Why do we doodle? Just to pass the time? To find a design? To examine patterns?
If I have a pen in hand and paper near by, I’m going to doodle. My name, a curved line, what’s being said by someone else — and that may also be in a curved line — or sometimes words in a creative pattern.
Or dots. Little petals. Grids. Anything really. Just put the pen to paper and move it.
What are the benefits of doodling?
What do I get from doodling?
Sometimes I doodle a solution — how to draw form by adding density to the marks. How to suggest trees, or grass, rather than laboring over detail. Where to put shadows.
Doodling intrigues me… lines become shapes, shapes take form. The most abstract form can represent something real, even if it isn’t.
Doodling calms and organizes me. It’s simple, repetitious, familiar, predictable.
Doodling inspires me… takes me in new directions, to new places. It stimulates new ideas.
I doodle because I like to!
This artist hunts for patterns in life’s tiny places, doodles them onto paper, and uses them as reference for her design work:
Milliande\’s Pattern Doodles on YouTube
I think our brains look for patterns to make sense of things, whether we’re drawing for design, or organizing our days, or trouble-shooting in our professional lives.
Doodling is just the hand’s way of taking over for a while, allowing the right brain — the sensing, intuitive, creative, lets-try-something-new brain — dominance over the left brain while it expresses patterns in new ways.
As a writer, I also doodle.
I hear a topic mentioned or talked about, and my brain takes the same topic and goes somewhere else with it. But where?
I jot it all down — everything that comes to mind. Dots, dashes, and scribbles — words, partial thoughts, questions, random ponderings. And I connect the thoughts with lines and arrows.
It’s generally a pretty messy doodle.
But sometimes the doodles get turned into little paintings for greeting cards.
Sometimes the noodlings get written out as essays, or blog posts…
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
I am right in tune with you Barb! Nice to visit your blog again. Keep on doodling.
I know you are, Kathy. We have a like-mindedness when it comes to exploring with brushes, pens, and pencils — both in traditional media and digital. I’m so grateful to you for setting up the doodle area at http://www.PainterTalk.net.
Thanks for visiting…
Barb, you recently reminded me that sometimes doodling can renew or refresh us in our creative endeavors. Thanks for that! I need to doodle more often! I do so enjoy it as it is very freeing. Just let it flow!
Hi Kirk. I remember, and you did doodle a wonderful face on PainterTalk.net. I agree it refreshes us and frees us. And even knocks down the walls we sometimes build around our work. I know it does for me. Thank you…
P.S. It’s also easier to go back to our more ‘serious work,’ don’t you think?
Thank you for the video link, Barb. I too find doodling to be very relaxing, and as you know, I’m quite influenced by shapes and patterns at the moment
Oh yeah, David, I know how productive you are with doodling! The brushes and tutorials on your http://www.jitterbrush.com site are the direct result of that, aren’t they? Thank you so much.
My most consistent doodle was a 3-dimensional box, and was either doodled in class or while I talked on the phone.
I found it highly interesting that one of my children doodled similarly — not sure if that is a sign of genetics or simply “monkey see, monkey do.”
How interesting, Sharon. I wonder what is in the box? Did you ever draw it open? Or with the lid tilted just a little so you peek inside? Has you daughter? I’ll bet it’s more than monkey mimicking….
I sketch ALL of the time, in meetings, in conversations, while I dine, everywhere and all the time. I love to try to capture a moment, and I absolutely cannot think unless my hand is holding pencil or paintbrush. My auditory skills are very poor, but when I sketch I can truly listen. It may seem rude to those around me, but I have literally hundreds of sketches and when I see them I remember the mood, the ideas, etc. of the speaker. When I attended Vermont College for a masters in writing, I sketched each speaker I heard, even from a distance, and each faculty member who taught. I have never done a self-portrait, however, and I had best hurry while there are a few unwrinkled spots to draw–on the other hand if I wait just a tad longer, what beautiful lines God may give me to make the sketch all the more interesting.
