I had friends in high school who doodled in class – both to pass the time and to help them remember the lessons. A couple have even gone on to make their livings from their art. As for me…I need to learn how to doodle!
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Do You Doodle?
Here’s a little something you don’t know about me. I write out my posts long-hand before typing them up. It’s how my mind works best and how I find my creativity…but you wouldn’t have found doodles on my pages before Tuttle Publishing kindly sent me a copy of How to Doodle Everywhere: Cute & Easy Drawings for Notebooks, Cards, Gifts and So Much More to use in exchange for my honest review.
I was never much of a doodler – not necessarily because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t know how. Silly, I know. In Japan the teachers and students all knew how to create cute little faces and figures and I was quite envious as I could barely draw a stick person.
I often can’t fall asleep at night, so that’s when I began to read How To Doodle and then I started to practice when I was correcting the children’s schoolwork. 100% means I draw a face or other doodle; Kallista, especially gets a kick out of this!
Learn How To Doodle
How To Doodle starts with the basics; using a ballpoint pen and beginning with basic lines and shapes. Then it moves onto faces and then adds some body features, including how to get the proportions right for different ages. It’s neat to see how just changing tiny details one at a time will give you a multitude of different-looking characters.
Other doodles include:
- Animals (or are they ‘cute-imals’?
- Plants
- Food
- Representing events
- Using colour
- and also some tracing practice to give you more confidence and allow time for brain/hand muscle memory.
Where To Doodle
There are some project ideas included as well to give you ideas of how and where you can doodle.
I will keep practicing; it will be so fun to add a personal touch on the weekly postcards I send around the world! I know when I receive a doodle on a postcard it makes me smile and I’d like to do the same for others. But first, I had a little fun doodling on a package before it went into the post. It has a little bit of everything on it. A finer-tipped marker would have been better, but it was still fun!
Tristan suggested we put up a row of colourful houses like there is down by the sea nearby and put them on the front window. He’s started and will add to the row.
They’re twee, sitting under the huge rainbow Kallista painted…and oddly enough, some fish (?!) Our postman will certainly think we’re definitely crazy now…not that he hasn’t thought that before.
Kallista likes to pretend she’s running a restaurant, so she added some food doodles to her menu to give it some extra interest. Then she was once again up and running…with a beautiful outdoor seating area with a view.
Keep On Drawing!
If truth be told…I think I’ve had the most fun with this book! It might be because kids naturally draw and doodle, whereas us adults often don’t have time for such things so it’s more of a novelty for me. I have loads of little doodles around on my lists of things I need to do and on personal letters I’ve sent to friends (doodles aren’t just for envelopes).
Japanese doodles have a distinctive look – and there’s always a doodle for everything. Now we’ll be a part of cool Japan, too!
If you’re interested in purchasing How To Doodle Everywhere , it’s available through:
- Tuttle Publishing
- Amazon
- Great bookstores near you
If you’d like to know more or would like to follow Tuttle Publishing, you can connect with them through their website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (and you can see our other Tuttle reviews here).
More Hobbies To Try:
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