spare, material-based formalism of the Americans in the direction of handwriting and the subjective. The reality of the room is confirmed, classically, stroke for stroke, line by line, only the next minute to be thrown out of sync. The gestural input, the physical working on a picture support that expands in all directions, seems to veer towards a momentum that now on its part appropriates the viewer. It is not the object on view that finds its irreconcilable and multi-angled visibility made manifest, but the ‘specific object’ that strikes back. The former, genuinely intellectual act of perception becomes an eminently physical experience when the whole space complex is caught up in oscillating lines, when wall and floor, steps and corners turn into a multilayered object of perception. What Heike Weber undertakes is the, in the meantime, proverbial expansion of the concept of Modernism. Her extending and broadening of tradition hereby takes itself at its word in a very exciting way and (in ever new formulations that revolve around the medium and its perception) sounds out the room and sets it in motion. That at the same time the manifold augmentations to conceptuality spell out the notion of drawing in a fundamentally new way and generate new variants of its space is a fact that allows reality, as the central concept of Minimal Art and its succeeding isms, to appear marvelously ambiguous and flexible. Along with actual space—which is, as it were, appropriated en passant by a few lines or elements—the whole banal inventory of the everyday enters the scene. For: the medium of different graphic undertakings is only an exception to the rule of the classically guided pen. Clotheslines or hairnets, carpeting or light tubes, video loops on PVC or window paint on pins give the lie to the presumed flatness of the drawing. The specific object-orientation of Minimal Art, whose new three-dimensional objects want neither to be painting nor sculpture and yet borrow essential aspects from both, is something Heike Weber thinks out to its logical end. The reductional gesture gains in volume, the line enters space, and sculpture and drawing become communicating components. On the periphery of these expressive forms that can no longer be clearly differentiated, various interpenetrations are formed that set gesture and space, volume and sculpture into new respective relationships. The lines that gradually surge into the room, the convolutions of an endless

loop that are expertly cut into the carpeting, or the clothesline that meanders across the wall all take on a life of their own that is difficult to hold onto. Floor and ceiling begin to float, walls to shift, and an Icarus who plummets head first into a bottomless deep is only secured by the slimmest of pins. The simple gesture, the austere experimental framework, the sober means applied, in other words the legacy of the oldtimers and their ‘specific object’, is cunningly turned against them. The only things minimal here are the rudimentary game rules and the formal guidelines. What Heike Weber makes of these—despite all her manifest reduction—has more in common with seductive sensuous complexity and an unerringly orchestrated ambiguity. The neutralized and clean-swept spaces seem now to radiate once again the energy that was invested and stored for days as the moment of fullness and satiety, of outflowing sensual pleasure and Baroque plenitude. The boundaries of wall and floor blur together, contract and solidify. Set side by side, lines and structures, which dynamize both flat plane and depth, recall visualized sound waves just as much as they recall ornamentation. And, as in early Modernist painting, the picture-defining motif explodes the planes and induces the three-dimensional space to roll and pitch. As on Matisse’s wallpapers and carpets, as on Cézanne’s surfaces that proclaim their own special worldliness, ornament and structure drive conventional three-dimensional depth out of the picture. The entire available space becomes the picture support, which under the weight of ornament and pattern, arabesque and motif, threatens to disappear entirely. Instead of a linear-perspectival network and a static emplacement, we are surrounded by a Baroque horror vacui that robs us of our orientation as viewers, one that in a superfluity of the motif negates any center or hierarchy. In a singularly interpreted reference to a specific locality, the original reality of the space is driven out, or better: the reality of the first order is overlaid by a second, artificial one. As in a trompe l’oeil or an illusionistic ceiling fresco, the room’s given properties are both confirmed and muffled, genres fuse and the viewer is incorporated into an all-encompassing theatrical production: this new, artificial reality winds itself fold for fold, stroke for stroke, around the viewer’s perception. Comparable to the heaven-storming ceiling paintings or the receding stage-settings of Baroque palaces and churches between stucco, painting, light and architecture, Heike Weber’s graphical-sculptural interventions extend the boundaries of her site towards infinity. The Baroque and, at the same time, the site-related spatial maelstrom take hold of the viewer. With her unerringly orchestrated spatial creations between Minimal Art and the Baroque, between all-over and white cube , Heike Weber establishes a moment of performative dynamization: she circles around her picture plane—half minimalist hallucination, half a slow-motion Pollock—and simultaneously incites the picture plane to circle around the viewer.

Heike Weber

Introduction to Doodles

Heike Weber

Heike Weber’s Timeline 1962

2013

Catalogue- grant of the Foundation Kulturfonds Berlin, GER lecture for the symposium “Linienscharen” Wür tembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart

Born in Siegen, North-Rhine-West phalia, Germany

Maastricht, NLRoom 104, Hotel, CBKN, Centrum beeldende Kunst Nijmegen, NL (Cat.)f.o.b.,Stefan Rasche Gallery, Münster, GER (Cat.) 1999

Golpo, von der Milwe Gallery, Aachen, GERBreak, Wunschik Gallery, Mönchengladbach, GER Wutz + Weber, Otto Schweins Gallery, Cologne, GER Swing, Gallery München, Hotel Winston, Amsterdam (Project) “Neues Gestirn” Stichting NRW.NL), NL

1998

Salonstücke 6, Municipal Gallery Villa Zanders, Bergisch-Gladbach, GER (Cat.) Drop, Kunstverein Arnsberg, GER

1997

Pelikan, Stefan Rasche Gallery, Münster, GER windows 1997, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, GER (Cat.)

1996

Weber, Otto Schweins Gallery, Cologne, GER

1994

MAX, Artothek, Cologne, GER

1993

Querweltein, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, GB

1981-86 Studies at the FH Aachen (graphic-design), GER 1993

Artist in residence, Glasgow School of Art, GB

Soloexhibition

1994

Lectureship in the Departement of Environmental Art, Glasgow School of Art, GB

2014

Kunstverein Ludwigshafen

2013

CUT, Galerie der Nord/LB, Hannover cosmos, Städtische Galerie Schloß Borbeck, Essen (C)

1997

Scholarship of the Research Institute for Inter-Culture, Seoul, South-Corea

1998

Scholarship of the Foundation Kulturfonds Berlin, GER

2012

2001

MMKK, Museum Moderne Kunst Kärnten, AT

Scholarship of the Kunstfonds Bonn of the Federal Republic, GER

2011

Scrub, Rasche Riepken Berlin, GER

2002

Ringenberg-Scholarship of the state NRW, GER

2009

2003

Scholarship of the Art and Culture Foundation NRW, GER

Verführung & Ordnung, Gerisch Foundation, Neumünster, GER Fliegende, Goethe Institut, Toronto, CA kilims a la turca, Wilhelm Lehm bruck Museum, Duisburg, GER (C)

2004

Scholarship of the BarkenhoffFoundation, Worpswede, GER artist in residence, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, U.S.A. travel-schoolar ship of the Art Foundation NRW, GER

2005

Casa Baldi scholarship of the Federal Republic, Olevano Romano, IT

2006

Scholarship of the foundation Künstlerdorf Schöppingen, GER

2006/07 Transfer scholarschip Türkiye-NRW, NRW Kultursekretariat 2008

2008

Kilims, Lisi Hämmerle Gallery, Bregenz, AT bungle rug, Rasche Ripken Berlin, GER kilimbim, Mar tina Detterer Gallery, Frankfurt, GER

2007

300 years Dorotheum, Vienna (with Erwin Wurm, Peter Kogler and Lynne Cohen), AT

2006

BODEN LOS, hall-installation in the Kunsthalle Vienna, AT

2005

Baroccocorock, Martina Detterer Gallery, Frankfurt, GER

2004

Locker Plant, The Chinati Founda tion, Marfa/Texas, USA barocco, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, GER (Cat.) Martina Detterer Gallery (with Laura Padgett), Frankfurt, GER Glück, Kunstfonds Foundation Bonn, GER (Cat.) Glück, Stefan Rasche Gallery, Münster, GER L68 projectspace, London, GB

Lecture for the academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, GER winner of the public Art Competition for the entrancehall of the University Hospital of Düsseldorf (realisation autumn 2011)

2010/11 Public Art project fot the Federal Governmant Departement, GER 2012

Public Art project for the German Flight Control , Airport BerlinSchönefeld, GER Public Art project for KÖ 19 - Trinkhaus Banking, Königsallee Düsseldorf, GER public Art project for the Kreishandwerk erschaft Mönchengladbach, GER (Realisaton autumn 2013)

2003

Drawing today IV, Kunstmuseum Bonn, GER (Cat.) Mein Traum vom Fliegen, Otto Schweins Gallery, Cologne, GER

2002

Drawings, TZR Gallery Bochum, GER

2000

White out, HEDAH, Stichting Centrum voor Hedendaagse Kunst

Groupshows (selection) 2013

Mönchenhausmuseum Goslar, GER

2013

Faden, Projektraum des Deutschen Künstlerbundes, Berlin ICASTICA 2013, Installation in der Basilica S.Francesco, Arezzo, IT (K)

2012

about blank, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, GER (C) Salonstücke Reloaded, Städtische Galerie Bergisch Gladbach (C) Drinnen und Draussen, Goethe Institut, Prague (curated by Stephan Berg), CZ (C) Conquering the wall, a contemporary view on Nazarene Frescos, Arp Museum Rolandseck, Remagen, GER (C) Wintergarten, Rasche Ripken Berlin The catch of the year, Dienstgebäude, Art space Zürich, CH

2011

traceable, Galleria ZAK, Siena, IT Passing the frame…, Halle 10, CAP Cologne e.V., GER Accrochage, Lisi Hämmerle Gallery, Bregenz, AT Fade

Heike Weber

away and radiate, Rasche Ripken Berlin, GER Velada Santa Lucia 2011, Maracaibo, Venezuela (curated by Clemencia Labin/ Mariella Mosler) high speed, slow motion”, Kunstraum Potsdam, GER Kunstwerke werfen! Situatives Brachland Museum Bu chum (a project from Matthias Schamp), GER Möbelkaiser, Kaise passage Frankfurt (a projevt from Jens Lehmann), GER Von Robotern, die Bilder malen, Vienna Art week, Lisi Hämmerle Gallery, Bregenz, AT Leise krieselt der S., Lisi Hämmer le Gallery, Bregenz, AT Kleine Formate, Galerie Martina Detterer Gallery, Frankfurt, GER 2010

2009

Mardin-Biennial Mardin, TR sommerresort, a public art project in an allot ment garden, Düsseldorf, GER paper, Feurstein Gallery, Feldkirch, AT Un finished diaries, drawings about life, Kunstverein Ger (Kurator: Harald Kunde) Viel Glück &Erfolg, Städtische Galerie Nordhorn (C)Wir sind Orient - Zeitgenössische Arabesken, Marta Herford (C) Kleine Formate, Martina Detterer Gallery, Frankfurt, GER zeigen - an audiotrip through Berlin from Karin Sander, Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin, GER 360º, Halle 10, CAP - Cologne (curated by Dorothee Joachim), GER Darüber hinaus, ZEICHNUNG, Marburger Kunstverein, GER Austria for Beginners, selected artists from Galerie Lisi Hämmerle, Museum of New Art / MONA, Pontiac, MI, USA Drawing lines, Kunstraum München, GER

2008

I can watsch my thoughts evolving, the drawing lab, Berlin (a project of DinA4 projects, Munich and Jan Fruehsorge Gallery, Berlin) best before, Stadtgalerie Klagenfurt, AT (K)

2007

Transfer Türkiye-NRW, Museum Bochum, Ausstellungshalle zeitgenös sische Kunst Münster, Ludwig Forum Aachen, GER, Central Istanbul, TR (Cat.) Hafemann Gallery, Wies baden Felt Temperature..., Kunstv erein langenhagen, GER white out, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, GER (Cat.) Worpswunder, Kunstverein Spring hornhof, Neuenkirchen, GER best before..., Neuer Kunstverein As chaffenburg. GER (Cat.) white out, Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, AT (Cat.)

