A few of my notebook doodles

Doodling: Attention Deficit Disorder or Surplus Reorder? (Part 1)

By Chris Dunmire, Doodlee

Are you a doodler? According to artist/teacher Bert Dodson in his book "Keys to Drawing with Imagination", most of us are. Not sure what a doodler does? A doodler draws doodles. And what’s a doodle? Wikipedia says:

"A doodle is a type of sketch, an unfocused drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes."

Pop Quiz!

In his book Dodson highlights two popular environments most conducive to doodling. Can you pick them out of this list?

a) At the movies
b) While surfing the Internet
c) On the phone
d) While eating
e) In meetings
f) While text-messaging

If you guessed “c” and “e” (on the phone and in meetings), you’re correct! And from experience, I’ll add one more: g) In the classroom.

So, are you a doodler? If so, you’re in good company!

“But, doodlers aren’t paying attention!” Some might say. “They dabble and doodle and noodle and spoodle while taking department meeting minutes!”

“And those darn kids! I spent hours on my human anatomy lecture, and what do they do? They doodle oversized Femur Patella’s and Tibial tuberosities fit for amazing dinosauric curiosities!”

(Pardon my brain for imagi-doodling Dr. Seuss into this blog!)

So, even if doodling is unconscious space-filler that allows minds to wander through inked lines and shapes during passive moments of learning and lulls in conversation, do you think it has any merit as an art form or learning tool?

Yes / No (circle one)

Continue on to part 2 of this blog for my answer or zip on over to Creativity Portal for my list of recommended doodling resources and online whiteboards (great for virtual doodling in pixel-vision!). And for an interesting self-experiment, see if you can answer the above question for yourself over the next few weeks. What does doodling do for you? •

Continue to Doodling Part 2 »

© 2010 Chris Dunmire. All rights reserved.