The Magic of Doodling: An Artistic Shorthand for Expression

Middle Earth Doodle by Jonathan Myers. All Rights Reserved

Doodling is one of my favorite past times. I was the kid who got in trouble for scribbling characters in the margins of my notebook in class, instead of paying attention. I have a kind of addiction to doodling and I honestly don't think it can be treated; nor do I want any help overcoming this need to scratch pictures on paper placemats in restaurants, on scrap paper at the doctor's office or in the corners of my bill stubs. For me doodling is like breathing and it has always allowed me to express my thoughts, feelings, dreams and ideas. I love doodling and I hope you'll learn to love it to.
Doodling is an art unto itself, where there is no such thing as criticism or rules. The purpose is always about noodling shapes into thoughts, until they form a coherent picture. They are a sort of linguistic shorthand for me, through which I can communicate with all kinds of human beings universally; despite language barriers, culture, politics, race, creed, faith and in many cases handicaps or illness. Doodles bring me joy and infect those who view them with child-like smiles. I started doodling as a child as a sort of therapy. I spent my early childhood bouncing through foster care and had a particularly gentle and insightful foster father named Michael Mutter who realized I was struggling emotionally with expressing what I was feeling inside. He gave me a stack of paper and introduced me to doodling. It was such a relief to get my inner fears and monsters out on paper and work out my personal troubles through scribbled lines, devoid of consequences or being judged. Later I was blessed to be adopted by two of the most loving parents a kid could ask for. They acknowledged that I had a real knack for doodling things and they actively encouraged it and guided me to pursue it as a life path. Of course the doodles got better and they evolved into sketches, then drawings and even paintings. However, doodling in its purist form is still my favorite art form and my preferred method of communicating what I think and how I feel. When I doodle I start with loose shapes and through those shapes I begin to see characters coming to life through the soft geometric lines. Those lines gain weight and clarity as I choose what form these characters will take and determine what features they will have. Animals, creatures, heroes, villains, objects and landscapes begin to appear as the world in my mind emerges in the two dimensional space of paper. The experience is still therapeutic to me all these years later and continues to hold me in its magic. Have you ever doodled? I encourage you to give it a chance and see how it can help you grow and learn as a human being. -Jonathan Myers, Illustrator