I love your comment, Sally (Elizabeth): …when I sketch I can truly listen.
Me too, if I’m in an audience and too far away to see faces. Otherwise I want to watch the person talking.
I don’t think it’s rude at all. Your journals must be a real treasure chest of book and painting ideas.
About that self-portrait. I’ve never succeeded at doing one of me either. I’m looking out, so my paintings are from my visual field. I paint feelings… and while I know how I feel, I don’t know what that looks like from the outside in. Hahaha.
Too late for me to paint smooth skin too.
But that doesn’t bother me.
Thanks for visiting, Sally, and for leaving such a thoughtful comment. I’ll scoot on over to your site and see what’s new there. MyCottageDoor is such a fun place to visit.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is the case, there is no way my words can keep up with my thoughts. I miss less by doodling. :O)
Hi LuAnn. An interesting observation! You miss less by doodling. I’ve had to think that through, and by golly, you are right! Sally (Elizabeth) below says the same thing. She listens better when she draws. She sees what’s being said. I guess that’s what you’re saying too.
I love that!!! Thank you so much for visiting.
I have been validated at last….lifelong doodler here, but I think I’m in great company! Thanks for the reminder that sometimes simple is so free and alive.
You’re welcome, Suzie. I’m finding that most creative people are doodlers. And some doodlers turn it into real art!
Simple = free and alive. I like that. Thank you.
Hi Barb,
I do that – write down what people are saying when I’m talking to them on the phone. I don’t know if it’s because I want to remember it to reflect on later, or if by writing it down it gets cemented in my brain.
I doodle at other times too, but my doodles don’t look as artistic as yours.
Hi Barbara.
I’ve read your blog’s About You page. I’d say you doodle and jot because your thoughts are many, and you want to keep them to chew on later, to expand and share.
I do that too. I doodle when I have no words. Or want to think things through to make sense of the words I do have. To see something more clearly.
For me, doodling is part of the thinking process. And sometimes I end up with something I can turn into a visual.
Thanks for stopping by.
I love to doodle. For me it usually happens when I’m on the phone, or when I was in meetings at work. I engages me in some way… like taking a walk somewhere. My doodles are usually just lines and shapes that sometimes are filled in, sometimes not.
Hi Davina.
I love your reason for doodling: it engages you in some way, like taking a walk somewhere.
How beautiful! I can see that in your writing. Your poetry takes your readers on those walks.
Thanks for sharing.
When I doodle, it helps me noodle, so I think doodling and noodling go hand in hand.
Hi J.D. I’m glad you used that term, noodling. I have always used that for word-and-idea brainstorming. Or fleshing out a thought for an article. But when I looked up the difinition of noodling in Google, all I got was cat-fishing with bare hands.
I suppose there’s an analogy we could draw from that too. Haha.
Thanks for stopping by. I agree with you — doodling and noodling are working-buddies.
I used to doodle a lot but I can’t any more. I am finding the conversation about doodling and how others doodle and use their doodle to be fascinating.
Thanks for starting this intriguing conversation!
Hi Bean. You’re welcome! It always interests me why people do what they do. Doodling seems to be a pretty common thing to do. Even those who say they can’t draw. It’s really not about drawing. It’s about moving the pen across the paper — moving the hand, really. Getting away from the same-old thinkoing and opening up to new possibilities, new ways to piece puzzles together.
We sat on the beach wall in San Diego a few years back, nursing whatever drinks we had, and watched a man stack rocks on the beach. Incredible. There was NO WAY those rocks could sit on top of each other as he had them doing. He worked all day and built beautiful, intriguing sculptures that were impossible. He obviously understood and SAW something in his head that most of us don’t see. He said nothing. All day he just doodled with stones and made art. Art which washed away with the next tides… Wes and I chatted with him briefly in the evening. Before retiring he was an engineer. Well, there you go. I bet he was a very creative one too!
Thanks for stopping by. You still have a doodler’s soul.
