doodling
/doodling
I have always been a doodler. I think I learned it from my mom. She was a great doodler when she was on the phone. She had the phone nestled between her neck and shoulder, a cigarette in her right hand, and a complimentary pencil from Stanley in her left doodling on whatever piece of paper or envelope was handy. I wish I had some of her doodles. They were really cool.
A few years ago, I got into making cards and sketching ideas in Moleskine Squared Reporter Notebooks. I had trouble finding them so I ordered a case. As most of my hobbies, I got bored after I filled a few notebooks and the rest remained collecting dust.
My friend bought a bungalow and wanted decorating ideas. I got out a ceramic tile pattern book and got inspired to make my own. I grabbed the dusty books and started. I filled page after page of patterns. I soon filled them all up.
Another friend (Look, I have two friends!), saw the books and told me about Zentangles. I put it in the back of my head to look at another time. I started noticing more doodling and sketching online and became inspired to do some of my own.
I started with a Field Notes Brand Memo Book with a dot grid. I love the dot grid. It gives me structure when I need it but does not scream follow me like a regular grid does. I did my first sketch while sitting at Starbucks. I drew a teapot then filled it in with doodles and patterns. It is a combination of Zentangle and drawing and I really like how it turned out. I decided to try to do one doodle per day. And in typical OCD fashion, I knew I have to fill in the previous 12 days with sketches.
The next day, I needed a place to start. As it happens, Jory Raphael at Sensible World started his own project, Year of Icons. Now I have a place to start each day. and so far it is fun and enjoyable. Though I find myself doing to same patterns and need to find ways to change it up and try new things.
I quickly filled up my Field Notes Memo Book. It only has 24 pages. I decided to switched to a larger format. Since I wanted the dot grid, my options were limited. I got a Rhodia Webnotebook in A5. The size it good and the paper is really nice.
This has turned into another 365 project I really enjoy. I am enjoying more than my Photo of the Day project. I thought about trying to do some type work, a letter each day. I got through C and quit. I didn't enjoy it. It took longer than I expected and didn't look the way I had envisioned. I want to explore type at some point.