Book Review: Craft-A-Doodle

 

I admit it. I am obsessed with this book, Craft-a-Doodle by Jenny Doh! I carry it around the house with me or to the park so I can refer to it while the kids are playing. It has 75 creative exercises from 18 wonderful artists. I am not a doodler. I'm sure I did it when I was in grade school but I don't do it now. I actually find it kind of hard. I want my doodles to look like other artists' elaborate doodles. Well, that's not what doodling is about. You're not supposed to think. You're not supposed to compare. You just play. So, I've been playing like crazy with this book! I can draw and not necessarily be pretty and when I least expect it, I find treasures I can use and expand on in my art.

Here I attempted Cori Dantini's " Recipe for a Face". I can't draw like Cori but it was fun trying!

I loved doing some of Flora Chang's exercises.

 

One of my Fave's Carla Sonheim has exercises too!

Then I was inspired to create my own. I put random watercolor blobs on a page and drew what I thought they could be. Some failed and some were super cute.

I can't recommend this book enough. There are tons of exercises so, you can find the ones that speak to you and give them a go. It helps me get unstuck. No more "what am I going to draw?" and it gets you to play. I am very guilty of feeling "this has to be an amazing piece of art that I can sell" when I sit to create. I sometimes think playing is a waste of time. It's not. Every mark you make feeds into your art and teaches you something. All that matters is the act of creating. This book helps you create!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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