art of the doodle: discover your inner artist by eleanor kwei

Eleanor Kwei

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This 2013 edition published by Race Point Publishing by arrangement with The Book Shop, Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

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EDITOR Linda FalkenDESIGN Tim Palin Creative

Doodles featured in this book are used with permission from: A. Lindholm, L. Lindholm, E. Kwei, R. Kelly, H. Van Asseult, and W. Pomeroy

This book is part of The Art of Doodling kit and is not to be sold separately.

ISBN-13: 978-1-937994-17-4

Printed in China

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www.racepointpub.com

C ontents TurningDoodlesintoArt 4

1 JustMakingMarks 9

2 AbstractGeometrics 29

3 Organics:PatternsDerivedfromNature 37

4 RepresentationalArt 59

5 LiteralArt:WordsandSymbols 71

6 TheHardware—NotSoHard! 79

7 DoodledArtsandCrafts 88

LettingGoofYourArtwork 94

HowtoUseYourDoodleJournal 96

Turning Dood les into Art

Manypeopledoodle—whileonthephone,attendingclassesormeetings,orjustsittingaroundwaiting,withapeninhand,scrappapernearby.Itseemsthatmostpeopledoodlewhilethey’reconfinedtoonespot,engagedinaconversationorattendingalecture,andthey’reinarelaxedstate,allowingapartoftheirmindtowanderwhiletalkingorlistening.Doodlingisnotathinkingactivitybutaspontaneousone,subliminal,personal,andultimatelyrevealing.

Ifyou’veeverseenyourfriendsorcoworkersdoodling,youmighthavenoticedthatpeopledoodlethesametypesofthings—lines,words,stickfigures,geometricshapes—buthavedistinct,instantlyrecognizablestyles.Thespecificimagescanbetelling,likehabits,semiconsciouslyexpressingthedoodler’sexperiencesandwishes.

Whatifyoucouldharnessyourdoodles—thatverypersonalvisuallanguage—andgentlyexpandanddevelopthemintoartisticshowpieces?Thefollowingchapterswillintroduceyoutoabroadimagevocabulary.Ifyouarealreadyadoodler,startwithwhatyou’vealwaysdone.Ifyouarenotadoodler,trysomeoftheexercisesthatinterestyouonpracticepaper.Whenyoubegintofeelmorecomfortable,attemptsomeoftheexercisesintheaccompanyingDoodleJournal,whereeasy-to-followpromptswillhelpeaseyouintofillingagivenspacewithdoodles.

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TheobjectiveofthisguideandtheexercisesintheDoodleJournalaretoenableyoutodevelopabroaderartvocabulary.Thenyouwillbefreetoincorporateyourownsourcesofinspirationinyourownuniquestyleandexpressyourselfcreativelythroughdoodles,anywhere,anytime.Evensimpleshapescanturnintothemostelaboratedoodles.

6 • A Guide to Dood ling

Does Dood ling Help with C oncentration? Somepeoplethinkdoodlinghelpswithconcentrationbyprovidingafocusfortheeyesandhandswhilethemindabsorbsinformation.Accordingtoleft-brain/right-braintheorists,thetwosidesofthebrainoftenworktogethertohelpuscopeorhandleproblems.Doodlingisverymuchanactivityoftherightbrain(inthemoment,intuitive,instinctive,creative,musical,recognizingfacesandpatterns).Thefunction,however,maybetoaidtheleftbrain(linear,methodical,analytical,logical,reasoning,thinkinginlanguage)inprocessinginformation.

Right-braindoodling(drawingspontaneously,jfillingaspacewithoutaplan)

Left-braindoodling(planning,measuring,dividing,consideringratios)

Turning Dood les into Art • 7

Left-brain dood ling

Right-brain dood ling

8 • A Guide to Dood ling

Chapter 1

Just Making Marks

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Orion

UrsaMajor

10 • A Guide to Dood ling

Minimalist Art

Coverasmallareawithdots.Dottingquicklyoftenleavestiny“tails”thatkeepthedotsfromlookingclean.Soifyouwanttomakedotsthatareneat,takeyourtimeandplacethemdeliberatelyonthepaper.Considermixingsizesandvaryingspacing.Thentakeyourdotstothenextstagebyusingcoloredmarkers.Differentsizemarkerswillcreatearangeofdotsizes.Upclose,dotslookslikedots.

DotsInthischapter,you’lldiscoverhowthemostbasicmarkscanholdtheirowninsophisticationandbeauty.Startwithsimpledots.Well-placedabstractdotarrangementsareoftenseeninsophisticatedminimalistart,butthereisnothingnewabouttheappreciationofworkingwithdots.Fivethousandyearsago,theGreeksgroupedbrightdotstogethertoidentifyconstellationsinthenightsky.

It’shardnottoassociatecoloreddotswiththeFrenchImpressionistGeorgesSeurat(1859–1891).Hisscientificallybasedpointillismtechniqueinvolvedjuxtaposingdotstocreateapainting.

Seuratplaceddotsofpurecolorclosetoeachotherinmeasuredratios,allowingviewerstovisuallymixthecolorsonthecanvas.IfyoulookataSeuratpaintingcloseup,itlookslikeajumbleofdots.Butwhenyoustandatadistance,thedotscometogethertoformacohesiveimage.

Theleaf(above)waspaintedinthepointilliststyle.Thesmallerimageisadetailshowingtheindividualdots.Paintinglikethistakespatience,butthesubtlybeautifulresultswillbeworthyourwhile.

Just Making Marks • 11

12 • A Guide to Dood ling

LinesLinesdefinestructureanddirecttheeyestowardfocalpoints.Thereisadefinitivequalityaboutlines,includingcurvedones,butdrawnlinescandepicteventheorganicformsfoundinnature.Onewaytohavelinesbemorenaturalandforgivingistosoftenthemorusebrokenlines.Ifyou’rehavingtroubledrawingfreely,trylooseningyourgriponthepenandrelaxing(butnotbending)yourwrist.Thepentipshouldbarelytouchthepaper.

Mostarchitectscandrawverystraightlinesfreehand,andanyonecandrawalinethat’sprettystraight.Butbewarned:ifyouwanttodrawaperfectlystraightlinefreehand,itwilltakelotsofpractice!

Just Making Marks • 13

Another example of how you can soften a shape by using a light touch

14 • A Guide to Dood ling

Stripes (Paral lel Lines)

Just Making Marks • 15

Anything goes in dood ling. In this form of self-expression, there is no good or bad, no right or wrong, nothing to prove or judge. The key is to relax and simply do it.

Extra Credit Aninterestingeffectcanbeachievedbymakingyourparallellinesflowoverforms,asinastripedfabricdrapedoveranobject.

16 • A Guide to Dood ling

Just Making Marks • 17

Curvy LinesHumansarenaturallydrawntocurves.Observethecurvedlinesyouseeonthehumanbody,innature,andinobjectsaroundyou.Practicemovingyourwristtodrawsmallcurvedlines.Todrawlarge,sweepingcurves,moveyourwholearm.

ArenderingafterHenriMatisse’sDancers

18 • A Guide to Dood ling

Tocreateshapesandpatterns,makeyourcurvylinesintersect.

Becomingcomfortablewithdrawingsmooth,curvylinesenablesyoutodepictmanyeffectsofnature,suchascloudsinthesky,blowingwindorflowingwater,orthecurvedlinesofgrassandleaves.