Transcripts
1. Trailer: What if there was a fun and easy way to improve your creativity, imagination, and drawing skills? Would you do it every day? Well, you should because it's simple doodling. Doodling has no limits or roles. You can doodle neatly and slowly or quickly and messily. You can use whatever tools you have on hand. You can draw things from memory and imagination or use references or objects around you. There is no rule book for doodling, but this class will show you tons of tips and tricks, techniques, examples, and ideas. We'll go over everything from supplies to character doodling, patterns and textures using live and photo references and how to get creative when you're doodling, like incorporating doodles in your artwork and using strange media and fun layouts. I will show you many doodle examples throughout the class and I'll even talk about finding inspiration. So what are you waiting for? Let's doodle.
2. What is Doodling?: What exactly is doodling? While there isn't just one right answer, but there are a couple of things that doodling is for sure, like fun, playful, with infinite possibilities, and no rules allowed. A no wrong answers approach to drawing. Everyone will doodle in their own unique way. But usually doodling is done with fun patterns, textures, characters, or objects that come from the imagination, your visual vocabulary, or things around your references. You can doodle slowly and perfectly, or you can doodle quickly and messily. You can do it on a scrap piece of paper just to pass a time, or you can incorporate your doodles in real works of art like in these examples. What you doodle will depend on your interests, and on your visual vocabulary. Which just means the images you have memorized that you can draw it easily. But don't worry, you can always expand that vocabulary. You do so every time you try something new, or every time you draw something repeatedly. You can even expand your vocabulary by setting objects references while doodling. I will show you more examples in a future lesson. But by doing this, you find out how to do them in your own way because you understand their form. Doodling can also be abstract and usually is. This doesn't require a visual vocabulary, just your imagination and playfulness. By using basic shapes and symbols, you can make all patterns, and textures. We will talk about this more in a future lesson as well. It's easy to figure out what doodling means to you. Just look at those corners of notebook paper from your school days that have tiny drawings in them. This is doodling. Doodling is also done best when listening to an audio book, podcasts, or just music. The logical brain is instructed and your hand can play. Doodling is great because it improves your drawing skills and creativity and to top it all off, it's super fun to do. What is doodling? A way to do art without worrying about the results. Because guess what? Nobody has to see your doodles that can be secreting on your sketchbook, and is also a way to improve your skills. But most importantly, it's pure fun. All you need to get started is your imagination, visual vocabulary, and experimentation. Let's doodle.
3. Supplies: The supplies for this class are super simple. All you need is paper and something to doodle with. There are no rules set in stone of what that should be. Even a ballpoint pen and notebook paper is perfect for doodling. So do whatever you like. Anything from markers to watercolor paint can work just as well. The media use is up to you and you should get creative with it or just do whatever feels most comfortable. But here is a rundown of what I love to use and recommend you use if you want to be professional doodler. Let's start with paper. If you already have a regular sketch book, it's a step up from printer paper because of its weight. This just means incomplete as much and the paper will be thicker. If you're buying a sketch book, I'd recommend not going below 80 pounds. Personally, my favorite sketchbook for any media really is a Canson XL Mix Media Sketchbook. The paper is smooth and you can use practically any medium on it even watercolors. It's also a great bang for your buck sketch book. If you want to get the absolute best paper you can for doodling, like for doodles or you want to gift or frame, then now I'd go with Bristol paper. It's thick, very smooth, and you will find that your pens will glide on the page. You can't use watercolor on it like the mixed media pad, but it's great if you're just using the traditional technical pens, micron pens, brush pens, or even just pencils. This paper always guarantees a crisp line. That's it for my people recommendations, but there's a lot of choices out there. Just look around and make sure it's a big enough weight and the paper is smooth. Now let's go over my favorite tools to doodle with. This first one is my favorite number one drying and doodling tool. You'll probably remember it from all my QD classes. It's a zebra disposable brush pen. It comes in various sizes, this one is fine, and I've tried all their sizes and they're all absolutely amazing. As you can see, it's very easy to get line variation or thin and thick strokes by just varying how hard you can push down. It can also be used to fill in larger areas, so it's a great all around tool which you can use for whole doodles and silica that versatility of thick to thin strokes and dark areas. Now the other best option is to get a set of Sakura Pigma Micron pens. I've tried lots of different technical pens I already filled in with ink, and this one is my favorite. You can buy a pack of these and a mechanical pencil is included on Amazon. It's called