Blog Nine – The Daily Doodle
I trust you all had fun last week? The snow has now gone, down here in the south but…the sun is shining. This is such a treat.
I thought I would offer you an arty exercise which can be done at any time and is a great way to warm up. It allows one to draw freely without any purpose except making a lot of scribbles or marks on the paper. It aims to give your mind a rest and enter into the realm of spontaneity.
Begin by sitting, either at a table or on the floor (wherever you feel most comfortable and inspired). Feel your body sink into the chair or the floor. Take a few deep breaths and you may wish to make a noise on the out breath to really let out any tension. Remind yourself gently that this is your special time to be creative and all you wish to express is welcome.
Preferably sit with your eyes closed (but open is ok if this feels more comfortable) and for about 30 seconds let a pen, pencil or crayon wander aimlessly over the page, or ‘take a line for a walk’ (as the well known artists Paul Klee once said). Just make spontaneous marks, lines, scribbles, doodles.
Open your eyes and see if you can find an image or pattern amongst the scribbles. Sometimes a figure, an animal or a particular shape jumps out at you (don’t worry if it doesn’t though). Just have a go and see what happens. You can try it several times.
Then, if you wish, develop it further by colouring it in or however you feel and sometimes you will be astonished at the result.
It is a chance for you to express your feelings and emotions without censoring the outcome in a fast, impulsive way.
Finally sit back and ponder on your image. Does anything come to mind? Does the image have a particular ‘feeling’ or ‘theme’? Explore any possibilities. It may also have just been a fun warm up exercise.
Have a great week….see you next Monday.
Warm wishes,
Alex xx
This is a version of the Doodle. I made marks and then picked out shapes that looked like figures to me and made them darker. <3
