Chips on a Sandwich | no. 20 | OODLES OF DOODLES
Scrawl, scribble, jot, scratch
DOODLERS BRAIN: Do you doodle? Are the margins of your notebooks filled with flowers or figures or thousands of crisscrossed lines? It's a misconception that doodling means you're distracted-- quite the opposite-- a doodling brain is mind that's trying to stay connected and problem solve. People with very analytical jobs are more likely to doodle-- many US presidents did:
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) dropped the ball on the Great Depression but his engineering background made for some very cool doodles:
And here is this weird thing LBJ (1963-1969) scribbled on White House stationary:
PRICELESS DOODLES: Ten years ago artist Yoshitomo Nara took a felt-tipped pen and adorned the walls of his East Village hangout-- a bar called Niagara-- with whimsical doodles. To gain some perspective on Nara's work, last year he sold a painting for $24.9 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong. Needless to say, his spontaneous and whimsical bar drawings are more than just doodles and are now priceless (and behind plexiglass for protection).
AN A-Z OF FAMOUS DOODLES: David Schulson was a collector of doodles among other things. He ran and owned an autograph business on Manhattan's Upper East Side and stashed away hundreds of doodles penned by some of the most iconic cultural and political figures of the 20th century (Claude Monet, Mark Twain, Queen Victoria). His wife and children have compiled his collection into the book Scrawl: A-Z of Famous Doodles (Rizzoli). His son says this about the book:
“The illustrations in this book are an intimate window into the playful, whimsical, almost childlike side of the artists, writers, scientists, and politicians who shaped the world and culture we live in.”
MIXED MEDIA DOODLES: I came across Desirée De León's post and it made me so happy. She takes small everyday objects and turns them into mini pieces of art. Her works take doodles to a whole new level. Scroll through all 100 because they're delightful. This was one of my favorites:
POLL: Do you doodle? (Cupcake and muffin tied from last week's poll.)