the Sakura Manga Comic Pro Set. I highly recommend it if you don't like to use brush pens and prefer to have very thin lines and more control in your work. This set has everything you need. You'll be able to make super thin lines with three micron pens, thicker lines with the graphic one pen and a great way to fill in smaller areas of black and the brush pen is great for filling in even larger areas. These work perfectly together because they all contain the same ink, so there will not be a color difference that you get from using different pens from different brands or sets, which I don't recommend unless you're scanning in and upping the contrast anyway. Another tool that I love playing with and you probably do too, is the ballpoint pen. This is used for more relaxed doodles in my notebook, but you can use it for amazing and realistic works of art as well. I just love the feeling of the pen gliding on the page, and you can even shade with it by pressing down lighter to shade lighter, just like a pencil. Keep in mind that you won't be able to fill in larger areas perfectly and that's the beauty in this tool. It has that sketchy look to it, same thing with a pencil. I absolutely love playing with the high quality pencil. This is the Palomino Blackwing and you can get a lot of contrast between your lights and dark with it, but you can use any artist's pencil from 4B-8B for a similar contrast. One more tool that you might want to have is some opaque white medium. I really love this Uni-ball Signo Broad Point White Gel pen for adding little details on filled-in areas or fixing small mistakes, but you don't need it. In the end it's up to you what tools you use. What do you personally like to doodle with? This is just a sharpie marking can be very fun to play with. This is just the brush was ink on it, which is similar to a brush pen but harder to control. My point is doodling is supposed to be fun and there aren't any rules. So use whatever you have or whatever you like and maybe even experiment. Now that you have your supplies ready, let's start the class.
4. Tips: Before we get into doodling, let's go over a few tips and tricks to keep in mind when doodling. The first tip is to commit to your line. When you pick up your pen a lot, you get a hairy line that's sketchy. This is perfect if that's the look you're going for. But a lot of beginner artists do this by accident. If you do this too that's okay. A simple solution is to sketch out your line with a pencil first. It can be as messy as you want, but once it's time to ink be sure to go slowly and don't lift your hand until line is complete. If you do, carefully start where you left off and continue, then you can erase your pencil marks and nobody will realize it. Just be sure to use a light pencil when doing this. As you can see, it's hard to erase when it's darker and you don't want to take any of the ink or paper off by accident. With practice, you won't need that sketch and it will become natural to create smooth lines with minimum lifting. But if your line is wildly right now, don't worry about it, you'll get smoother lines with practice. Another tip is to doodle at the speed of your tool. For example, Micron pens are a precise tool that don't have room for mistakes. If you doodle too quickly can be easy to lose control, go slowly when using them so that your lines aren't weakly and connect properly, because it's obvious if they don't. On the other hand, something like a pencil can be used very quickly because it's supposed to give a sketchy feel anyways and it looks intentional, same thing with a ballpoint pen. This doesn't mean you can't messily doodle with Micron pens. It just doesn't look as good as if you do it with a pencil or a ballpoint pen. Just be sure to decide if you're going to be messy or clean before you start your doodle and go slowly if clean and quickly if messy, and try to pick the right tool for this style. The next tip you will see me using a lot in the upcoming doodles, it's simply playing with negative and positive space by filling in some parts with black. This little touch can add a lot of dimension to any piece you draw and make it pop off the page with the contrast. It's up to you what you fill in and what you don't, but don't worry about it. You will get an eye for it naturally with practice and you will greatly increase your feel for good design in your compositions, naturally with time. The next tip is for when you get stuck looking at a blank page and not knowing what to draw, or maybe you're a perfectionist and want the perfect doodle from the start. You can use a pencil to plan your composition. There's nothing wrong with it. Just make sure it's light like it is here. Having the general outline of the layout, we'll usually get those doodle juices flowing. The next tip is to move the paper around to your liking while doodling. It's usually easier to draw a straight line or a circle when you're facing a certain direction, don't make it harder for yourself or your hand. Do whatever feels comfortable. The last tip is not to panic if you make a mistake. There are many ways to fix mistakes. Like here I just made a thicker line to go over what I messed up. You can do this any number of times and nobody will know. Like let's say I make a pattern that I don't like, I simply fill it in. This will not only heightened the contrast and make it look interesting by playing with negative and positive space, but nobody will know if it was an accident or intentional. You can always go back in with a white postcard marker or a white gel pen to fix mistakes, as well and add more detail. That's it for the tips. Now let's start doodling.
