A sketchy day today.....

Bit of a sketchy day today.... One of those days when ideas kept coming, so just had to get them down on paper. I like these, so if I ever get the time these will turn into paintings.....


A bashful ballerina.....

....And peace and icecream!

Time for some new doodles!

A few of the drawings I have scribbled in the last few months. As you can see most are even on lined notepad paper, proving that sometimes you just have to use whatever is near at hand when an idea hits you.....

A Childhood Treasure

"My Treasured Green Plastic Tiki"

graphite on paper (a4)

I love how doodling can bring back childhood memories..... this one started off as a doodle of a tiki charm, which reminded me that when I was a child I had bought and treasured a green plastic tiki necklace at the local stationery shop. So then it turned it to a doodle of me brandishing this treasure having just purchased it. From there it turned in to this drawing....

Mary & Her Lamb

I am often inspired by childhood nursery rhymes - can you ever guess which nursery rhyme this could possibly refer to??? No, it's not "Little Bo-Peep"! "Mary had a Little Lamb" was one that always stuck in my mind, I always thought it would be fun to have a sheep that followed me to school :). I tried to get the cat to do it a few times, but he usually chickened out not far from the gate.

Some thoughts about doodling: from http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/tipsandideas/a/doodle_2.htm

Can doodles be interpreted like handwriting or dreams? Doodles can certainly reveal something of a person’s mental state, but it should be noted that no graphologist or psychologist would use them as the sole indicator. A single isolated doodle would also have limited value. Looking at a collection of various doodles would offer the most helpful insight, especially when coupled with other information, such as handwriting analysis, dream interpretation and psychological assessment.
It must also be considered whether the inspiration for a doodle is internal or external. Is the artist expressing concern with a current situation or experience (a person causing difficulties, something on TV, or a movie they have seen) or is it a reflection of an internal state (their personality, an emotional state or conflict)?
http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/tipsandideas/a/doodle_2.htm

Hmmm, so, get out your pencils and see what doodles your brain can come up with. Maybe you want to record a dream, or get something that's been annoying you off your chest, or maybe you just want to express some random thoughts visually. I say try it and see where it takes you....

The Night They Stole the Alphabet

pencil on paper

approx 28cm x 20cm

Another childhood memory, one of my favourite past-times was lounging in a comfy chair and reading a good book. The book I loved the most as a child was "The Night They Stole the Alphabet" by Sesyle Joslin. I got this book out of the school library so often I doubt if anyone else at my school got the chance to read it!

All You Need is Love.....

pencil on paper, approx 20cm x 30cm

This is one of our cat's caught in a moment of tender loving care, hugging my son's toy puppy. Well, OK, maybe it was a setup, and the puppy was just possibly placed there while the cat was sleeping, I can't possibly comment :)!

This drawing was created using a very basic homemade lightbox, which consists of a cardboard box, a hand held lamp, and a glass chopping board. I took a photo of the cat, printed it on ordinary printer paper in black and white. This was then taped to the glass chopping board, and my drawing paper was secured over the top with bulldog clips and rubber bands. Then I placed the glass over the cardboard box, which contained the lamp, turned on the light, and hey presto, I could trace around the main form in the image, and identify the light and dark areas I would need to record. I only did minimal tracing, just to get the basic form. From there it was a case of referring to the photo, and adding my own "artistic licence" here and there to complete the final image. All in all, this drawing took me around 10 hours to complete.

Cup of Tea @ Grandma's...

OK, so this is my first post to my brand new "doodleography" blog, which is dedicated to the art and practise of doodling. For me doodling often leads to the process of a finished pencil drawing, such as the case here. But just as often, doodles remain doodles, a way of getting an idea out of my head and down on paper, perhaps to be referenced at some later date for a more in-depth artwork. Or just as often, a doodle is a bit like a day dream, a distraction from whatever work I should be doing, my way of have little "micro-breaks" during the work day.

This particular piece was motivated by a memory of visits to my grandma's house, where an extremely strong cup of tea would be served up - so strong it required at least 3 teaspoons of sugar to make it drinkable! Like most of my drawings this started off as a doodle during a particularly unsatisfactory day at work and eventually developed into what you see here.

Prints and cards of "Cup of Tea @ Grandma's" are available @ http://lynzart.redbubble.com/works