2006

gib’ acht!, Museum Baden, Solingen, GER fragil, Kunsthaus Langenthal, CH auf eigene Art, Thomas-Mann-

Villa, Munich, GER (Cat.) (curated by Christoph Schreier, Kunstmuseum Bonn) (Cat.) face to face, Ausstellung shalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster, GER 2005

2004

2003

2002

Kleine Formate, Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt, GER hoch hinaus, Kunstmuseum Thun, CH (Cat.) Pathetischer Betrug, Art Frankfurt, GER (Cat.) Neue Heimat 2, Galerie Stefan Rasche, Münster In erster Linie…, Kunsthalle Frideri cianum, Kassel, GER (Cat.) Zeichnung vernetzt, Städtische Galerie Delmen horst, GER (Cat.) ZK, Bluecoat Gal lery, Liverpool, GB Gegen den Strich, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, GER (Cat.) paperweight, Völcker und Freunde Gallery, Berlin, GER (Cat.)Black & White, Gabriele Rivet Gallery, Cologne, GER Linie, five positions of contempo rary drawing, Dina4Projekte, Munich, GER Love, Paradigmen der Liebe, Magazin 4 Vorlarlberger Kunstverein and Bre genzer Kunstverein, AT (Cat.) Arche Noah, Rivet Gallery, Cologne, GER rein menschlich, von der Milwe Gallery, Aachen, GER Formen der Gewalt, Gabriele Rivet Gallery, Cologne, GER Transistor 1. Export, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, NL (Cat.) Drawing in motion, Forum Stadtpark, Graz, AT Euregio-art-award, state-hospital, Bedburg-Hau, GER

2001

Bergauf, Stefan Rasche Gallery, Mün ster, GER the very last, Gabriele Rivet Gallery, Cologne, GER Vertigo, Ursula-Blickle-Foundation, Kraichtal, GER and Magazin 4 Vorarlberger Kunstverein, Bregenz, AT (Cat.) “at tention, please!”, Leopold Hoesch Mu seum Düren, GER Skulptur als Feld, Kunstverein Göttingen, GER (Cat.) (white) cube, Cato Jans Gallery, Hamburg, GER

2000

Das Örtliche, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, GER small size, kjubh Kunstverein, Cologne, GER wenn der Schwanz mit dem Hund wedelt, von der Milwe Gallery, Aachen, GER das Material des Bidhauers - der Ort, Nas sauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, GER (Cat.)

1999

Papier, Rivet Gallery, Cologne, GER Testbild, Stefan Rasche Gallery, Mün ster, GER Mousepad, Nassauischer Kunstverein,Wiesbaden, GER

1998

PENTHOUSE - neue Kunst in neuer

Fahrt, Produzentengalerie Kassel e.V., GER 10 years von der Milwe Gallery, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, GER Jahresgaben 1998, Kunstverein Arnsberg, GER sieben seven sept - grange opéra, interdisciplinary Performance-Symposion, Die Höge, Bassum, GER (Cat.) 1997

Paperworks, Otto Schweins Gallery, Cologne, GER Jahresgabe für den Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, GER KölnSeoul, Total Museum of Contempo rary Art, Seoul, South-Corea (Cat.)

1996

Jahresgaben 1996, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, GER Transparenzen, Produzentengalerie Kassel e.V., GER And what is drawing for? And why write well? Kultur-Allianzen, Cologne, GER

1995

Maikäfer flieg, shelter Cologne-Ehren feld, GER (Cat.)

1994/95 Villa Romana-award-winner 1995

Museum Wiesbaden, GER

1994

Modern Art, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, GB award visual arts 1994, Melitta enterprise, Fort C, Minden, GER (Cat.)

1993

11, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, GER

SECTION SIX Doodling + Psychology

Material Learning about psychology. Examining what doodles mean. Noticing different attributes to doodles. Learning more about reasons we doodle and why we doodle what we do.

Psychology of Doodles

Why Do We Doodle?

We often do it. We often don’t realise it. Often, when caught doing it, we are embarrassed to have to explain it. Surprisingly, these nonsense scribbles we leave behind on notepads, paper margins, desktops, walls and anywhere else where pen can leave a trace may have meaning. In fact, for one US psychologist, doodling and what doodles mean has been the chief focus of his lifetime work. Dr Robert Burns, formerly the director of the Institute for Human Development at the University of Seattle, studied doodles and used them to diagnose emotional problems of clinical patients. Dr Burns and other clinicians and researchers in the field of behavioral art therapy, maintain that the shapes and symbols we draw can reveal much about our state of mind. As Dr Burns first stated back in 1991 in an article in the March/April In Health, “even the most innocent doodle may carry messages from the unconscious”. For example, a commonly-drawn doodle is a tree. Trees represent growth and life. A full, leafy tree with a wide trunk suggests someone who is vital, energetic, and with a strong will to live. Very narrow trees with leafless branches often appear in the drawings of the frail elderly, indicating that their spirit, their will to live, may be waning. According to Dr Burns, “if you find yourself doodling pictures of houses, you probably place a high value on shelter and security”. Other symbols too are strong indications of things which an individual values most. For example, numbers and dollar signs indicate a preoccupation with money. Planes, cars, ships, and other vehicles may indicate a desire to travel, alter relationships, or change one’s life. Indeed, the list goes on and on. Ladders can be symbols of tension and precarious balance. Light bulbs and images of the sun suggest feelings of warmth and light. Squares, triangles, and circles are the sign of a logical, analytical mind. None other than Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are the two pioneers of symbol interpretation in psychology - the cofathers of “doodleology”, if you will. According to Dr Burns, the analysis of doodling should be part of the clinical procedures of every psychologist or psychiatrist. He notes: “The messages are there, after all. No

one’s surprised that an electroencephalogram can chart brain waves using a stylus attached by way of electrodes to the brain. The only difference with doodling is that we use a pen attached to the brain by nerves and muscles.” Doodling becomes a kind of visual free association, a way of tapping the deep reservoir of self-knowledge contained not in words but in images. But what of the claim that the study of doodles is unimportant since there is no way of knowing what the scribbles symbolise to the scribbler - if anything at all? Dr Burns counters that it is only after careful study of doodles over many years and from many different individuals that the patterns of doodle symbolism and their significance emerge. He adds: “Even at their simplest, the idle jottings we repeat in the margins of our notebooks can evoke childhood memories and associations that provide clues even to our obsessions. Stars, for instance, show up all the time in the drawings of emotionally deprived children. Stars are what we wish upon. People who fill their doodles with stars may be longing for something they were deprived of, like love or affection.” So take it from this doodle dandy - and you thought your doodles only meant...

Psychology of Doodles

Doodle for Mind-Body Wellness Published on October 20, 2011 by Linda Wasmer Andrews in Minding the Body

Doodling seems like the ultimate aimless activity, but it may serve very practical purposes. In my case, as a journalist, I spend a lot of time on the phone talking to sources. When I’m not scrawling notes, I’m doodling eyes and flowers. Rather than distracting me from the conversation, the act of doodling seems to help me stay more focused. The Doodler’s Edge There’s hard evidence to back up this benefit. In a studypublished in Applied Cognitive Psychology, participants listened to a phone message containing the names of several people and places, and they were instructed to write down certain ones. Half were also asked to doodle while they listened. Afterward, there was a pop quiz to see how many names the participants could recall. The doodlers remembered 29% more than the non-doodlers. In the study, the phone message was intentionally designed to be boring. One possibility is that doodling distracted participants from their boredom. Yet it demanded less concentration than drifting off into a daydream, so the doodlers may actually have been more focused than non-doodlers. For me, I think doodling serves a slightly different purpose. It offers just enough distraction to lower my stress without wrecking my concentration when I’m interviewing a journalistic source on the phone. Such phone calls may be far from boring, but they’re also packed with information that I’m trying to digest quickly. That could quickly lead to mental overload without a mild diversion. I’ve noticed that the more complex the interview, the more squiggles wind up decorating my notes. How to Doodle Other people have made similar observations. Two-time breast cancer survivor Carol Edmonston stumbled upon the relaxing effect of doodling more than a decade ago, while she was sitting in a doctor’s office nervously awaiting test results.

She has since developed an innovativeCreate While You Wait program for hospitals to encourage doodling by patients and family members. “It’s such a simple thing to do,” Edmonston says. “Anyone can do it; you don’t need artistic talent. It’s very inexpensive; all you need is a pen and paper. And you can take it anywhere.” If you’re the type who craves how-to specifics, Edmonston suggests a three-step doodling technique: Start with a simple outline. Without lifting pen from paper, spend 5 to 7 seconds drawing a line that begins and ends at the same point. Fill in the outline with whatever you want: stripes, dots, geometric shapes, shading. “Let your imagination guide you,” Edmonston says. Focus on the process, not the result. “Don’t worry about what you create. Just have fun creating it,” says Edmonston. Life is a Squiggly Line Ultimately, Edmonston began to view doodling not only as a coping mechanism, but also as a metaphor for life as a cancer survivor. “If I could create something like this without having any idea of what the end result was going to look like, I began to believe that I could also create my life that way,” Edmonston says. “Now, 14 years out from the second breast cancer diagnosis, I realize that the doodles were actually redesigning me in a profound way. I am much more at ease with my life and ready to embrace the unexpected twists and turns along the way.”

Psychology of Doodles

Doodle Meanings By Ruth Rostron

Stuck somewhere, waiting or listening with pen in hand? Chances are you’ll start doodling. Printed letters grow faces and legs, an underlined word turns into a pile of boxes, or a decorative border appears round the edge. Wait long enough and the whole thing may get blocked out or scribbled over! What are doodles? Doodles may be shapes, patterns, drawings or scribbles— anything we produce in an idle moment while the focus of our attention is elsewhere. It’s amazing how creative we can be without even trying! Strangely, doodles seem to take shape of their own accord, as if they had a life of their own in a parallel world. So you may suddenly find a circled word transformed into a sun beaming down on a desert island, punctuation turned into arrows or flowers, or a lover’s name emerging bold as brass from a memo. “Because we doodle without thinking our doodles can be very revealing—like Freudian slips or body language that we are not aware of.” “Doodles may be shapes, patterns, drawings or scribbles—anything we produce in an idle moment while the focus of our attention is elsewhere.” Your doodles may meander round the page or be gone over so intensely that you’ve made a hole in the paper. They may be precise, slapdash, complex or childlike, but they are unlikely to look like works of art. Doodles are a form of drawing, but the more contrived they look, the greater the conscious effort that has gone into them. So, strictly speaking, some of the wonderful doodles in this book are not really doodles at all because they have been given a lot of thought and done specially for the occasion. Not that this makes them any less intriguing! Why Do People Doodle? Meetings and phone calls can be very tedious and some people hate doing nothing.They get tense and frustrated if they are short of time or have no opportunity to voice their opinions, so they while away dead time by doodling. Doodling helps relieve boredom and frustration and the urge to

doodle gets stronger as stress levels rise. Doodling is like a safety valve that allows pressure to be dispelled in a playful and creative way. Doodling has been defined as ‘to scribble or draw aimlessly, to play or improvise idly’. The word ‘play’ is interesting because we now know that play helps children deal with situations they find difficult. For example, playing ‘doctors and nurses’ can help a child cope with anxiety relating to illness. When you are on automatic pilot and only half attending to what you are doing, you may find yourself thinking of something that has been at the back of your mind. Underlying preoccupations surface and, before you know it, take shape as doodles. Doodling maps the wandering of your mind as you plan a new venture, worry about money, or dream of a lover or holiday. At an unconscious level this seemingly aimless pastime may actually be helping people sort out their problems. Doodles are like fragments of a map that shows how someone’s mind works. What Can Doodles Tell Us? A doodle can tell you a great deal about someone, once you know what to look for. The subject will give you some clues, but the way the drawing has been done will tell you even more. For example, if six people draw a cat, every cat will be different—in size, shape, colour, position, expression etc. All six doodlers may be home-loving cat owners, but the particular features of the drawing will reflect qualities that relate to the individual.“Doodles are like fragments of a map that show how someone’s mind works.”Doodles can tell you what people are like and where their special talents lie. Doodles show what kind of people we are because we are free to doodle what and how we like, and we show our individuality through all the choices we make in life. Our clothes, friends, work and interests all say something about us, and so do the language and gestures we use. Doodling is

Psychology of Doodles

tells us what we should be doing yet many of us end up doodling similar things.” To interpret doodles look at the basic shapes, the size and spacing of the objects and the style of the drawing.

an uninhibited form of self-expression.The great variety of doodles in this book shows what a range of different people have done them. Some are bold and fill up all the space while others are tiny and sit in a corner. Some are all curves and swirls while others look stiff and mechanical. Some are brightly coloured while others are dark or empty-looking, and some look painstaking while others are dashed off. Just as one person will dominate a room full of people while another goes unnoticed, or one seems always in a rush while another is calm, so you can get a sense of people’s different temperaments, moods, talents and lifestyles from their doodles. How Do You Interpret a Doodle? One of the strangest things about doodling is that no-one tells us what we should be doing yet many of us end up doodling similar things. Subjects such as the sun, stars, boxes, arrows, hearts, flowers or waves keep cropping up, apparently because they have special significance for us as human beings. These images have become symbols that represent our aspirations, needs and feelings. When somebody doodles one of these common symbols it suggests what motivates them and what they feel is important in life. It is impossible to know whether the image has a personal association, but it does give an indication of what they are hankering for at that particular time. Subjects that keep reappearing in doodles symbolise important human concerns.If a doodle contains a well-known image you can interpret its significance in a general way by using a dictionary of symbols or dreams to help you. But what do you do if someone has just done a scribble, or drawn something mundane like a beer mug or a coat hanger? What do you do then? “One of the strangest things about doodling is that no-one