5. Words: A fun way to infuse life into your doodle is by using words. Word doodles are super easy to do with a little practice and experimentation. To cut a piece of paper and follow along with me, you can copy exactly what I do or make up your own way of drawing letters. Let's take the uppercase and lowercase A. This looks good, but by simply outlining around the letters instead of writing it normally, it gives a doodle bubble effect. This is super easy to do and look how fun it is. You can insert outline with sharp edges or do cute script feel with outlines, airlines, or even do something strange, and experimental like this. Adding patterns inside your letters is a final way to make them more interesting. You can use simple patterns like lines and dots, or you can make your letters look 3D by just choosing a side, and outlining it from it to make it look dimensional. As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Knowledge in typography can really help in building your visual vocabulary for words, but it's not necessary.The most important thing is to have fun and experiment. Just play with your words, and you are guaranteed you'll make outcomes you'll like. It just takes a little bit of practice and experimentation. Notice how I use a different type of fine doodle for each letter, but usually I pick one sound, keep it uniform for the entire word, but this is up to you. This look can be fun as well. Just play, maybe go to a font website and get inspired from the fonts there, and turn them into doodles or look at packaging or book covers. It doesn't matter where you get inspiration from, but keep your eyes peeled because it's everywhere and by paying attention to setting details, you will build your visual vocabulary for lettering. Words can easily be incorporated into doodles. You can draw them first like I did here and doodle around them, or you can draw them second to put them behind your other doodles. There are no rules, but they can certainly add a special kick, and meaning to your doodle art. Try incorporating them into your next doodles only if you want to, of course, now let's doodle some fun and cute characters.
6. Characters: Characters are also super fine to include in your doodles or can easily be the whole doodle itself. When doodling characters just keep them simple and use basic shapes. The easier they are to draw, the easier it will be not to get stuck and filling the whole page, you can make your characters based off of an object, animals, ideas, monsters, or whatever you can think of. Notice that just by adding a simple face, this apple we make it from an inanimate object into a cute character, adding a face to anything will tend to do that and in fact, transform your characters into cuteness with personality. There are so many ways to draw faces and there is so easy to convey emotion with like here I just changed around the eyebrows and they made so many different feelings. I encourage you to play with it by taking out a scrap piece of paper and trying to make as many different face expressions as you can. If you find this hard, just pause the video and copy what you see. It really doesn't have to be complex though the simpler the better. If you like a certain face, you can put the same one in all your characters. It doesn't matter, it's always up to you. I also want you to notice how the first character I doodle was just an abstract shape that added cute feet, an antenna, spikes around the tail and face too. You can always doodle a random shape and then try to find something within it. This is not only a fun way doodle monsters, but it's a great dry exercise in imagination. Little monsters can be super cute and they're super fun to draw because they have no rules like this little guy, I given forearms and little horns for a fun touch. It's so easy to make characters if you just give it a try. If you get stuck on what to make, just pick something random like a cat or a heart and make a character from it. Your imagination is the only limit here. Also notice how outlined that character twice make a thick outline. This makes a really nice contrast, the thinner lines within, and a sticker effect. If you want to take this up a notch check out my cutie classes, I show you how to draw [inaudible] , people, and foods. If you take those classes, you'll learn how to build your visual vocabulary in those categories. But simple characters like this work just as well. Now let us see an example doodle using the techniques and concepts we learned so far.
