Dee Doodles

Hi good people!

I have been having the busiest of busy weeks. But isn't everyone? I'll be glad when the semester winds down.

Because I can't get time to crochet like I want... which means that when I crochet I like to finish what I'm making quickly and get a bit obsessive ;)...I've been sneaking in doodling time.

And what do I doodle? Profiles with afros, of course!

Here are a few quick snaps of my sketchbook:

I'm going to start making some cards with these. Maybe I'll make a few ATCs (artist trading cards) to swap.

The drawings are a good way to focus on something that doesn't cause stress and I use them as a sort of visual diary. I use the repetitive patterns and various shading techniques to express my moods and to calm my mind. The net is full of people who draw great Mandelas and Zentangles for similar reasons. (Just do a flickr search and you will have lots of eye candy.) My drawings mash up those forms with my own doodling inclinations.

As far back as I can remember I've been a doodler. I used to get in trouble with my mom because I would take a blue pen and draw patterns on the backs of my hands on the way to middle school. In classes, I would draw little paisleys in the corners of my notes. Teachers always thought I wasn't paying attention. But when asked questions, it was clear that I was. The doodles actually helped me focus.

I used to be hesitant to call my drawings doodles. Sure, the ones in my 9th grade notebook margins were doodles but these drawings and the others that I've done in the hundreds in the numerous sketch books lying around here, didn't seem to be doodles given how much time, planning and effort went into their execution. Doodle seemed to trivialize them. But then I got over myself. I was resisting the word doodle because I thought that by calling my art that I was somehow failing at being a "serious" artist. A doodle seemed like a failure or at best an immature effort. It was only after realizing that accepting my doodles as such freed me up from the harsh critic in my head that told me I was not a good artist and that my art was no good, that I fully embraced the word doodle.

A doodle is a drawing done with whimsy. A drawing that plays with forms, ideas and may pop up on an untraditional surface. When I doodle the point is in making the drawing itself. It's all about the process. My pen works almost as fast as my mind and I don't bother to figure out what it will be until somewhere along the way. I am often surprised at how cohesive the doodles turned out to be. But the great thing is, because I do not go into making a doodle with the expectation it will be great, whatever it becomes is good enough. And for a Type A like me, letting go of control like this is a wonderful thing. Trust me.

Do you doodle?

I'm hoping to be back to more frequent blogging (I have lots of things to share) at the end of the month when the semester is all done. We'll see if little H will let me get in some craft time!

Peas and Carrots,
~Dee