Shapes Are the lines mainly straight or curved? These represent opposite aspects of our nature: masculine and feminine, mental and physical, willpower and emotion. People who prefer straight lines tend to have strong willpower and self-control and like facts, while those who prefer curved strokes are more flexible, imaginative and emotional. Straight or curved lines represent masculine or feminine characteristics. Circles, squares and triangles often appear in doodles. These shapes are hugely symbolic and can be linked with our basic needs for love, security, sex and survival. Look out for curves and spirals, also right-angled or angular shapes that are parts of squares or triangles.Circles, squares and triangles show needs and motivation. Emotional people who want harmony and love tend to draw things with circular or rounded shapes, or symbols of love and femininity (circles, spirals, suns, flowers, hearts, faces, lips, eyes, small animals, cups, jugs, balloons, rings, wheels, shoes, clocks, loops, fluffy clouds, rounded trees, hills, fruit, waves, pools etc). Down-to-earth, practical people who need security and like to be in control tend to draw things with square shapes or flat surfaces, or symbols of material security (squares, boxes, houses, doors, windows, walls, fences, ladders, stairs, tables, chairs, chessboards, books, forts, towers, fireplaces, money, numbers, block letters, punctuation marks etc). Determined people who need an outlet for their mental and physical energy tend to draw things with triangular or pointed shapes, or symbols of masculinity (stars, arrows, zigzags, spires, diamonds, stick figures, crowns, weapons, trains, aeroplanes, motorbikes, speed boats, warships, lighthouses, dartboards, lightning, kites, birds with beaks, mountains, Christmas trees etc). Sizing and Shaping “Everything in a doodle relates in some way to the person who has drawn it.”A single object represents himself (or herself) while the background scene or space represents the world around. Several objects may represent people who are important to him, different aspects of a situation, or parts of himself. If a doodle consists of a single object or pattern, consider how big it is in relation to the space. Does it fill it up, look balanced, or is it tiny? This reflects the person’s activity level, sense of importance and enjoyment of attention, and shows how they tend to dominate situations or relationships. A large object shows they are outgoing, appear confident

Psychology of Doodles

and have a busy life, while a small one suggests they observe more than they participate, like their personal space and prefer a quiet life. Good balance shows mature give and take, clear thinking and good organisation.Size and spacing reflect lifestyle and balance in relationships. The position on the page is also significant. The top of the page is associated with dreams and aspirations, the bottom with security and material concerns, the right with the future and the outside world, and the left with past and family. Where a doodle or objects in a scene are placed, or appear to be moving towards, can therefore tell you something about someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interests and priorities as well as their attitudes, fears and feelings.Directional trends indicate attitudes and priorities.

Styles and Strokes The mood and sense of movement (lively, peaceful, static, rushed, disturbed etc) reflect a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s temperament, dynamism and well-being at the time, while the strength of the strokes indicates what energy went into the doodling. People who are sensitive or hesitant tend to draw with short, light or sketchy lines, while determined people who feel strongly about things use longer, firmer strokes. Digging into the paper or going over and over something are signs that someone is frustrated, obsessed or stuck with a problem. Heavy shading or criss-crossing of strokes suggest depression or worry. Drawing lines or objects in rows shows good organisation, a methodical approach and a liking for order and control. More disorderly-looking doodles are done by lively people who like freedom to do things on the spur of the moment but have a tendency to get side-tracked. Chaotic doodles suggest problems coping with life or possibly some mental disturbance.Style and strokes show temperament, energy, drive and strength of feeling. Colors Dark colors or heavily shaded areas in a doodle convey a sombre mood of serious thought or possibly depression. Pale or light-colored doodles look timid, indecisive or sensitive, while bright colors look more lively and cheerful. Different colors actually emit light waves of various lengths that affect our bodies in different ways.Liking a certain colour means being in tune with its vibrations. Red speeds up the pulse and

is connected with energy, activity and strong feelings: anger, love and hate. Pink is in tune with soft feelings: affection, warmth, compassion and sensitivity. Orange is a powerful, intense, stimulating and disturbing colour associated with dynamic energy. Yellow is a bright, sharp colour that stimulates the mind, creating excitement and also fear. Green is linked with natural renewal and change, relaxation, dissatisfaction and growth. Turquoise is a cool colour associated with calm detachment, self-control and pride. Blue slows the breathing and is linked with peace, trust, self-discipline, loyalty and spirituality. Purple or indigo is rich and deep with insight, integrity, dignity and authority. Violet has the power to heal associated with intuition, inspiration and spirituality. Brown is the colour of down-to-earth practicality and reliability. Black is associated with facts, discipline and what is serious or gloomy. And Finallyâ&#x20AC;Ś Doodles are puzzling because they are often enigmatic, full of bizarre images or seem to make no sense, rather like dreams. As in dreams, issues and concerns that preoccupy us are transformed and represented in symbolic ways. Thoughts that we tend to inhibit slip out in disguise when our guard is down and take shape as doodles. Interpreting doodles is not an exact science, but speculating about their deeper significance is fascinating and can be rewarding if it gives insight into ourselves, our friends, family or people we work with.

Psychology meaning of doodles/drawings There are many who simply doodle. You might not realize it, but your doodle actually decides the kind of personality you have, and what sort of mood you are going through. Primarily, it is the size of the doodles. If you draw large doodles that take most of your page, you are likely to be attracted to nature. Moreover, you might also have a reserved personality, but would want to socialize. Small doodles on a corner of the paper suggest that the person is neat and organized in his/her ways. Because the drawing is placed on a side of the page, it shows that a per-

Psychology of Doodles

son does not like wastage and prefers everything in its proper place. Those that use the center of the page may be extrovert and in need of attention. This is a common trait in those who work in areas where they need to get used to public speaking (barristers, public relations executives, lecturers, etc). Using the center of the page may also indicate the need for personal space. Doodles at the top of the page show confidence, and an abundance of ideas. If the doodle is right next to the title, or heading on a page it can indicate that the scribbler thinks they have something more important to say than what is on the paper. The left hand side of the page is the most common place to find doodles. These can indicate feelings of nostalgia for the past. Using the right hand side of the page is not as common and may be seen more often in left-handers. It can indicate an urge to express oneself, or communicate hidden thoughts. There are many different shapes, designs and colors of doodles, just as there are different dream scenarios, but there are some that are quite common and, as such, more easily interpreted. Drawing flowers as your doodles suggest femininity. This is the reason why usually girls are observed to draw flowers while they doodle. Moreover, drawing flowers also suggest that you might be becoming aware of your own personality and waiting to bloom. As for doodles that present masculinity, they consist of boxes, squares and other three- dimensional objects. Moreover, if you draw boxes, you are likely to have a practical, organized and methodical approach towards different things. A lot of people also draw trees in their scribbles. A tree symbolizes a person or a thing from the past that you do not happen to forget. Moreover, you might fear insecurity and would want to be protected. This might be your feeling if your tree is standing alone. If surrounded by flowers, it indicates happiness and love for family. Some people just draw lines. If these are drawn with a lot of pressure, they represent aggression and apprehension. The pressure is basically that decides your mood. The lighter the pressure, the more peace you have in your mind. Houses in your drawings symbolize many things. If you draw a plain house that has no doors, windows, curtains or smoke coming out of the chimney, you are very likely to be gloomy about something in your life. You might feel lonely and would want to talk to someone at the moment. On the other hand, if you have drawn a big house, with flowers and a garden around it, you are likely to be happy. Moreover, you might be materialistic; and like big houses, extravaganza and luxuries. Some also draw tall and thin houses. These suggest a critical mind. These people do not show an open-minded approach towards different things. Doodling houses and money?

According to Dr Burns, “if you find yourself doodling pictures of houses, you probably place a high value on shelter and security”. Other symbols too are strong indications of things which an individual values most. For example, numbers and dollar signs indicate a preoccupation with money. Planes, cars, ships, and other vehicles may indicate a desire to travel, alter relationships, or change one’s life. Doodling and sex? Dr Burns observes that “a preoccupation with sexuality usually shows up in figures whose genital areas are emphasized and heavily shaded or in the repeated use of classic sexual symbols such as snakes, candles, or darts striking a target”. So what do you doodle? Animals Animal doodlers are usually sensitive to living creatures. What sort of animal they doodle speaks volumes as to the mood of the doodler and, often, the type of person they’d like to be. Doodles of weak, passive or small animals indicate slowness, a lack of self-confidence, and more introverted tendencies. Doodles of aggressive animals represent feelings of assertiveness. Doodles of fun-loving animals indicate a playful doodler, of slow animals a more plodding, contemplative personality, etc.

Arrows Arrows indicate feelings of ambitiousness, drive, and motivation. These people are aggressively ambitious. A determined person with a specific goal in mind will draw arrows, subconsciously ‘aiming’ at his or her ‘target’. If the arrow is sharp and angular, the target probably is something important — perhaps a person who needs to be confronted or a job that needs to be applied for. If it is more fluid — and decorated — it’s likely to be the target is an affair of the heart or something the doodler feels passionate about.

Psychology of Doodles

Butterflies Flighty and romantic, fluttering butterflies, birds and bees suggest you don’t want to be tied down — or landed with difficult tasks or problems. Chains Chains can indicate feelings of restriction, particularly in a relationship or in a job. Restrictions can also refer to a person’s attitudes and beliefs that don’t allow them to do as they wish. Drawing a person in chains can show a feeling of being very stressed.

Clouds Fluffy clouds may indicate a happy person who is apt to daydream a bit, but has a strong sense of freedom around them. Angry, stormy clouds can indicate depression, or difficulty in coping. Cubes They indicate a desire to be constructive. If they’re threedimensional, they indicate the ability or an attempt to see all sides of an issue. Drawing cubes is also a common sign of feeling trapped and powerless to resolve a situation. Combined with round shapes and spirals cubes often signify that the doodler really would rather be somewhere else at that particular moment doing something at lot more interesting. *Fun fact* SOMA cube was created by student Piet Hian from Denmark when he was doodling in one of his lectures? Boxes and cubes are universally the most common doodles. Drawing a square indicates you want control of a situation — that you are thinking through a problem. If your squares progress to a cube or box, you’re likely to be a very efficient, analytical person who can deal with difficult situations with little fuss. Dots Dots exhibit anxiety and instability.

Chess Board The black and white chequerboard doodle suggests patience and persistence. Perhaps you are weighing-up various options regarding a tricky situation? It’s also the favourite doodle of people who are prone to mood swings. Circles Circles represent a need to find unity and peace. They can indicate someone who is struggling to draw everything together and make sense of it. It can also indicate a strong intuitive sense that things are coming together to form a whole, whether that refers to relationships, or life in general. Since they’re made with round movements, circles indicate a more passive feeling than angles. They’re associated with feeling sociable, talkative and friendly, with a desire to be flexible and loving.

Ears Indicates the feeling of having to listen too much to someone. Eggs Eggs symbolize a new beginning. A new talent that you were not aware of may be emerging. Eggs can also show a need and a desire to settle down and build your own stable, safe nest. Elephants The elephant is powerful and dominant and can show inner strength that can overcome any obstacle. Those who draw elephants in any form are likely to be cheerful, a bit mischievous and fun to be around.

Psychology of Doodles

indicate you’re burdened by worry. Happy sketches: Flowers with round petals suggest an amicable person while hearts mean you’re in love

Eyes Eyes often show the inner self of the person doodling them. Big eyes have outgoing personalities and small ones are reserved. Closed eyes may indicate a refusal to look inside oneself and sad, or happy laughing eyes can reflect how the person feels deep inside. They may be drawn by people who want to be attractive. Many drawn at once suggest that the person feels to be watched by someone. According to Robert Burns, people who doodle eyes are vigilant and in severe cases they may be paranoid and are observant. Faces The expression on a doodled face is often a good indication of the mood or character of the person who has drawn it. A nicely drawn, good-looking face suggests you see the good in others. If you sketch weird or ugly faces, you are probably mistrustful. Comic faces demonstrate a desire to be the center of attention. Child-like doodles of faces suggest neediness. Profiles indicate you’re an introvert. Face it: A nicely drawn face suggests the doodler sees the good in others The expression on a doodled face is often a good indication of the mood or character of the person who has drawn it. A nicely drawn, good-looking face suggests you see the good in others. If you sketch weird or ugly faces, you are probably mistrustful. Comic faces demonstrate a desire to be the centre of attention. Child-like doodles of faces suggest neediness. Profiles indicate you’re an introvert. Flowers Flowers represent our feminine side, and a desire to see growth, nature, and reproduction. If flowers are in an arrangement, it denotes a sense of family and togetherness. McNichol writes that Jung believed dreams of flowers suggest a need to release emotion people feel unable to express openly. Soft, rounded petals around a circular flower centre suggest an amiable, family-centric person. If the centre of your flower is a circle, but your petals are pointy, you are probably hiding a warm heart behind a prickly defensiveness. If you doodle a bunch of perky-looking flowers you are likely to be sociable. Drooping flower heads, on the other hand,

Food Drawing things to eat or drink indicates a need for love, or a desire to be filled up–or thirst or hunger. Hearts The doodler has love on the brain. Obviously a romantic doodle. Drawing a heart indicates you’re in love with love.