7. Sweet!: Now let's make a doodle using word and character doodles. Sometimes it's easier to doodle if you have a topic. For this one I decided my topic is sweets. I doodle the first thing that comes to mind, which is a doughnut. Notice how simple it is and all it really needs is a cute face, not even feet or arms to make it feel like it's alive. The next doodle I put behind it by just putting it close enough that they would overlap and drawing it as I normally would without including the parts that overlap. This adds a lot of dimension to your doodles, but you don't have to overlap if you don't want to. This cupcake is also super simple. Notice how I made sure to draw the face first and then the details later so that I can carefully draw around the face. Things like this require a little bit of planning. I continue adding simple sweets. Notice how they're all done in a similar style and there are all very simplified with cutey faces at slightly varying expressions. I thought it'll be cute to give the cube of sugar hybrid expression hinting at a sugar rush and you can really play with mooding story about adding little details. Now I decided to add in the word sweet. I simply draw it in slightly behind the popsicle and cupcake and draw lines going swirly up and write from every corner and connect them for dimensional look. Again, the imperfect nature of the lettering really captures the feeling of doodles. So just have fun with your lettering. I continue adding cute characteristic from an angry cookie with a bite to a piece of cake, cotton candy, and a glass of milk to draw out all the sweetness. Now I fill in some of the empty space between our cuties to add some visual interests, then add in hearts and stars varying in sizes. Now I outline the parts of the piece that touch one more time to make it thick, that sticker effect. I also fill in some of the background space and then go back in with my fine Micron pen and add some texture by using simple hatching around the piece. That's also gives a feeling of shading. I put in a cute hearts pattern here, but I didn't like how it looked. Like I said earlier about fixed mistakes, there is always effects. For this, I simply filled it in. Now I go back in with a white gel pen to add little dots within the black and I also use it to outlines on the sweets in the black area and where they overlap for an even bigger pop and I'm done. The end result is really cute, full of character, visually pleasing, dynamic, and super-duper sweet. You can do this with any concept or theme and in your own way, the possibilities really are endless. Give it a try. Now let's learn about using patterns and textures in your doodles.
8. Patterns & Textures: Doodling randomly or abstractly can be super fun, but it's easy to get stuck in one or two techniques and not grow from there. An easy way to make your doodles more interesting is to include patterns and textures. I touched on this in my previous pen and ink illustration class and I recommend you check it out if you want to learn more techniques like hatching and mark making and learn more about ink supplies. But I made a new worksheet just for this class to put your textures and pattern skills to the test. You can download it in the year project section of the class, or just make your own using any shapes that you like, which you'll have to fill in with your imagination. To find inspiration for patterns and textures, just look around you. I took all of these photos on my trip to the grocery store and you don't even have to go that far. Things like patterns on clothing, wood, greens, and packaging are all around you right now in your home. Get inspired from everything you see, then print out the worksheet and fill it out. The only real issue is a completely unique pattern or texture in every space. You can even just slightly vary a certain pattern that you like. But otherwise, there are no rules. I use simple lines to make the first pattern and simple flower doodles with dots for the second, easy right? For an alternating tear drop shapes for the next one, the repetition of the same shape over and over makes a very interesting for the eyes and gives it a feeling of complexity, even though it's simple. I go back in and fill in some parts of black ink to make an even bigger contrast. As you can see, this little technique gives a big punch in doodling. I'll use little circles in the next one, and then little swirls that are behind each other. Then I drew a long wavy line, continued drawing from its slightly varying the line each time. This is one of my favorite ways to doodle because the effect is so gorgeous and it's super simple to do. I use simple lines to make a fun fairy texture, and simple even space circles for the next one. The next one is inspired by the waves of the ocean. I made three lines that don't repeat each other and then follow the lines with each one until they overlap further behind illusion. Then I fill on some lines with black for beautiful contrast. This one is simple triangular pattern and it's beautiful in simplicity. Once again, I use positive and negative space to make it pop. This one is just simple jagged lines that are drawn messily. Then this one it starts with dots and then simple straight lines. This one is inspired by succulent or a rose because the petals get bigger as they go out. For this next one I use wavy lines and simple circles to make a fun pattern. This one is just negative space and positive