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Doodling...

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Doodling...

I was reading over a past post about drawing in public, and it seems most people at least make an effort to draw in public at some time. I, however, have never been a doodler. At school they highly suggest drawing all the time, and I do, I just never doodle people going around town doing daily activities. Usually my doodles are just really, REALLY rough scribbles about ideas I may flesh out.

Am I doing myself a disfavor by just not being interested in doodling from life? If I am, are there any suggestions one can give me to actually make me interested in doodling from life? I enjoy life drawing classes where you have a time with a model to just draw, I just don't enjoy lugging around a sketchbook on the off chance that I may be inspired.

-moot

I was reading over a past post about drawing in public, and it seems most people at least make an effort to draw in public at some time. I, however, have never been a doodler. At school they highly suggest drawing all the time, and I do, I just never doodle people going around town doing daily activities. Usually my doodles are just really, REALLY rough scribbles about ideas I may flesh out.

One of the great guiding principles in all this is "there are no rights or wrongs here, only discoveries".
In other words, if you are doing something s certain way and its giving you results you like, don't stop.

Am I doing myself a disfavor by just not being interested in doodling from life? If I am, are there any suggestions one can give me to actually make me interested in doodling from life? I enjoy life drawing classes where you have a time with a model to just draw, I just don't enjoy lugging around a sketchbook on the off chance that I may be inspired.

-moot

Wanna get interested in doodling from life?

Make sure you are BOTH naked. Genuine interest will follow from there......

Failing that, imagine you are both naked, or pick subjects relevant to solving a current drawing problem. The other alternative is to carry a digital camera around for a while.
This was an idea thrown at me years ago when i was super-keen about doing comics. The adviors suggested that you take a camera into the downtown core on a quiet Sunday afternoon and just walk around snapping pics of alleyways and such. Pay attention to the details that you'd find, like utility poles and such.
This so proper city environs could be drawn later from the phot refs.

Now, you can do this at a park, or just about anywhere else. The idea is to create a "mental jog" of visual reference for later use.

Now, the discipline for doing this will simply have to come from your level of passion with the craft. The folks that are tops in the field invariably choose to suck more "juice" out of the craft than the next guy. Its part ( a big part) of why they are so good--their passion is nigh-boundless.

Ultimately, it all depends upon what your goals with drawing are. If you want to improve--drawing more and specific things wil lead to improvment. If you want to dabble, you'll get a degree of emotional satisfaction for a time, but that is about all.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

Make sure you are BOTH naked. Genuine interest will follow from there......

I am sensing a naked pattern to your posts. :D

Doodling is some I need to start now.

The thing about doodling is you can do it on anything with anything. You don't have to carry a big sketchbook and special pencils. Napkins, check stubs, ballpoints they all work well.

And the whole idea is that they are rough, quick work. You capture the moment, a movement, and like you say you can finesse them later on. But the thing is you captured the original feel.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

I am sensing a naked pattern to your posts. :D

Doodling is some I need to start now.

Well, I like to take my thoughts and brazenly strip them bare in all their birthday-suited glory.
It helps to flesh out the ideas in the topic before I hold them tight to my bosom.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

2 things I get from doodling in public - unique details and action.

Sometimes I just want to draw a lot of different noses or facial profiles. Trains, buses and classrooms are great for this. Sometimes I'll do poses, dresses, leg position, how people sit. Drawing in public is the only way to get a large number of live models. It also helps pass the 45 minute train ride.

Action is difficult but it gets you working fast. The pool or beach is a great place to see the body working outside of a studio.

One recommendation I'd make is to try different media. I find I work one way with pens and markers, another with a brush type paint marker and another with conte crayon or charcoal. I definitely work more detailed with pens which means more time. I work faster with a broader tip. Mix it up.

A nice way to study the body without being "out there" is to go to a museum and draw sculpture 'in the round". Draw your way around 360 degrees.

Hey thanks for the advice guys.

Yeah, I figured doodling is not everyone's cup of tea. In fact, I recently attended a Chris Sanders lecture, and he says that he never draws unless he has to. So I guess you can be good, but not compulsive.

I doodle a bit if I'm trying to figure out a specific key pose or something, and then design ideas, but that's about it. Oh, and then the weekly life drawing opportunity. But I think that's really enough for me.

-moot

I recently attended a Chris Sanders lecture, and he says that he never draws unless he has to.

I wonder if he was always like that.

I wonder if he was always like that.

When I was younger I couldn't stop my self...my hand just did it. Now I don't do it as much, but I notice in times of stress, it's still something I do. It helps me cope with life. It does seem to be part of who I am.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

I wonder if he was always like that.

I've been like that for well over a decade now....

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

I've been like that for well over a decade now....

A decade is only ten years, who were you before then?

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

Hold on, that's not what I meant at all! Of course, you can do as

you like, but I was talking about doodling, not drawing! From my point of view, drawing is the basis of all art. Not everybody agrees with me, of course. I think it's very important to draw --- that can be doodling, but it doesn't have to be.

I don't usually carry a sketchbook around with me. I take one with me when I go somewhere specifically to draw. Sometimes I wish I had a sketchpad with me, but I've often carried one everywhere and seldom used it. In recent years, I've mostly drawn at home.I find that looking at things attentively is more useful to me than quick sketches. It is not nearly as good as drawing, though. It depends what you're trying to do. If you understand a thing, you can reproduce it in a drawing even if you don't have it in front of you.

Think of complicated objects like a sailing ship or a locomotive. Understanding what one draws is what a real illustrator has to do. For subjects like these, that means real work and study. A lifetime isn't enough. It's not a matter of smearing paint on canvas and calling oneself an "Artist", or producing results that are "good enough", or getting a good grade, or meeting a deadline. Not that meeting a deadline isn't important, it is. It's just not what I'm talking about here.

You don't have to carry a sketchpad with you. Or try to capture the moment. Looking at things attentively is the most important thing of all.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

A decade is only ten years, who were you before then?

A confused greenhorn it seems.

Once I started earning a living drawing, the drawing ceased to be "fun".
It became work.

And the idea of "working" all the time just isn't appealing as there's so many other things I prefer to do than work.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)