Houses or Buildings These represent the doodler’s attitude toward his or her home life. Houses definitely ought to have doors and windows which indicate that there’s a way for the resident to see out and for others to see into him. A warm, inviting house–one that looks lived in, perhaps with smoke curling from the chimney–suggests the doodler has a happy and positive at-

Psychology of Doodles

titude toward his home life. Stark, unadorned or haphazard houses indicate uneasy associations with the doodler’s home life. A house pictured on its own on top of a hill suggests you’re feeling isolated and lonely. This common doodle indicates a need for security. A neat drawing of a house suggests a secure home life, a more messy-looking sketch (especially one without windows) indicates unhappiness with your home life. A house pictured on its own on top of a hill suggests you’re feeling isolated and lonely. Intracate Patterns Busy, highly-detailed doodles are often drawn by people with an obsessive nature, who simply will not let go of their ambitions or loved ones. This type of drawing is often a favourite with extreme introverts. Names and Initials Doodling your name or initials is common for those who enjoy being the center of attention. Teenagers often doodle just their first name or the initial of their Christian name, indicating a desire to break away from the family and do their own thing. Doodling someone else’s name, on the other hand, shows they are in your thoughts if it be romantically or because they are a presenting a problem you need to deal with. Doodling your name or initials is common for those who enjoy being the centre of attention. Teenagers often doodle just their first name or the initial of their Christian name, indicating a desire to break away from the family and do their own thing. Doodling someone else’s name, on the other hand, shows they are in your thoughts — perhaps romantically or because they are a presenting a problem you need to deal with. Not just scribbles: Initials suggest a desire to be centre of attention while boxes show efficiency People Doodling only profiles indicates that the doodler doesn’t like the way he or she looks, or feels s/he can’t draw well. In fullproportion drawings, not drawing hands indicates a feeling of being unable to do things; no feet indicates a feeling of not belonging or not having roots. The face is important: smiles are desirable, obviously, and frowns are not. Missing parts of the face indicate a person who feels fragmented, not whole, or faceless. Accentuating or drawing only eyes indicates a cautious, suspicious doodler. Doodles of ears usually mean that the doodler feels they have to listen too much to someone. Children drawing: If the character is floating in the air it means that character has importance. Exceptionally large ears, unadorned by earrings, can indicate verbal abuse. Sometimes lines leading to the ears demonstrate the abusive tone frequently encountered. The mouthwith a long slit will

be drawn by and anxious, uncomfortable child, but no mouth at all may be a sign of there inability to communicate.Empty eyes may indicate a difficulty relating to the reality around them, they are blind to reality. Jagged teeth frequently indicate a tendency toward aggressive behavior, especially when coupled with other serrated graphic symbols such as spiked fingers, feet, ears, and hair. * Fun Fact* Children draw out feelings they cant express. Stars Stars indicate a feeling of hopefulness, a looking forward or up to things, and optimism. People who draw clustered stars are irrepressibly romantic. Stars are often drawn by ambitious people. Lots of little stars indicate optimism. If you’ve drawn one big, bold, embellished star, you’ve got a definite goal in your sights. Neat, uniform stars suggest good mental focus, while freehand, asymmetric stars show an energetic personality.

Stairs or Ladder Symbols of ambition and a willingness to work your way methodically ‘up the ladder’ in life, drawings of stairs and ladders also often indicate you have an important, long-term task in hand. They can represent a spiritual quest, too, perhaps a desire to be happier or more relaxed. Personality symbols: Ladders suggest ambition, stick men success and houses a need for security Stick Figures Commonly doodled by highly successful people, the simple stick figure reveals someone who is in control of their emotions and incredibly focused on their goals in life. Spider Web This can symbolize a feeling of being trapped or the desire to entice someone into a particular relationship or situation. This can symbolise a feeling of being trapped — or the desire to entice someone into a particular relationship or

Psychology of Doodles

situation. Transportation methods Doodles of any form of transportation represent a desire to get away or to reach a goal. The faster the type of vehicle, the greater haste to make a point or speed away. Fly away: Planes illustrate a desire to escape. Doodling any form of transport often indicates a desire to escape from a situation.

COLORS When people doodle it is generally with whatever they have at hand. Colors though will mean different things depending on cultural differences. So unless you know that the doodler had the whatever they wanted on hand it should mean to much, but the meaning is the same in artwork as well. Red Often represents power and can indicate anger or a need to impose authority, but is also a seasonal, festive color. -China sees it as prosperity and joy. *Fun Fact* Looking at red increases the heart rate. Orange Shows social communication and optimism. From a negative color meaning it is also a sign of pessimism and superficiality. Yellow Is of the mind and the intellect. It is optimistic and cheerful. However it can also suggest impatience, criticism and cowardice.

Triangles Triangles are the second most common universal doodles. They reveal a rational state of mind and a desire to see things come to a head. Trees Trees represent our egos and our ambitions, so take particular note of the health of the tree! Trees with leaves and fruit indicate that the doodler associates love, sex, and children together. Bare, drooping branches indicate depression and lack of fighting spirit. Rootless trees may indicate that the doodler feels him or herself to be without roots. Zigzags Zigzags show discomfort in life that one might want to escape or are energetic and just desire to get on with things. If it has soft, flowing, curvy lines it suggest a romantic, female approach to things, patterns made up of lots of straight lines, indicate more aggressive masculine characteristics. Just as patterns made up of soft, flowing, curvy lines suggest a romantic, female approach to things, patterns made up of lots of straight lines, indicate more aggressive masculine characteristics.Zigzags are a particularly common doodle and show energetic thinking and a desire to get on with things.

Green Suggesting well-being, balance and growth. It can mean both self-reliance as a positive and possessiveness as a negative, among many other meanings like envy, sickness, or money. Sea-green can also have connotations of water and the ocean. Blue Indication of stability, strength, trust and peace. It can suggest loyalty and integrity as well as conservatism and frigidity. It can have connotations of water and the ocean. Dark blue is often chosen as a corporate color in the financial sector to indicate security. Indigo Intuition. It can mean idealism and structure as well as ritualistic and addictive. Purple Purple may represent sexual frustration or a need to appear unorthodox. It can be creative and individual, or immature and impractical. Imagination is the key word. *Fun Fact* It is a favorite color of artists. Historically, purple has represented royalty, and in darker hues suggests magic and mystery. Brown Brown can suggest the earth and autumn. A preference for brown can indicate a conservative personality, even repression. Of course, in clothing and furnishings that depends on fashion, though trends can indicate the mood of the times.

Psychology of Doodles

Silver It has a feminine energy; it is related to the moon and the ebb and flow of the tides - it is fluid, emotional, sensitive and mysterious. Gold Shows success, achievement and triumph. Associated with abundance and prosperity, luxury and quality, prestige and sophistication, value and elegance, It implies affluence, material wealth and extravagance. Black and Gray They indicate stability and strength -Native American cultures black is the color of the lifegiving earth. -Western culture black is associated with darkness, evil and death. *Fun Fact*Gray is sometimes called ‘the color of sorrow’ being considered the most depressing color with black coming in second. White It is complete and pure, the color of perfection. It shows purity, innocence, wholeness and completion. Next time you doodle on a piece of paper be aware that you are telling the world what is going on deep inside your subconscious mind without meaning to do so. Take your doodles with you; don’t leave them for someone else to interpret— because you just might be revealing all of your secrets In early 2009, those people who have always doodled in meetings, while on the phone or in classes got to collectively say, “Told you so,” as a study was published in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The study, led by Jackie Andrade, evaluated whether doodling could actually increase memory or cognitive ability. Though this study used a small sample group, only 40 participants, headlines across the world exalted the benefits of doodling as a memory saver. What Andrade’s study did find was that people allowed to doodle while listening to phone calls had about 29% greater memory retention than those in a “non-doodling” control group. Since the study’s publication, the results have been used to suggest that doodling in classes or meetings could improve focus and increase retention of material. Though the study did not test this theory, Andrade believes that more focused activity such as drawing something purposefully with lots of concentration or texting would likely have an opposite affect and lead to less material retention. There are some analyses of Andrade’s study that don’t automatically jump on the “doodling” bandwagon. For instance it’s pointed out that sample size was small, and the study would require replication in order to see if results

are really proven. Another thing that wasn’t tested was the degree to which random drawing might be combined with daydreaming, and whether people who daydreamed suffered more or less focus or memory ability. For those naysayers, doodling may be viewed as not necessarily harmful to memory, but also not necessarily of great benefit. Still many who routinely sketch or draw unpurposefully during boring lectures feel quite justified in keeping up with the practice. There are similar studies that do show certain things may help improve focus and memory. Research in 2007 suggest that students who chew gum while taking tests actually improve their test scores by about 5%. For teachers who command complete focus and allow neither gum chewing nor doodling, they may actually be lowering their students’ performance ability, though it is again hard to extrapolate these conclusions from just a few studies. There is one way in which doodling can definitely improve memory of a certain sort. At the end of February each year, there is National Doodle Day. This is a charitable event meant to shed light on the difficult diseases of epilepsy and neurofibromatosis. Many celebrities compose doodles on this day, which are then printed and sold as various media to raise money for awareness of these diseases and to directly help those who suffer from them. Individuals and groups can enter too, and popular doodles are chosen to be reprinted. In this respect, maintaining memory through random drawings about devastating illnesses serves a very important purpose.

The Power of Doodling

By Melissa Walpole

Psychology of Doodles

A traditional definition of doodling is to “scribble absentmindedly.” But what if doodling could actually help free up your mind to focus on what was being presented? A study published in the Applied Cognitive Psychology journal in 2009 found that people who doodle during lectures can retain up to 29 percent more of the information that is being presented. At Oxygen Learning our classes are designed to be experiential and engaging. We are going to encourage anything that helps learners down that path. As soon as you step up to our classroom and are greeted by one of our signature welcome signs—complete with cloud doodles and a personal invitation—you know that this is an environment that is going to encourage creativity. We may even challenge you to think outside the box with a colored marker or a box of chalk. Sunni Brown, author of Gamestorming, did a TED talk about Doodling titled “Doodlers, Unite!” In this talk she argues that doodling has a profound effect on creative processing and should be embraced and encouraged. “Doodling can actually be a successful multi-modal learning exercise” said Brown. She proposes a new definition for doodling: “To Doodle: (the real definition) to make spontaneous marks to help yourself think”. Shouldn’t any behavior that can help you to think be encouraged? This is definitely something that I need to go think about, right after I sharpen my colored pencils.

Psychologist or Magician? When I was interested in personal development and psychology 10 years ago, I never expected that one day I will be able to know about the personalities of other people by watching their gestures, noticing their face features, knowing about the type of music they prefer, taking a sample of their handwriting and even by looking at their doodles. Yes their doodles! everything that you do in life leaves traces of your personality traits and of your inner world. As you may have guessed this article will talk about doodles, their interpretation and their hidden meanings. Doodles follow the same rules that graphology follows and so the same variables used to interpret a handwriting

sample can be used with doodles (example pen pressure, margins…etc) Doodle Interpretation Accuracy When you start to doodle you will usually be under the effect of many unconscious parameters including your personality, your current mood and other variables. That’s why the interpretation of doodles needs to be done with care and without giving hasty judgments. Collecting Some information about the person’s current mood and background may be very useful in the analysis of his doodles.

What your doodles really say about you By Mandy Francis

Stuck somewhere, waiting or listening with a pen in your hand? The chances are you’ll start doodling. And what you choose to doodle will reveal volumes about your personality and mood.‘We tend to doodle when we are bored or stressed,’ says Ruth Rostron, professional handwriting analyst and vice-chair of the British Institute of Graphologists. ‘Because of this, we’re usually only half-conscious of what we’re drawing — which means our inner preoccupations surface on paper.’ You are what you draw: Doodles can reveal you personality and state of mind. Many of us end up drawing the same things. Stars, flowers, boxes and arrows frequently crop up — common symbols of aspirations and feelings.According to Rostron, you should also look at how a doodle is drawn to find out its true meaning. ‘Emotional people who want harmony and crave affection tend to use rounded shapes and curved lines. Down-toearth, practical types tend to use straight lines and squares. Determined people will use corners, zigzags and triangles, while more hesitant types use light, sketchy strokes. ‘A large doodle shows a person is confident and outgoing, while a small one suggests the person prefers to observe rather than participate.’

Psychology of Doodles

Do men and women doodle differently Asked by Leanne Ward of New York City Dr Burns claims that gender is a factor in doodling patterns. He maintains that: "Men tend to doodle geometric shapes while women are more likely to doodle human figures and faces. Physical features, especially any that are abnormally large or small, carry special meaning. Very large eyes suggest vigilance, for instance, or in extreme cases, paranoia. Very small eyes or no eyes at all, suggest someone who doesn't want to see. Long arms symbolize reaching out. An absence of arms means withdrawal." Do our doodles reveal sexual thoughts? Asked by Leanne Ward of New York City Dr Burns claims that one's relative preoccupation with sex also shows itself through one's doodles. Dr Burns observes that "a preoccupation with sexuality usually shows up in figures whose genital areas are emphasised and heavily shaded or in the repeated use of classic sexual symbols such as snakes, candles, or darts striking a target". Doomed if you do, doomed if you doodle In January 2005, doodles found on the desk of British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Number 10 Downing Street were discussed by psychologists and handwriting experts as to their meaning. According to the BBC of 30 January 2005, newspaper stories contained phrases such as "struggling to concentrate" and "not a natural leader". It then emerged that a mistake had been made. The doodles were in fact drawn by a visitor to Number 10 - Bill Gates. JFK and the 9/11 conspiracy doodle The doodles and notes of US president John F Kennedy are released periodically by the John F Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. One hundred and thirty five pages were released in 2004. Subsequent historical events, long after JFK’s assassination in 1963, give one JFK doodle a special significance: On one page a small circle was written with the numbers “9/11” contained within. Just to the lower left on the same page is the word “conspiracy” - and it is underlined. Conspiracy buffs, take note!