space and jagged lines for an easy pattern. This one uses little dots clumped together and gives more of a texture feel. This is also called stippling and is a form of shading. This one is more random and uses the jagged lines and this one is made up of simple circle cuties. Yes, you can have little characters as your patterns. This next one is a straight lines that alter between horizontally and vertically for a weaved basket texture. and this one is simple triangles, which reminds me of Doritos, and this one is just simple circles again, but this time I fill in the background with black, which makes it pop more. This one is simple, playful half circles. In this one I play with fun arrow pattern using simple straight strokes and repeating the same thing over and over. Then I do a messy sketch texture. Now it's time for the last pattern. I would suggest you do the biggest one last because you can look back at what we did and see what your favorite ones are and make this pattern inspired from that. These two are my favorite patterns, so I will try to evolve them into something even better. This I put random squiggly lines all over and make them touch sometimes. Now I do something similar to my previous pattern and draw around each line until it ends because there are so many lines it makes a very interesting for the eye to look at. This first lines with a simple foundation to get started. I can go back in and add more and more lines to make it even more detailed and intricate. I also decide to fill in some parts to make the pattern even more beautiful to look at. This truly makes it pop off the page and the level of detail works really well here because the pattern simplicity, and I'm done. The patterns, I came up with our super fun and I like some more than others. But the point of this is to experiment and to stretch your imagination. Try this exercise and then look at what you made and pick your favorites. Now you have new patterns that you can play with in your doodles. I want you to notice that the worksheet, I filled out for my first class has different patterns and textures, but they're done in a very similar style to these. I have my own unique way of doodling patterns and textures and you'll have your own unique way as well. But to find it you'll have to try and doodling in as many different ways as you can and whatever you like the most and stick to, will be your style. But don't worry about it, it will evolve naturally with time. Now let's see another doodle example.
9. Doodle!: Okay, so let's put together words, characters, patterns, and textures to make a fun doodle. For this illustration, I sketched out a simple plan of the layout before starting.This is optional, but can be great for designing a balanced composition.We have the word doodle and we have one character which is the star, and the rest will be just random and fun textures, patterns and doodle mayhem. I start inking with my thicker pigment graphic size one pen. Notice how doodely the word doodle is because of all its imperfections, size variations, and overlapping parts. I also outline the main parts of the composition which is just a star in random shapes. I didn't follow the sketch in making these because it's my way of doodling but if you'd like to know where everything is exactly before you start, you can spend more time on your sketch and follow it exactly, but starting out with abstract shapes like this is a great way to start your doodle because it helps you to start somewhere. I now have an area to fill in with fun textures and patterns, which gives me some guidance and remedies the blank page paralysis dilemma. I add a little stars and circles around the piece as well for some interests and now I can go in and start adding detail with my finer zero three micron pen. First, I make the words look more three D by making a line come out of every right side and then shading it with basic hatching or aligned pattern, as you can see, I really love doing this. Then I start filling in the rest of the composition with fun textures and patterns, starting broad and then going back in to add more detail is how I generally like to doodle while like everything else, this isn't a rule and just know that you can always add more detail at a later time. When the pattern approaches the exclamation mark, I don't want them to blend into each other, so I stop drawing the pattern when it gets too close, which solves a problem easily and makes a beautiful white outline. This is a good example of how doodling helps you build your problem-solving skills in your art. I go back to my thicker size one pen and start filling in some areas to make the contrast bigger. Now, I go back with my finer micron pen and add even more detail in the piece. This heart pattern is super easy, but it's also cute. I outline some of the stars as well and add even more of them. Then I go back in with my thicker pen again and fill in even more parts of the composition and then back to my finer pen for the last details. As you can see, I don't have a specific order how to do things it's just whatever I feel like doing at any moment.That's the fun in doodling. Now, the piece is done but notice how I left empty space around the word doodle which makes the word pop and adds a nice contrast the visual noise on the right side, but the star pops there because it's surrounded by patterns and it's mostly empty space. It's of bringing effect in the layout, but in the end it doesn't really matter what your doodle looks like. We don't doodle for results, we doodle because it's fun and a great way to practice drawing and refining your skills. Notice that all the little details like overlapping lines, and half circles, all these details that I drew made me practice drawing. Every time you draw whether it's a doodle or a finished artwork, you are developing your skills and doodling is a great way to overcome artist's block and get some practice time and it may be even an idea for a future piece of art. Now let's talk about using references in our doodles.
