Oh! How fun is this!? A friend saw me doodling and exclaimed, “Please help me – I’ve tried to doodle but mine are awful!” How do you do it? So here are some quick tips for anyone who thinks she can’t doodle.
I love scribble doodles because no matter how hard I try I can’t judge them. So let’s start there.
Use a small piece of paper (any paper will do that will take marker without bleeding/blurring) half a regular 8.5 x 11 sheet is good.
Find a bold color marker with a medium point (sharpies are a bit too fat). Look for something like the old style felt tip pen. Any color works. For now , we’ll use only one color. I prefer to start with black but that’s just me.
Before you start your doodle, pull out another piece of scrap paper. Take the pen in your non-dominant hand and spend 30-60 seconds scribbling. Righties use your left hand, lefties use your right. Don’t over think this and allow the motion to be fluid. Imagine round things, not jagged. Keep your hand moving. Don’t worry that it’s hard to do or feels funky. This is your doodling warm up.
Now flip the page over and do the same thing with your dominant hand. Same rules, don’t try to turn this into anything. Imagine a spaghetti bowl or a pile of string or ball of yarn if your intellect keeps trying to make the scribble mean something. Keep going.
Now you are ready to start on your smaller page. Marker in hand, remember these things:
Tip 1: Release judgment and detach from the outcome. Perfectionism is not welcome in doodle-land. If you don’t like what you’ve created, simply discard it and start again. If you’ve discarded two starts, when you are tempted to toss out the third, stop, take three deep breaths, and continue with the third doodle. If your frustration builds to the point of crazy-making, stop and start again another day. It’s not that important!
Tip 2: Doodling is a practiced skill and will be refined with time and attention. Like anything, the more you do it, the happier you will be with the results and the more comfortable you’ll get with what speaks to during the experience.
Tip 3: Let go of any pre-conceived notion of what your scribble is intended to be or become. Allow it to evolve as it will.
Tip 4: Begin with broad large shapes and then embellish on the inside or outside of those shapes. Sometimes I like to play with only circles, for example, or only squares. Look for embellishment inspiration in the patterns of things around you.
Tip 5: Play! This is not supposed to be hard work. Consciously smile while you are doing it.
Most importantly, have FUN!
And last but not least… keep playing (aka practicing).
Then please jump over to the Conscious Creator’s Cafe on Facebook at Http://bit.ly/FBCreators and share your doodle creations there .
I’m absolutely certain your doodles are “better” than you think!
Wanna know a secret? I always thought mine were terrible until one day I ran out of business cards and doodled some quick cards to use right away. I got really positive feedback and people told me how cool they were. Boy, was I surprised! Now it’s kind of my signature “thing”… and I LOVE doing it! I feel really connected to how personal my work is when I do it. Cool, right?!
What might you create if you let go of what you think is supposed to be?