Psychology of Doodles

Doodles Interpretation Triangles, squares , geometrical shapes: Geometrical shapes may indicate that the person has got a rational and logical way of thinking. This person may also be a good planner. Drawing a triangle sometimes signifies the internal desire of going up or advancing in your career or social life. Arrows, ladders Arrows and ladders may indicate that the person is ambitious, obsessed about some goals and looking forward to some achievements. Doodling Good Looking Faces: Good looking faces may indicate that the person is social, people loving and optimistic. Doodling Funny faces: Funny faces may indicate that the person has a good sense of humor Doodling Ugly Faces ugly faces may indicate that the person is not a social person, lacking self confidence, skeptic, bad tempered or even aggressive. Doodling Stars: Stars may indicate optimism and hopefulness. Doodling Houses: May indicate that the person is missing his home, wanting a family, or wanting to settle down. Doodling Flowers and plants May indicate that the person is sensitive, warm and kind

Doodling hearts : Means that the person is suffering from Socio-anti-complex-bio-disorder , well, just kidding :) simply he is in love or in need of a relation :) Doodling 3D shapes: Shows the presence of the ability to see the full picture and all aspects of an issue or at least the desire to do so Doodling underlined names: underlining a name with one or two lines may indicate that this person is important (whose name is underlined) Doodling Food: May indicate real hunger or emotional hunger Doodling Animals love for animals or sensitivity Doodling cars, plans, trains: Shows a desire for traveling ,freedom or the need for a holiday Doodling Weapons guns, pistols and swords may indicate competitiveness and the presence of a warriorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spirit

59 Doodling Activity

Its Your Turn to Try Doodling! Use the images in the squares below to start a doodle. Use your imagineation to create what ever you feel. Find shapes, make objects or just ignore the shape in the center, its completly up to you! after you are done doodling look at the next page to discover what your doodles say about you. P.s. The fourth square is free to do what ever youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like

Doodling Activity

Analysis of the Doodling Exercise Psyc 2301—Patterson

Psychologists have correlated certain aspects of doodles with personality characteristics as measured by various assessment techniques. They have found the following to be highly correlated:

10. Animals: • Well integrated and adjusted people often draw pictures of common domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, horses, etc. • Phobic patients tend to draw bugs, spiders, and mice.

1. Square objects denote masculinity, while round objects denote femininity.

• Large animals are often drawn by males who feel the need to be more masculine.

2. Objects with sharp protrusions indicate feelings of aggression.

11. Boats may indicate a fixation or dependency on one’s mother.

3. Precise dimensions, neatness, and order suggest an intense need to have order in their lives, often to the point of being obsessive-compulsive.

12. Drawing of people with long necks are related to feelings of dependency.

4. Sharpness and clarity of form indicate high intelligence. 5. Numerous circles or circular strokes indicates that the person is dependent on others, non-assertive, or effeminate. 6. People who shade doodles with crossing vertical and horizontal lines are typically obsessive personality types. 7. Multiple edges with few curving lines suggest that the person is overtly aggressive and poorly adjusted. 8. Filling in (shading) of letters, circles, etc. is associated with a person who is obsessive-compulsive, tidy, neat, or usually very controlled. 9. Houses indicate a feeling of security.

13. Drawings displaying a high level of creativity and imagination usually reflect a person with creative potential.

SECTION SEVEN Material Learning about artists. Examining art work. Noticing different artistic styles. Learning more about work shown in exhbit.

Exhbit Artists

Introduction

If you don’t think of doodling as a serious art form, then think again. Here we’ve picked some great examples to inspire you. These artists are the amazing talent behind that art in the exhibition : Inside The Artist’s Textbook.

Doodling is a great, fun way of expressing yourself. But because everyone can do it, it’s often underrated as an art form. Yet doodle art is a serious business for many - as these stunning examples prove. Combining childlike doodles with expressive illustrations, they show how doodling be used to create beautiful and

ting s arresting designs. Who knew there were so many doodle art styles? Which is your favourite?

the back of the book that has discriptions of each artist selected in this section.

Becouse we have so many artists showing in this exhibit each artist with the exception of two selected artists, has a page to show case their art in this section. If you would like more information about the art or the artist there is a artist index in

Enjoy the images in this section, hopefully they will remind you of this brilliant exhibition and inspire you to doodle too! -The Currators & LACMA

Chris Glaz

Inception

Irvin Ranada

What I Wanted to Say

Generally Speaking

Swirl

Helen Kaur 68

Doodle

Pat Perry

Dog

Geraldine Georges 70

Photo Blog

56 71

Justine MatthieuAshbee Bessudo

Matthieu Bessudo 72

Feathers

Bille Jean

Creative

Eric Olmstead

Brazil

Lizzie Mary Cullen

Brick Lane

Mike Rohde 76

Portland

Amaia Arrazola

Barcelona Agenda

Richard Romare

Ten Hours

Delphine Durand

Napkin World

Kerby Rosanes

Sketchy Stories

Irena Zablotska

Stelito Steals the Bird Sun

Jabson Rodrigues 82

Falling

Saddo Jdero

Book

Lisa Krasse

Converse

PodgyPanda

Space Meow

Jim Bradshaw

Acorns on my Mind

Chris Piascik

1000 Days of Drawing

Kate Bingaman-Burt 88

Diet Snapple

Lapin

Old Accounts

Davivid Rose 90

Coffee

Sagaki Keita

Blend

Paperchap 92

Commute

Starchild

Junk of the Universe

Ted McGrath

Boat Chevy

Lei Melendres

Got Nothing Else To Do

Jon Burgerman 96

I Stare Out of the Window

Matthieu Bessudo

Roads

Flavio Melchiorre 98

commons&sense

Andrea Joseph

Converse and Book Scribbles

Johanna Basford 100

Starbucks

101

Eklektick

Thought Mess

Rowan Tedge

Trains

102

103

UberKraaft

Umbraco Community

James Jean 104

Human Plant

SECTION EIGHT Doodling + Intelligence

Material How can doodling effect your brain? How can doodling make you smarter? Identifying doodling and the effects on your intelligence

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Did You Know that Doodles are a Sign of Intelligence? One of the brightest people that I have ever met was John Morrison. John was an architect and a professional engineer. He was a chain smoking Camel (non-filtered), down to earth, practical, Texan to the core, and brilliant man. He was my 2nd boss out of college. If you are also named “John”, on my LinkedIn list, an architect, and past partner of this truly unique person, then you know who I am writing about. I don’t know if John Morrison is still alive. I hope so. But, it is possible that the Camels finally stampeded over his ability to dodge the inevitable. Like John, I also have double who has my name and is a professional wrestler. But I digress... John was always doodling. He would doodle when he was listening intently to a conversation in person or on the phone. Sheets and sheets of paper were filled with his doodles. I only wish that I pocketed at least one to show you. Each on looked similar to the other. They all had thin lines drawn in curves that radiated out from themselves in various concentric fashion. I often wished to know what was going on in his mind while his hand was steadily etching out the next episode of his concurrent swivels. No surprise to me, there now has been proof that doodling is a sign of higher intelligence. Check out this video to learn more about how you might also be a genius like my early mentor and doodler was.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DOODLING “The art of drawing which is of more real importance to the human race than that of writing... should be taught to every child just as writing is,” declared John Ruskin, one of the most prolific writers of the 19th century. The Campaign For Drawing, a British charity established a decade ago on the centenary of Ruskin’s death, duly works to raise the profile of drawing for all ages. The idea is that drawing is an essential and woefully underestimated tool for thinking about and engaging with the world. Drawing is “making marks with meaning,” explains Sue Grayson Ford, director of the Campaign For Drawing. It is an art form but also a communication device, used by architects, archaeologists and mathematicians, as well as artists, cartoonists and regular people. From doodles to murals to blueprints, it is how humans communicated before the invention of language, and it continues to succeed where language often fails. Indeed, it is “the best tool we have for understanding and communicating,” says Ms Grayson Ford. October is “Big Draw” month, an annual programme of international events to get people to draw. In ten years the festival has grown and spread, with over 1,500 events in 20

cities across five continents—from Berlin and Budapest to Los Angeles and Sydney—making this the world’s largest to be dedicated to drawing. Museums, galleries and community centres have been hosting these events throughout the month. But today and tomorrow, London is holding its own Big Draw festival of events in public spaces along the Thames. The idea is to inspire visitors to engage with their environment, to link the two-dimensional act of drawing with the three-dimensional world around them. Events include the chance to draw with the design team behind the Shard, a new London skyscraper in development; to paint what you think might lurk beneath HMS Belfast, permanently moored on the river; to vote for the funniest banner in the Battle of the Cartoonists; and to release your inner scribbler with free materials and advice from professionals.

As a creative skill that is accessible to rich and poor, young and old, drawing is something worth investing in, argues the campaign. Though the charity lacks statistics that confirm this faith in the power of drawing, anecdotally it is clearly a popular activity and a useful skill. Ms Grayson Ford claims that the charity has “invented public, collective drawing” in order to give people the confidence to put pen to paper. In light of recent government cuts to the arts, it is pleasing to see festivals of creativity that are enjoyable, educational and free.

SECTION THREE Doodling + Concentration

Material Learning about the exhibit. Reading basic information about the show Identifying who, what, when, where, and why about the exhibit.

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Doodling and Concentration

Bored? Try Doodling To Keep The Brain On Task by Alix Spiegel

Four years ago at Davos, the famous world economic forum, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared on a panel with Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and the rock star Bono. After the panel, a journalist wandering the stage came across some papers scattered near Blair’s seat. The papers were covered in doodles: circles and triangles, boxes and arrows. “Your standard meeting doodles,” says David Greenberg, professor of journalism at Rutgers University. So this journalist brought his prize to a graphologist who, after careful study, drew some pretty disturbing conclusions. According to experts quoted in the Independent and The Times, the prime minister was clearly “struggling to maintain control in a confusing world” and “is not rooted.” Worse, Blair was apparently, “not a natural leader, but more of a spiritual person, like a vicar.” Two other major British newspapers, which had also somehow gotten access to the doodles, came to similar conclusions. A couple days later, No. 10 Downing Street finally weighed in. It had done a full and thorough investigation and had an important announcement to make: The doodles were not made by Blair; they were made by Bill Gates. Gates had left them in the next seat over. Oodles Of Doodles Gates is a doodler, and he’s not alone. Lyndon Johnson doodled. Ralph Waldo Emerson doodled. Ronald Reagan drew pictures of cowboys, horses and hearts crossed with arrows. Most of us doodle at one point or another. But why? To understand where the compulsion to doodle comes from, the first thing you need to do is look more closely at what happens to the brain when it becomes bored. According to Jackie Andrade, a professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth, though many people assume that the brain is inactive when they’re bored, the reverse is actually true.

“If you look at people’s brain function when they’re bored, we find that they are using a lot of energy—their brains are very active,” Andrade says.The reason, she explains, is that the brain is designed to constantly process information. But when the brain finds an environment barren of stimulating information, it’s a problem. “You wouldn’t want the brain to just switch off, because a bear might walk up behind you and attack you; you need to be on the lookout for something happening,” Andrade says. So when the brain lacks sufficient stimulation, it essentially goes on the prowl and scavenges for something to think about. Typically what happens in this situation is that the brain ends up manufacturing its own material.In other words, the brain turns to daydreams, fantasies of Oscar acceptance speeches and million-dollar lottery wins. But those daydreams take up an enormous amount of energy. Ergo The Doodle This brings us back to doodling. The function of doodling, according to Andrade, who recently published a study on doodling in Applied Cognitive Psychology, is to provide just enough cognitive stimulation during an otherwise boring task to prevent the mind from taking the more radical step of totally opting out of the situation and running off into a fantasy world. Andrade tested her theory by playing a lengthy and boring tape of a telephone message to a collection of people, only half of whom had been given a doodling task. After the tape ended she quizzed them on what they had retained and found that the doodlers remembered much more than the nondoodlers. “They remembered about 29 percent more information from the tape than the people who were just listening to the tape,” Andrade says. In other words, doodling doesn’t detract from concentration; it can help by diminishing the need to resort to daydreams. It’s a very good strategy for the next time you find yourself stuck on a slow-moving panel with an aging rock star and verbose former president.