10. Using Refrences: You can always use references to jump-start your doodles. There are no rules stating otherwise. In fact, using references is a great way to build your visual vocabulary for future doodles and drawings. It is also a great way to build your overall drawing and observation skills. It doesn't have to be super detailed or accurate, either. In this example, I went on and Pinterest and looked at tea cups. If one caught my eye, I would quickly sketch it out on my own style and I kept doing so until the page is full. Notice how fun and playful they are and I added steam to make them more interesting. I did use a pencil this time, so it was a different way to doodle, but I never erased anything and doodled quickly, so still got that doodle vibe. You can also pick out certain photos to be your references and then make a piece inspired from that. Here I picked out all of these different plant images and I can easily make them into a fun cohesive doodle. When doodling without a plan or layout sketch, I don't know where the doodle will take me and that's the fun in it. I started with a simple doodle of our first plant. I am not copying what I see exactly, just doodling it in my own way. Notice how I use a thicker pen for the outline and a thinner one for the details. For this one I changed the leaf shapes from spiky to rounded. You can see a huge contrast with the usage of thin and thick lines here. The thin lines using the sand and the fun pattern really clash with the thick outlines for a beautiful doodle effect. This is why it is fun to use different size micron pens. Also notice how loose and playful my pattern is. Patterns do not have to be perfect, we are just doodling. A fun way to make your doodles more interesting is to play with scale, I decided the next will be very big. I changed how the center looks to make it more interesting and I drawn a zigzag pattern that can fill in. This is also a good opportunity to add texture to my plant because it's so big. I use random squiggly lines to do so with my thin pen and I do not put it in every leaf for more contrast. Then I outline the whole plant and the pod to make the sticker effect. We will come back to this plant to add more detail in the pot. This one is fun because it's very different from all the cacti I drew so far. I loosely doodle on the leaves and notice the scale again. I am also trying to balance composition by putting something big in the opposite corners. I use a thin pen to add little stems within the leaves, and scribble randomly around them for a fun texture that makes leaves pop and feels like dirt. I continue filling in the page and want you guys to know that you can and should play around with your references. The more you draw a certain object, the more you understand it and can do it your way. Here, I added a second cactus and a flower on top. Little changes like this can make a big difference and make it your own. I am keeping with the loose nature of the patterns and textures clashing with a thick and smooth lines, but making a fun pattern within. Notice that the piece feels cohesive so far because everything is done in a similar style. I admire leaves that mimic the leaves from the top left corner because I drew them from a reference, I added them to my visual vocabulary. Now I can do them in my own way without thinking about them or needing a reference. This also helps to balance the piece because now we have more than one area with leaves. I add more detail to the little stem from this plant and little cacti all around. Now I take this scorch reference and I am going to incorporate it in the background. I don't want it to be too busy, I make it very loose and leave a lot of white space and very little detail. It is more like I incorporate the pattern from the reference into the piece instead of copying what I exactly see. This doesn't feel done, but I don't feel like finishing it and I don't have to. You can always jump around the piece when you doodle. I go back in with a thin pen and add some doodling zigzags in the pot, then go back with my brush pen and fill in areas for a strong contrast and play with negative and positive space. Once it feels balanced, I take my thin pen and go round the piece adding simple line patterns in random parts of the background until the piece feels complete. The final result is definitely interesting to look at and has as a more refined feel to the most doodles because we did use references. It has a touch of realism that gives it a special edge, but still a duly feel and contrast between scribbles and loose patterns throughout the piece work well with the semi realism. The moral of this doodle is not to be afraid to use references when you doodle. You can make very interesting pieces and it will level up your drawing and observation skills in the process. Now let us take it up a notch with live references.