I just came across your blog and I like it. The doodles remind me of when I used to sketch as a way to broaden my imagination as a kid. I really enjoyed myself and I love creating something with my own mind and hands. Thanks for taking me back!
You’re welcome, Ralph! It never hurts to return to simple, does it? I wonder what happens to our imaginations as we leave childhood?
Maybe you’ll start doodling again and engage that imagination in a whole new way…
Thanks for coming! It’s nice to meet you.
Hi Barb and good morning. Just had to check what you were doing today. To bad I didn’t save all the doodles I did in the years past. I guess everyone doodles some way, feels good while you are doing it anyway. Great post.
Hi Annette. I think doodling is just good for clearing away cobwebs. Thanks.
Hi Barb,
I’m dropping by to check out your new theme. It’s beautiful. Great job Barb.
See you again soon.
Thank you, Barbara. I’ll be adjusting it as I learn how.
I’m watching your changes as well.
I apologize that comments are not carrying folks back to your latest blog post. Still working on that……. Meanwhile, they can click on your name.
For doodling, I need 3 things to spare – a hand, a paper and a pen (or pencil), a combination that usually happens when I am on phone!
Why do I doodle? Oh, just because! I guess if I were to be conscious of the ‘art’, I wouldn’t be doing it, feel inhibited. But doodles are allowed to be meaningless, shapeless, so that is OK. I find myself repeating a few patterns I learned when a child – and which I thought then were really cool. I think it may be because I practised them so much that they are kind of automatic now.
Hi Swati. I love your comment, …doodles are allowed to be meaningless…! So you don’t think about creating something. Just moving the hand in patterns seems to result in meaningfulness. Not necessarily on the paper, but in the mind.
Thank you so much for visiting several posts and leaving notes.
Love your new theme up top and your photograph today.
When I get pen and paper in hand I write words in my best penmanship ever….yep words. I started this in 7th grade when taking notes in a lecture style class. I would use the margin to write every word I could think of that started with A…if I filled up that margin, then I would move to B….I do all my journal writing with pen and paper….but most of my beautiful words flow out of me onto the computer keyboard…I think this river runs quickly and the keyboard can keep up…faster than the pen with my thinking.
When on the phone I might add a picture, but I am so rarely talking on the phone these days.
I liked this post so much, Thank you for sharing and putting up your doodles!
My pet name for Librarian daughter when she was little was doodles because she made small drawings on everything.
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Hi Patricia. No wonder you write so well! Doodling with words has served you well, probably built and reinforced your vocab too.
I like to write with pen on pretty paper, the kind that feels at home with the way the ink flows. The words are so pretty… I especially like when what the words look like, written, agrees with their definitions. I like numerals too. Can make very fun doodles out of all of it!
When I’m free writing I want the pen, but intentional writing requires the keyboard, for the reason you gave. Thanks for coming by… I just restocked the bottled water.
You have a great site Barbara–I happened upon it as I’m looking for discussions on the benefits of doodling.
I liked your story above about the engineer doodling with rocks. Doodling doesn’t have to take place on paper! I’m actually a fridge doodler these days (www.FridgeArtist.com). Little colored magnets make for yet another fun and unexpected medium to play with!
Thanks again for posting on this topic!
Hi Lynn. What fun your fridge magnets are! Doodle away every day!
I word-doodle with little letter tiles in my BananaGram. It’s addictive, and a wonderful pasttime while the water boils or the coffee brews. So I can imagine what fun can be had with your tiles.
I’d add another, alternative use, for them. Paint a section of a child’s schoolroom and or playroom with the magnetic paint and keep the tiles handy.
(My fridge face is covered with kids and grandkids — school pics and sports buttons and such. I used to have those plastic letters with magnets on the backs by the barrel-ful, and the young ones played to their hearts’ content.
Today I’d add you tiles — but not allow the two-year-olds access without my being around. Amazing what they want to eat.
I completely agree about doodling. You can use clay as well. Anything making something from nothing without a plan, just playing to see what can be done — I call all of that doodling. It’s brainstoruming with your hands!
Thanks so much for coming by.