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Study: Doodling Helps You Pay Attention A lot of people hate doodlers, those who idly scribble during meetings (or classes or trials or whatever). Most people also hate that other closely related species: the fidgeter, who spins pens or reorders papers or plays with his phone during meetings. (I stand guilty as charged. On occasion, I have also been known to whisper.) We doodlers, fidgeters and whisperers always get the same jokey, passive-aggressive line from the authority figure at the front of the room: “I’m sorry, are we bothering you?” How droll. But the underlying message is clear: Pay attention. But I’ve never stopped fidgeting, and I’ve always thought I walked out of meetings remembering all the relevant parts. Now I have proof. In a delightful new study, which will be published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, psychologist Jackie Andrade of the University of Plymouth in southern England showed that doodlers actually remember more than nondoodlers when asked to retain tediously delivered information, like, say, during a boring meeting or a lecture. (See the cartoons of the week.) In her small but rigorous study, Andrade separated 40 participants into two groups of 20. All 40 had just finished an unrelated psychological experiment, and many were thinking of going home (or to the pub). They were asked, instead, whether they wouldn’t mind spending an additional five minutes helping with research. The participants were led into a quiet room and asked to listen to a 2½-min. tape that they were told would be “rather dull.” That’s a shocking bit of understatement. The tape—

which Guantánamo officials should consider as a method of nonlethal torture—was a rambling (and fake) voice-mail message that purported to invite the listener to a 21st-birthday party. In it, the party’s host talks about someone’s sick cat; she mentions her redecorated kitchen, the weather, someone’s new house in Colchester and a vacation in Edinburgh that involved museums and rain. In all, she mentions eight place names and eight people who are definitely coming to the party. (See pictures of office cubicles around the world.) Before the tape began, half the study participants were asked to shade in some little squares and circles on a piece of paper while they listened. They were told not to worry about being neat or quick about it. (Andrade did not instruct people explicitly to “doodle,” which might have prompted self-consciousness about what constituted an official doodle.) The other 20 didn’t doodle. All the participants were asked to write the names of those coming to the party while the tape played, which meant the doodlers switched between their doodles and their lists. Afterward, the papers were removed and the 40 volunteers were asked to recall, orally, the place names and the names of the people coming to the party. The doodlers creamed the nondoodlers: those who doodled during the tape recalled 7.5 pieces of information (out of 16 total) on average, 29% more than the average of 5.8 recalled by the control group. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.) Why does doodling aid memory? Andrade offers several theories, but the most persuasive is that when you doodle, you don’t daydream. Daydreaming may seem absentminded and pointless, but it actually demands a lot of the brain’s processing power. You start daydreaming about a vacation, which leads you to think about potential destinations, how you would pay for the trip, whether you could get the flight upgraded, how you might score a bigger hotel room. These

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cognitions require what psychologists call “executive functioning”—for example, planning for the future and comparing costs and benefits. Doodling, in contrast, requires very few executive resources but just enough cognitive effort to keep you from daydreaming, which—if unchecked—will jump-start activity in cortical networks that will keep you from remembering what’s going on. Doodling forces your brain to expend just enough energy to stop it from daydreaming but not so much that you don’t pay attention. So the next time you’re doodling during a meeting— or twirling a pencil or checking the underside of the table for gum—and you hear that familiar admonition (“Are we bothering you?”), you can tell the boss with confidence that you’ve been paying attention to every word.

through to it aiding creativity, or even that you can read people’s personalities in their doodles. The idea that doodling provides a window to the soul is probably wrong. It can seem intuitively attractive but it falls into the same category as graphology: it’s a pseudoscience (psychologists have found no connection between personality and handwriting). Although it’s probably a waste of time trying to interpret a doodle, could the act of doodling itself still be a beneficial habit for attention and memory in certain circumstances? To test this out Professor Jackie Andrade at the University of Plymouth had forty participants listen to a mock answerphone message which was purportedly about an upcoming party (Andrade, 2009). People were asked to listen to the message and write down the names of all the people who could come to the party, while ignoring the people who couldn’t come. Crucially, these participants were pretty bored. They’d just finished another boring study, were sitting in a boring

Can Doodling Improve Memory and Concentration?

room and the person’s voice in the message was monotone. The question is: even though the task is pretty simple, would they be able to concentrate long enough to note down the right names? Here’s the experimental manipulation. Half the participants were told to fill in the little squares and circles on a piece of paper while writing down the names. The rest just listened to the message, only writing down the names.

An experiment suggests doodling may be more than just a pleasant waste of time and paper. All sorts of claims have been made for the power of doodling: from it being an entertaining or relaxing activity, right

Doodlers’ memories 30% better Looking at the results the beneficial effects of doodling are right there. Non-doodlers wrote down an average of seven of

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the eight target names. But the doodlers wrote down an average of almost all eight names. It wasn’t just their attention that was enhanced, though, doodling also benefited memory. Afterwards participants were given a surprise memory test, after being specifically told they didn’t have to remember anything. Once again doodlers performed better, in fact almost 30% better. So perhaps if you’re stuck in a boring meeting or someone is droning on at you about something incredibly uninteresting, doodling can help you maintain enough focus to pull out the salient facts. The mind on idle But why does it work? We can’t tell from this study but Andrade speculates that doodling helps people concentrate because it stops their minds wandering but doesn’t (in this case) interfere with the primary task of listening. When people are bored or doing a simple task, their minds naturally wander. We might think about our weekend plans, that embarrassing slip in the street earlier or what’s for supper. Perhaps doodling, then, keeps us sufficiently engaged with the moment to pay attention to simple pieces of information. It’s like keeping the car idling rather than turning it off. On idle we’re still paying some attention to our surroundings rather than totally zoning out. Obviously doodling is not a task you want to indulge in while concentrating on a complicated task, but it may help you maintain just enough focus during a relatively simple, boring task, that you can actually get it done better. Research on doodling might sound a little trivial but it’s fascinating because it speaks to us about many facets of human psychology, including mind wandering, zoning out, attentionand the nature of boredom. Plus it’s a really nice idea that doodling has a higher purpose, other than just wasting time and paper.

SECTION TEN

Material

Learning about Hattie Stewart

Identifying Hattie Stewarts style.

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Hattie Stewart 118

Hattie Stewart Introduction London’s Hattie Stewart, an emerging illustrator whose busy, colourific doodles landed her commissions for Marc Jacobs, Diesel and Adidas, will take part in a group exhibition at Cologne’s Able and Baker gallery from Friday. Wonderland sat down with Hattie to discuss a recent project for House of Holland’s fall collection—in return, she re-worked our newest cover, which now sees Ms. Minaj spewing star-spangled cartoon tar in space… Hattie Stewart designed this cover for Bavarian Opera magazine Max Joseph Bold and beautiful, this gorgeous piece is the work of illustratorHattie Stewart. Commissioned by graphic design studio Bureau Mirko Borsche, Stewart doodled this awesome cover for Bavarian Opera magazine Max Joseph. Best known for her ‘doodle bombs’, Stewart frequently redesigns magazine covers with her own twist. Her unique style has landed her work with many leading brands, including Adidas, Diesel, and Marc by Marc Jacobs.

EMERGING… HATTIE STEWART When did you first start illustrating? It looks like heavily bastardised classroom doodles. What or who tends inspires your creative process?

The first was copying the characters in the Beano and Dandy comics, especially Beryl The Peril. The “illustration” label came at a later date—my only understanding was of fashion illustration and wanting to be a fashion illustrator in year nine at school! I’ve always been a doodler and have loved drawing from a young age, I never grew out of it, it just grew itself. Bastardised! Haha! I like that word. My work has always had dark undertones, I guess. I like it that way, keeps it interesting and stops it from ever getting “cute”.

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Which illustrators inform your work?

It’s hard to specify, as my influences can come from many things. I tend to love people who don’t work in a similar way or process [to mine]. I love the work of Pauline Boty, she is a hero of mine. Did you study illustration? Where?

I studied illustration at Kingston University and graduated in 2010. Describe your work in five words.

Cheeky, sinister, playful, exaggerated, eclectic. If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be and what would you do?

Hmm… Rihanna! I would hire Hattie Stewart to design my costumes and set for my new tour. I felt weird typing that. You’ve been involved in various commissions—from Luella to Marc Jacobs. What one project are you most proud of?

I’m proud of all of them. Each project has provided a new platform for my work. At the moment though, I’m proud of the work I’m creating with House Of Holland. You’ve been asked to illustrate for House of Holland’s new collection. How did this come about and when will it launch? What will the project involve?

I had a lot of fun doodling for the new pre collection for 2013. I can’t give too much away yet! I was asked to do their first pre-collection as they had seen some of my skull artwork and thought it would fit the aesthetic they were aiming for, and it all spiraled from there! Finally, your first solo show will be hosted by MTV Switch. What have they commissioned for it? When will it launch?

It is hopefully going to be in April and they will have my artwork—and the magazine covers especially—adorning their walls and it will end with a show. I’m really happy that the magazine covers have proved popular. They will also be participating in a group show called “Urban Portraits” at Able & Baker gallery in Cologne, Germany.

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Hattie Stewart

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Hattie Stewart Selected Exhibitions “PICK ME UP”

18th–28th April 2013. Somerset House, London, UK “Everything Is Just So F* *kin’ Fabulous”

1st–7th March 2012. Space Fiftyfour, Rivington Street, London, UK.

D&AD. June 24th–28th 2010. Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, UK

“12 Artist series”

“Stick ‘em up”

“Get Freaky”

Selected Clients

- SHhhh Collective Group Exhibition 22nd December 2011. Beach London Gallery, Cheshire Street, London, UK.

March 2013. Space 15 Twenty, Los Angeles, US (Solo Exhibition)

Group Illustration exhibition– 10th September 2011. Frollein Langer Bar, Berlin, Germany.

“Blisters”

“Get Freaky issue 4”

September 1st 2012. Print Club London, Millers Junction, London, UK

Magazine launch party. 27th August 2011. Lille, France.

“Interview Magazine”

September 26th 2012. Meire und Meire, Cologne, Germany

August 26th–September 17th 2011. Betty’s Coffee Shop, London

“Love Thy Badger”

“Girls + Zines”

June 21st 2012. 18 Hewitt Street, London, UK “MTV Scratch”

Solo Exhibition April 2012. MTV Scratch, Times Square, New York. US. “Urban Portraits”

16th March 2012. Able & Baker Gallery, Cologne, Germany. “W.O.W”

“Flamingo Arts Project”

August 3rd–September 3rd 2011. Tatty Devine, Brick Lane, London “Character Totem Homecoming”

July 19th–30th 2011. Inkygoodness, Zellig Gallery, Birmingham “Character Totem”

April 6th–11th 2011. Inkygoodness. Neurotitan Gallery, Berlin, Germany

The W Project Group Exhibition 8th March 2012. KK Outlet, Hoxton Square, London, Uk.

“Small Gift”

“Community Kite Project”

“New Blood”

Celebrating 50 years of Sanrio. December 2nd–5th 2010. Miami, USA

Kingston BA Illustration and Animation degree show. June 21st–23rd 2010. LBi, Brick lane, UK

123 Bethnal Green Road Adidas Barney’s New York Bureau Mirko Borsche Cagoule Magazine Church Of London Company Magazine Dazed Digital Diesel Egelnick and Webb Film 4 Front Magazine GARAGE Magazine Graisse Animale House Of Holland i:D Online Illustrated People Interview Magazine Katie Hillier Lovecat Magazine Luella Marc By Marc Jacobs Muse Magazine Nylon Magazine PLAYBOY Rookie Magazine SHhhh Collective Soda Pop Superette Urban Outfitters YCN

SECTION ELEVEN Doodling Movements

Material Google Doodles

The Doodle Revolution

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The Doodle Revolution Coming September 2013 The Doodle Revolution is a prequel to Gamestorming and is also a movement unto itself. This book is about overturning our societal definition of doodling as a distraction and instead calling it what it is: a powerful technique to help us think. As innovators, problem-solvers and even presidents know, doodling has been a precursor to and a catalyst for innovation for over 30,000 years. The Doodle Revolution is a how-to book on leveraging our instinctive ability in visual language to make the Doodle work for us - at school, at the office and in life. We’ll put the “DO” in doodle. Long Live the Doodle Revolution! We, the Doodlers of every nation, in order to form a more perfect world, establish semantic truth, promote whole-mind learning, provide for the struggling knowledge worker and student, enhance educational well-being, and secure the benefits of the Doodle for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Manifesto for Doodlers everywhere. —Set Forth by the Founding Strategic Doodlers this 14th day of February of the Year 2011 To doodle (modern defn.): to dawdle; to draw something without thinking; to scrawl aimlessly; to make meaningless marks; to do something of little value, substance or import; to do nothing. FALSE. Contrary to popular belief, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MINDLESS DOODLE. The very act of creating a Doodle necessarily engages the mind. Doodling IS thinking, soldiers, it’s just thinking in disguise. This Manifesto, therefore, intends to disrupt society’s myths that—intentionally or otherwise—conspire to keep the Doodle down. We will illuminate the truth about doodling and set the record straight after more than 200 years of misinformation. Because we, the millions of Doodlers around the world and the billions of Doodlers throughout history, know the impressive power of this universal act. And on this

day and each day forth, shall the rest of the world know, too. No longer will the Doodle hide in a house of ill repute. No longer will simple visual language be underused and misunderstood. Forevermore, we acknowledge the Doodle as a tool for whole-mind learning and we wield its power deliberately and without restriction, in any learning environment we see fit.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That doodling is as native to human beings as are walking and talking; That human beings have been doodling in the sand, in the snow and on cave walls for over 30,000 years; That we are neurologically wired with an overwhelmingly visual sensory ability; That doodling ignites three learning modalities— auditory, kinesthetic, and visual—and dramatically enhances the experience of learning; That doodling promotes concentration and increases information retention by up to 29%; That doodling supports deep, creative problem solving and innovation; That doodling has been an ever-present tool, a pre-cursor and a catalyst for the emergence of intellectual breakthroughs in science, technology, medicine, architecture, literature and art; That doodling is and has been deployed by some of the best and brightest minds in history; And that doodling lives outside of the elitist realms of high art and design and is a form of expression free and accessible to all.