11. Using LIVE Refrences: In my previous botanical doodling class, there was a lesson in which I used flowers to help me doodle a lot of more realistic composition. Using an object in real life when you doodle will greatly increase your observational and drawing skills and is more preferred than using images found online because you can study the object in 3D and capture more detail. To show you how I would go about doing something like this I went outside and picked a bunch of random leaves. But you don't have to do this with plants. You can do with anything from pens, fruits to action figures, whatever interests you. I just personally really like plants. I do one leaf at a time and start by drawing the outline loosely with the brush pen for a thicker stroke and then I go in with the micron pen to add more detail of the veins and the leaves. This gives it a beautiful contrast. If I was relying on a photo reference, it would have been hard to see the little details like the veins and I wouldn't be able to rotate and move around the leaves to my liking. To make this style more fun I'll outline the whole piece loosely a couple of times with my micron pen. To give it a fun and sketchy feel and now that I picked this style to do the the leaves in, I continue doing this with all the leaves that I got and slowly fill in the empty space of the page. Notice how I don't always close all the lines or let all the stems touch and I don't put the details into every leaf. These little touches also add interest to the piece and make it feel incomplete in a good way. Another thing to keep in mind is that I'm not using a pencil beforehand. We were just doodling on the go, which I think makes for a shortcut in improving your drawing skills and adds a fun-filled because in perfect proportions in doodles are really fun. Just go with the flow and if you make a mistake, don't panic. Remember the tip about outlining more or using black to fill in the area and just know that doodles don't have to be perfect. But once I'm done doodling all the leaves, I can use fine patterns to fill in the empty space and balance the composition. I pick the overlapping lines pattern and put it around the composition and I also use simple circle pattern. Notice that I start with big circles and it gets to smaller ones and then ends in dots. This makes a nice subtle gradient and is a way to shade as well. The piece looks good so far. But to give it that extra pop, I'm going to fill in some areas completely black. Doing this not only makes your piece more beautiful because they increase contrast, but it also builds your skill and good design. Having to pick where to fill in and where to leave blank is something I do subconsciously. But if you have to think about it, it's not a bad thing. It just means you're learning this skill and it will benefit you in all the art and design projects that you will do from now on, you are improving your eye for balance and the piece is finished. I think it's fun and dynamic and all the elements play well together. From the patterns, the fun outlines and the thinner strokes within, to the empty space in the fully black areas. Notice how the whole composition is harmonious because I use the same techniques throughout, this isn't a rule, but if you're making a piece you want to frame, keep this in mind as you work on it. Having a certain style or way of doodling throughout the piece will keep it harmonious. It just means you use the same techniques over and over. But like all rules in doodling, this can easily be broken and bent to your will. It's really a personal preference. Now, let's get creative.
12. Outside the Box: Before you start doodling, I want to get your creative juices flowing with some fun ideas. An easy way to make your doodles more interesting is to plan the layout beforehand. Tiny sketches of what you will do are called thumbnail sketches. I made a super short class on the subject if you want to learn more. But it's essentially a tiny plan of what you'll make. Here are some ideas. You can use a pencil to sketch out a silhouette of something and then doodle around it and erase your pencil marks afterwards, or you could do the opposite and only do that within the silhouette. You could designate an area for doodles and leave the rest of the page blank except for small details. Or you could doodle within an outline of a drawing or a symbol. Or doodle within a certain part in the illustration, like I did here with only doodling inside the hair of the girl. But the rest is illustrated normally with watercolors. I think mixing doodles with water colors like this makes a super magical effect. Like here I just put a light wash over my doodle. You can do this with any doodle, just be sure that your paper is watercolor paper if you do this and that your ink is waterproof. Or you could even just make a doodle border around your favorite quote. The possibilities of layouts are really endless. Just get creative. There are no wrong answers in so much creative opportunity. The other thing you could play with is supplies. I've already briefly touched on this, but don't be limited in the media you use. For example, I really love watercolors and I can doodle just with watercolors. Most call this abstract painting and it is abstract painting, but it is also doodling. Because I'm just doing it for the fun of it and I'm just using abstract shapes and seeing where my hand takes me. Using markers can really be fun to doodle with as well because of the fun colors they make when they overlap and just the feel of markers. Keep in mind that every doodle is your own unique coloring page. Coloring a doodle with watercolor pencils or markers can be super fun. Just make sure the ink is waterproof and your doodle was done on watercolor paper if you're using watercolor, or thick enough paper if you're just using normal pencils or markers. My point is to get creative and maybe even incorporate your doodles in your finished artwork. This is something I love to do and invite you to do the same. It adds a special magical touch to your work. Whatever you do, think outside the box and do it in your own way. You make up the rules and that is the true magic of doodling. Now let's find some inspiration and start your final project.
13. Finding Inspiration : Getting inspired is hard and you have no control, right? Well, no, it's actually really easy. I get inspired every time I see a beautiful work of art. I don't copy the work of art but I get really inspired by seeing something beautiful and sometimes a certain technique or the way the artist used composition will be my next great idea. Art inspires art and the internet is chock-full of gorgeous work. You can use whatever platform you like for finding inspiration but I prefer Pinterest. I put together this Pinterest board to help you get inspired but this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are infinite ways and styles to doodling and you have your own unique doodle voice but don't worry so much about finding it. With constant doodling, it will naturally emerge. In the meantime, it helps to pick a favorite artist or think about what kind of work you like. Usually, they hint at your style. The great thing about Pinterest, which is free by the way, is that you can open one post and then scroll down for more similar images and continue doing this infinitely. It's great for gathering inspiration. I encourage you to make an account, collect art you like to boards, but you can find inspiration anywhere, from YouTube to Google images. Once you get inspired a sit down and make a doodle. You can use a technique you learned from this class or you can just wing it, which is how most doodles are done anyway. It doesn't matter. Doodling just has to be fun. The more you doodle, the easier it will be to draw something, instead of getting artist block. Your assignment is to share at least one doodle with the class. It can be done in any way you want. Get creative with it or just do the old school ballpoint pen and notebook paper technique. It doesn't matter. I can't wait to see what you guys make, but there is no pressure. Your doodles can be private in your sketch book if you don't feel like sharing. There are a personal thing and if you think of them like this, you won't be afraid to make ugly doodles. That is very important because that can kill the doodle spirit. So just doodle and share what you make if you want to, but you don't have to. The benefit is for you alone. It's also just about the fun anyways. That's it for the class. Congratulations on finishing. I hope you enjoyed it. If you're not too shy to share your work, I can't wait to see what you make. If you're interested in continuing on your learning journey, check out my numerous other classes on various topics from pen and ink illustration to watercolor painting and even botanical doodling. If you have any questions, leave them in the commenting section below. I'll see you guys in the next class. Happy doodling.
Yasmina Creates, Artist & Creativity Cheerleader