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Because of these realities of the Doodle, we, the Revolutionaries, hereby DECLARE A DOODLE REVOLUTION. We defy the modern definition of doodling and take the definition into our own hands. What we believe to be a fair and just definition of the Doodle is as follows: To doodle (Revolutionary’s defn.): to make spontaneous marks in order to support thinking; to use simple visual language to engage three learning modalities; to use simple visual language to activate the mind’s eye and support creativity, problem-solving and innovation. We believe that education around the power of doodling necessarily leads to its enhanced use. So as Revolutionaries, we up the ante of the Doodle and define an even more advanced method of deploying it: Strategic Doodling. To strategically doodle (Revolutionary’s defn.): to intentionally track auditory or text-based content and translate it into words and pictures; to generate both text- and picturebased language to clarify and communicate concepts; to craft and display complex information using a union of words and pictures. The practice of strategic doodling is for a complex and unpredictable future—one that will warrant knowledge of and proficiency in the construction of visual displays. We believe that the opportunity to learn and practice doodling and strategic doodling should be available to all people, so we will no longer tolerate the crippling of our native doodling abilities in order to adhere to antiquated perceptions. We insist that the people be shown the value and the applications of the Doodle. To reach this lofty goal, we first demand that teachers, bosses, and other authority figures cease and desist any suspicion and disapproval that stigmatizes doodling. We assert our belief that doodling is most appropriate where society perceives it as least appropriate: in situations with high information density and high accountability for learning. Today, we liberate the Doodle and elevate it to its proper place in our world. We take up our pens, pencils and felt-tipped markers and deploy doodling—strategic and simple—wherever we deem it necessary. We will wield the power of the Doodle and for this, we will not apologize. We will take the Doodle back and then put it to work.

Sunni Brown’s visual persuasion Ever tried to communicate a really important business concept to a room full of blankfaced people? Or been in a brainstorm that just never went anywhere? Next time think pictures, and visuals and games. That’s what global doodle expert, Sunni Brown, would have you believe. In the beginning there was the word and the word was good. Better thangood in fact, it was aloof, if not arrogant and proud. Written language was deemed to be a sign of elitism and intellect, and so it became de rigueur that if you were a child you went to school, and learnt letters and words and sentences. And when you doodled in your work book, your teacher told you to stop making a mess and get back to the real business of learning. Sunni Brown is a visual revolutionary who wants to change all that.Why do words inevitably get the upper hand, Brown asks. “There are a lot of different takes on why we have verbal dominance. Historically, literacy, verbal and spoken language has been associated with a certain level of status and economic class. If you are educated, have the capacity to communicate and interpret language, this somehow makes you more intelligent than other people. You become part of an elite group of people,” says Brown. Human beings are moreover heavily visually orientated, but despite this, for the longest time text has dominated visuals. “People haven’t made the connection between doodling and thinking, or sketching and problem solving, or visual language and creativity. I don’t think we understand how to apply visual language, and this misunderstanding is a consequence of having a cultural aversion to visual language, which is perhaps related to the historical classism. But that’s just a theory—I haven’t done enough research to offer a definitive answer.” Brown’s question to the world is: “Why, if people have a distinctive capacity for visual language, is this visual language subverted from an early age?” Says Brown: “You don’t need to teach children about doodling and sketching, they just do it. If we are doing that instinctively and without conscious effort, why would we put children in an educa-

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tional system and train them in some other form of language? Why not have both types of systems develop simultaneously with each other? It doesn’t make any sense to give such absolute attention. “It’s like having one tool or language that you are born with, and then going to school to learn to forget that language and learn how to acquire another language. It’s crazy,” adds Brown, who says there is a consequence to this forced selection and it’s not good for the way the brain works or for innovation. At a very basic level, any time we activate our brains, we are directing blood flow to partsof the brain that were previously not active. Brown says the ramifications of this are interesting, if not telling. “When they start doodling some people get creative insights they might otherwise not have had. Others drift into a meditative relaxed state of focus that allows them to think about things in a different way.” Let’s use a garden analogy. Brown says that inevitably, when one gives an adult brain a different kind of garden in which to grow something, people get different types of plants and flowers to flourish. “Basically what you’re doing is reframing the mental environment so that you get a different kind of growth. What doodling does is that it basically opens up another capacity for thinking, for the doodler.” But how did Brown learn how to make money and find fame by doodling? “I am very much driven by what I am good at and passionate about. It is not that I was born having this vision, nor would any of the training in my background have indicated that I would end up in this position. It really was about what I call ‘casting out your net’.” For Brown, casting the net meant going through about 20 jobs, 15 of which she was fired from. “This was not because I was a horrible person; it is just that none of the jobs were a good fit for me. But the strength in my constant exploration of different areas was that ultimately I increased the odds of finding something that was good for me.” Brown says people often don’t take risks because they are scared or don’t think they are good enough. “This has created an aversion to casting out your net, but the thing is that if you are willing to do just that you will eventually catch a fish. For me each time I moved jobs the probability became higher that I would find something I liked. At the time I didn’t identify this as a strength, but in retrospect I realise this is what put me on the right path and helped me find a career I love.” Of Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers andChangemakers, Brown can be seen on YouTube doodling largescale visualisations, which are a way of helping big business think about who and what they are, and where they want to go. The instigator behind The Doodle Revolution, Brown wants to banish the thought that doodles are a distraction and show how they can be used to stimulate creative thinking, innovate new product lines, forge whole brain thinking and help people engage different kinds of

thinking for problem solving. When she’s not being featured on Boing, BBC, or in The Washington Post, Brown speaks at spaces like TED, SXSW and Holland’s Inspire Conference. If you question whether doodling can produce real results, listen to this story. “I was working with a client that was looking for a new product that would have to compete in a really fierce marketplace,” says Brown. “The company needed to come up with five telecommunications products that were really innovative.” For the record Brown’s clients include the likes of Disney, Sharpie, The Oprah Winfrey Network, Zappos and Dell. Photo: Examples of doodles Sunni has done for corporate clients. “You can’t just ask someone to invent something, people have to have techniques that help them unearth ideas, or combine ideas that otherwise wouldn’t exist. So that’s another outcome of a gamestorming session or a doodling and visual thinking session. They literally invented five new products, and these are all products that will be taken to market.” The products are currently going through a patenting process. In a world where business has become incredibly serious, Brown is getting stuffy corporations to play games to think more innovatively. “It is really amazing for me when I go into a corporate setting and I have to justify to them why I want to play games,” says Brown. “And of course I do, and I understand the reticence, but I have seen the other side of the coin, which is this vast, fertile ground of opportunity, creating and problem solving.” “The crazy thing is that when people are doodling or gamestorming it doesn’t look like work. It looks like they are playing or having fun. But in fact people are working very hard, communicating even harder and having breakthroughs and epiphanies that enable them to reframe problems, or innovate new processes and products. It is fun, but it’s also hard work. It is just not painful work.” Earn insta rewards Perhaps it is time to cast off that Calvinist, industrial age guilt that decrees “no pain, no gain” and to realise that playing can deliver gains as well as business breakthroughs that speak directly to the bottom line. DM Sparking the Doodle Revolution in Forbes. In defence of games in the workplace on the O’Reilly Radar.

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Google Doodles Doodle History Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists. How did the idea for doodles originate? In 1998, before the company was even incorporated, the concept of the doodle was born when Google founders Larry and Sergey placed a stick figure drawing behind the second “o” in the word Google. This was intended as a comical message to Google users that the founders were “out of office” While the first doodle was relatively simple, the idea of decorating the company logo to celebrate notable events was born. Two years later in 2000, Larry and Sergey asked the then current webmaster Dennis Hwang to produce a doodle for Bastille Day. It was so well received by our users that Dennis was appointed Google’s chief doodler and doodles started showing up more and more regularly on the Google homepage. In the beginning they mostly celebrated familiar holidays; nowadays, they highlight a wide array of events and anniversaries from theThe 1st Drive-In Movie to the the educator Maria Montessori. As doodles have continued to grown, embrace new technologies, and experiment in different artistic mediums, the creation of doodles is now the responsibility of a team of talented illustrators (we call them doodlers) and engineers. For them, creating doodles has become a group effort to enliven the Google homepage and bring smiles to the faces of Google users around the world.

How many doodles has Google done over the years? The team has created over 1500 doodles for our homepages around the world... And counting! You can see them all at www.google.com/doodles. Who chooses what doodles will be created and how do you decide which events will receive doodles? A group of Googlers get together regularly to brainstorm and decide which events will be celebrated with a doodle. The ideas for the doodles come from numerous sources including Googlers and Google users. The doodle selection process aims to celebrate interesting events and anniversaries that reflect Google’s personality and love for innovation. Who designs the doodles? The doodle team consists of a group of illustrators and engineers behind each and every doodle you see. How can Google users/the public submit ideas for doodles? The doodle team is always excited to hear ideas from users— you can email proposals@google.com with ideas for the next Google doodle. Is there a place I can see all the past doodles? There is! You can always visit www.google.com/doodles to see all the doodles that have run around the world. You can record a tune on the Les Paul guitar doodle, play a game of PAC-MAN, or watch (some) of the Star Trek characters live long and prosper.

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Welcome to Doodle 4 Google Doodle 4 Google is an annual program that invites K-12 students in the United States to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign our homepage logo for millions to see.This year, we asked students to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, “My Best Day Ever…” One talented student artist will see their artwork appear on the Google homepage, receive a $30,000 college scholarship, and a $50,000 technology grant for their school!The 2013 competition and voting period have now ended. Happy doodling and be sure to mark your calendars for next year’s competition which will kickoff in January 2014!

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National Doodle Day About How it all began Like many good ideas National Doodle Day began over a drink with friends. From a simple idea grew a unique, fun and fantastically simple fundraising event that everyone could be a part of. Over the years the event has seen thousands of celebrities, schools, individuals and organisations come together all in the name of doodling! What’s it all about? National Doodle Day is a fundraising event which is owned by, and raises money for, Epilepsy Action (Registered charity in England 234343). By simply donating a pound to do a doodle over £275,000 has been raised to help support the 600,000 people in the UK living with epilepsy. How to get involved? There are lots of ways you can get involved and celebrate National Doodle Day. You can do a doodle, bid for your favourite celebrity doodle or organise an event in your school,workplace or local community. Get involved There are lots of fun and exciting ways to get involved on National Doodle Day—just pick the one that suits you most! Organise a National Doodle Day event Whether it’s your school, organisation or local community group that wants to get involved, we’ve got everything you will need to help you plan your day. Organising a National Doodle Day event is simple and a great way to get together and raise money for charity. By donating a pound to do a doodle, you will be raising money to help improve the lives of everyone affected by epilepsy—what can be better than that?! Request your fundraising pack now and we will send you everything you need to help you plan a ‘doodle-tastic’ day.

Bid for a celebrity doodle Bid for your favourite celebrity doodle in our online, 10 day eBay auction. All the doodles that feature in the 2014 celebrity gallery will go on sale on Friday 7 March 2014. If you would like to receive an alert when our celebrity auction begins, register your email address now!

Do a doodle Do a doodle, donate a pound—it really is that simple! To enter a doodle into the National Doodle Day competition simply download a doodle card, get scribbling and send it to us (with a suggested donation of £1). All doodles received before Friday 4 April 2014 will be automatically entered into the National Doodle Day competition. To see what prizes are up for grabs, take a look at our National Doodle Day competitions page.

SECTION TWELVE

12 Material

Learning about exhibiting artists.

Artists

Chris Glasz

Chris Glasz’s Inception doodle art is like a doodly infographic. We’re big fans of 3D movies here at Creative Bloq, so we we’re thrilled to find this series of movie doodle art by US-based artist Chris Glasz. Owner of Tumblr blog In Doodle Format, Glasz has chosen a number of popular films and illustrated them as creative doodles. Often using just a simple black Sharpie, so far, the talented artist has celebrated 11 well-loved films, including Back to the Future, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Inception.

Irvin Ranada

Beautiful use of contrast between space and doodle-infestation. Student Irvin Ranada currently studies Fine Art at the Far Eastern University in the Philippines. In his spare time, he’s an avid doodler and has creating numerous, intricate doodle illustrations. A master of composition, Ranada’s drawings are a perfect reminder of just how special doodle art can be.

Matthieu Bessudo

Despite being a director at a busy London VFX house, Bessudo still finds the time to create amazing doodle art like this. French illustrator Matthiue Bessudo, aka McBess, is a director at visual effects house in London, The Mill. With a passion for illustration and music, Bessudo always tries to mix the two in his work. A super-talent, his doodle art features a mind-blowing amount of detail.

GenerallySpeaking

Artist Michelle began this piece with the large swirl in the top right of the

page. High school student Michelle aka GenerallySpeaking is the lady behind this intricate ink doodle. Covering a book from one of her notebooks, this is doodle art at its best. Using a simple biro, Michelle began the detailed illustration in the top-right corner, allowing organic shapes to flow around it until covering the entire page.

Helen Kaur

The vibrant colours in Helen Kaur’s doodle really makes it stand out. Helen Kaur is a full-time graphic designer and part-time illustrator from Singapore. As part of her development and illustrative work, Kaur creates vibrant doodles in her spare time. And while we’re not taking anything away from black and white doodle art - it rocks - it’s great to see such a mixture of colours amongst all the detail in this drawing.

Pat Perry

Pat Perry is a superbly talented artist who, as his mind wanders, inscribes in ink some truly surreal and attention grabbing imagery. A daily practice for the Michigan born artist, drawing helps Pat to work through the complexities of life and thankfully for us acts as a remedy for all we find mundane in dayto-day living.

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Justine Ashbee

Beautiful doodle art from Justine Ashbee. Justine Ashbee takes a line for a walk and your eyes go along for the ride. Lines and forms evolve and grow organically in her vast amorphous drawings. Intuitively composed, the Brighton based artist’s drawings start with a curve and end in a mesmerizing undulating visual experience.

Billie Jean

Billie Jean goes all postery with this doodle art. Billie Jean is not my lover. Billie (a ‘he’ in case you’re interested) has created entanglements of ballpoint pen for many notable clients. Creative Review and Nike can be counted amongst the many who have commissioned the services of this London based, tree climbing, doodle maestro.

Eric Olmstead

Eric Olmstead’s brilliant artwork is inspired by travel. It’s hard not to be a little jealous of artist Eric Olmstead. Not only is he super-talented, he’s also travelled all over the world, capturing the essence of each destination through brilliant illustrations and collages. This is just one piece Olmstead created in Brazil during a six-month tour of South America. He’s also spent 18 months in Japan, been to Australia, New Zealand, the US - and there’s at least one sketchbook full of amazing artwork for each.

Géraldine Georges

Géraldine Georges’ weird and wonderful doodle art. Géraldine Georges worked as a graphic designer for seven years before starting to freelance as an illustrator in 2006. The Belgian artist’s collages are a perfect blend of photography and illustration, beautiful and elegant images that seep emotion.

Lizzie Mary Cullen

Lizzie Mary Cullen delves into the world of hand-drawn psychogeography in this Brick Lane illustration. Lizzie Mary Cullen is a multi award-winning artist based in London. A natural talent with pen and ink, Cullen’s doodle art

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Artists

has attracted the attention of many leading brands, including the BBC, MTV and Harvey Nichols. This intricate depiction of Brick Lane, is just one from Cullen’s brilliant series titled London psychogeographies.

works, Durand spends much of her spare time doodling unusual worlds and creatures, like this piece handdrawn on a restaurant napkin.

Kerby Rosanes Mike Rohde

Designer Mike Rhode tells the tale of his travels with hand-drawn typography and little sketches. Mike Rhode is a designer who loves to read, write and draw. For the latter, he takes a Moleskin sketchbook everywhere, keeping a visual journal of his travels. We particularly like this piece taken from Rhode’s Portland sketchnote travelogue, in which he records facts and thoughts with brilliant little sketches and typography.

Richard Romare

Web designer Richard Romere created this piece in roughly 10 hours over five days. Richard Romare is a web designer based in the Philippines who also works as a freelance multimedia artist. Wanting to experiment in different artistic disciplines in his spare time, Romare comments on this one-off piece, “I’m not that comfortable with doodle arts, I was just trying something different.”

Delphine Durand

Illustrator Delphine Durand drew this intricate piece on a restaurant napkin Artist Delphine Durand has a treasure trove of sketchbook work online. For the most part, she creates magical and bizarre monsters and characters, some of which have been used to illustrate Chronicle Book’s Big Rabbit’s Bad Mood. As well as commissioned

Kerby Rosanes’ work features incredible attention to detail Kerby Rosanes is a graphic designer and SEO specialist with a passion for art and doodling. His work, which he post regularly on his Sketchy Stories blog, exists at various scales and his striking attention to detail makes each piece unique and original.

Irena Zablotska

Irena Zablotska’s doodles evoke an original and imaginative world Irena Zablotska is a talented illustrator who uses multiple techniques to communicate the original world she’s created through illustration and doodle art. Her art has been exhibited across the world, from St Petersburg to San Jose.

Saddo Jdero

Saddo Jdero creates intricate, intriguing worldsThis remarkable Romanian illustrator and artist is another example of how doodle art can be taken to a commerical, professional level. The intricate imaginary worlds he creates are both fascinating and unique.

Lisa Krasse

Lisa Krasse’s doodle art on Converse sneakers. Craft, drawing, and fashion combine in one amazing project. Lisa Krasse has combined her love of doodling with a love of Converse shoes to create these amazing sneaker designs. Check out the rest on her Behance profile.

PodgyPanda

PodgyPanda creates cute digital illustrations, apparel, design toys and of course, doodles! PodgyPanda, or Richard Kuoch as his parents like to call him, is an artist, illustrator, animator and graphic designer from Auckland, New Zealand but is now living it up in London. Creating cute digital illustrations, apparel and design toys such as Jerk Jigglypuff, PodgyPanda also doodles. A lot.

Jabson Rodrigues

Jabson Rodrigues beautiful ‘Falling’ illustration. If you like this particular style of doodle art then you should definitely check out the Flickr account of Jabson Rodrigues, which is overflowing with stunning sketches like the above. Titled ‘Falling’, the illustration features two people intertwined by Rodrigues’ gorgeous, fluid doodles next to the words ‘Sky should tumble and fall’. Just beautiful.

Jim Bradshaw

By day, Jim is an art director. By night, he is a doodle extraordinaire! New Jersey illustrator Jim Bradshaw has been doodling away since he could pick up a pencil. By day, he works as an art director but by night Jim tackles all things creative and is never far from his Moleskine. His doodles open up a weird and wacky world that often includes creatures from outer space and walking tree stumps. We love it!

Artisits

Chris Piascik

Just one of the doodles taken from Chris’s book ‘1000 days of drawing’ Describing himself as an ‘illustrator, formerly known as designer’, Chris Piascik fast became a well-known face in the doodle art world. Based in New England and with more than eight years of professional experience, Chris embarked upon a ‘daily drawing’ challenge back in 2007. Once he’d done 1000, he published them in a book entitled ‘1000 days of drawing’. He continues to doodle to this very day.

Kate Bingaman-Burt

Kate documents every purchase she makes with a quick doodle Becoming obsessed with consumerism back in 2006, illustratorKate Bingaman-Burt decided to document her daily purchases with a doodle. Staying with the consumption theme, Kate draws her doodles on to receipts and credit card statements. What a creative and fun way to showcase your personality and your buying habits!

Lapin

Lapin draws his doodles onto old accounting books. Lapin is a French illustrator, living between Barcelona and Paris. He travels daily with his sketch books, documenting his day-to-day escapades. He has already filled around 150 sketchbooks for the last 10 years and particularly appreciates sketching on vintage accounting books that he finds in flea markets. He even leads doodle workshops at universities and art schools.

Davivid Rose

Davivid Rose describes himself as a poet and hallucinographic designer Davivid Rose also goes by the name of jdy333 and describes himself as a “poet and hallucinographic designer”. His doodles offer a weird and wonderful insight into his creative mind, including this colourful creation which took “lots of patience and lots of coffee”.

Sagaki Keita

The doodles blend together perfectly to create the final image Japanese artist Sagaki Keita specialises in recreating classic masterpieces by covering them in these gorgeous child-like doodles. Even though the doodles themselves are simple, once you. look further away from the drawing, you realise that Sagaki has taken the time to ensure they blend together perfectly.

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giant pile of junk that is the Universe”. Each of his pieces tells a different story and could be interpreted in hundreds of ways. We love how he has encorporated mixed media into the doodle artform.

Ted McGrath

Ted shows that the imperfections of doodle art can come together to create stunning work. Ted McGrath basically represents what doodle art is all about. It’s about the imperfections that come together to make a stunning creation. His notepad is jam-packed full of colours and sketches that span an array of subject matter. We think this car/boat offering is definitely one of his best.

Lei Melendres

Paperchap

Paperchap completes his drawings in the time it takes him to get to work. We don’t know much about UK artist Paperchap but what we do know is that he is a commuting doodler. Every day, he travels between Shoreham By Sea and London Victoria, which leaves him with rather a lot of idle time - so her doodle all over the newspapers. Now, that’s a creative commute.

Starchild

Starchild creates a visual language to explain a culture which is vibrant, dark yet familiar. Starchild is an artist with a mission - to create a visual language to explain a culture which is vibrant, dark yet familiar. Using mixed media he’ll “cut, paste and create from the

Lei Melendres’ page-filling doodle art is fun that you can stare at for ages! When artist Lei Melendres has nothing better to do, he doodles. And this is just one of many pieces he has created as a result. Fully utilising his spare time, the crazy-talented illustrator uses a black marker, neat lines and no space left undoodled in his work.

Jon Burgerman

Jon Burgerman’s ‘I stare out of the window’ is a doodley twist on stained glass. Jon Burgerman is best known for his colourful, fluid and playful creations and this one is no exception. Titled ‘I stare out of the window’, Burgerman was commissioned to create this piece for one of the New Art Gallery Walsall’s large-scale windows. The brief was to depict the trials and tribulations of being an artist, including creating a concept, playing with ideas, taking a break and checking emails.

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Artisits

Hattie Stewart

Hattie Stewart designed this cover for Bavarian Opera magazine Max Joseph Bold and beautiful, this gorgeous piece is the work of illustratorHattie Stewart. Commissioned by graphic design studio Bureau Mirko Borsche, Stewart doodled this awesome cover for Bavarian Opera magazine Max Joseph. Best known for her ‘doodle bombs’, Stewart frequently redesigns magazine covers with her own twist. Her unique style has landed her work with many leading brands, including Adidas, Diesel, and Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Johanna Basford

This gorgeous wallpaper design by Johanna Bashford features on the wall of Vigo St Starbucks store in London The unique doodling style from artist Johanna Basford managed to bag her this commission from international coffee company Starbucks. After persistently sending the company paper cups with her artwork on, Johanna was asked to design a wallpaper for the redesign of Starbuck’s Vigo Street store in London. Hidden within the flourishes are tiny coffee cups, elusive birds, and the odd Frappuccino...

Uberkraaft

Gorgeous illustration by artist Matt Williams aka Uberkraaft. This colourful, fun and playful artwork was created by freelance illustrator, artist and designer Matt Williams aka Uberkraaft for the Umbraco community. Keen to not stick to a particular style, Williams says on his website: “I’m anti-style and work across a lot of media adapting my work to fit the brief. I can practically turn my hand to any style to fit any project.”

Tower Hamlets College Flavio Melchiorre

Flavio Melchiorre created this for a Japanese fashion magazine. Flavio Melchiorre, is an italian artist, awardwinning designer, illustrator, painter and founder of creative design studioIDRO51. Best known for his distinctive hypnotic style, Melchiorre created this gorgeous piece for the Japanese fashion magazine commons&sense, inspired by the Fendi autumn and winter 2012/13 collection, designed by Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi.

Andrea Joseph

Andrea Joseph created this gorgeous illustration using only ballpoint pens and paper. Now this gorgeous illustration by Andrea Joseph takes us back to the days of school excercise book scribblings and random jottings. Although ours looked nowhere near as good as this! Joseph created the brilliant design using only ballpoint pens, which features a beautifully worn pair of Converse and frighteningly realistic stationary. Absolutely stunning.

Eklektick

Artist Kristin Krause spent a month depicting her random thoughts through sketches to make this gorgeous homemade decor. We love the fun and playful mind of US-based artist Kristin Krause aka Eklektick. Both her home and studio are full of colourful artwork such as these random doodles titled ‘Thought Mess’. For one month, Krause stuck sheets of paper to her walls and then wrote and sketched her thoughts on each. A brilliant idea from a very talented artist.

Rowan Tedge

Artist Rowan Tedge’s artwork has crazy amounts of detail. Super-busy is the chosen style of talented artist Rowan Tedge, who, believe it or not, doesn’t draw for a living. Many of his designs are created on his train journey to work. With limited space on public transport, Tedge works in small sections at a time adding more incredible detail each day.

Tower Hamlets College tutor Zak Peric and 11 of his commercial graphics and digital illustration students were behind this cool wall doodle. Using only back ink, the team worked on this piece of doodle art for three full days, the aim of the project being to encourage students positively by using a one liner motivational text.

James Jean

James Jean’s tri-colour doodle art James Jean retired in 2008, leaving the illustration world behind he redefined himself as a fine artist. Whilst known for his award winning DC Comics cover illustrations, commercial work for Prada, and now critically acclaimed paintings, the Taiwanese American artist’s sketches are also truly to die for.

SECTION THIRTEEN

13 Material

Doodling activites to try what you have learned and experince doodling in a new light

MARY FORMANEK TYPE FOUR ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN