materials and methods

I'm using small notebooks to doodle in, roughly between 2.5x3'' and 3x4.5''.

Most doodles are at first sketched out in pencil, then I'm tracing them with any black pen that has a fine enough tip. I also add more detail at that stage. I don't prefer any particular brand, but also don't buy the cheapest the stationery shop has in store. A comparatively fat black felt pen is also used in many doodles. I don't use an eraser.

The typical setup, only I included two notebooks in the drawing, because I wanted to show my smallest as well as a more normal sized one:


Yes, my current pencil at that date was one from the famous Swedish furniture store. I changed the 'K' into a 'D'. Gone all stealthy, here.

Sometimes I'll also use colored pencils or felt pens to accentuate something.


A lot of my doodling is done while I'm waiting for the offspring. Sports, schools' mandatory swimming lessons, flute lessons. If there is enough time for taking a short walk, I will do so, but if there are only a couple of minutes to pass, I'll pull out my notebook and doodle away. I take the notebook on the short walks, of course, so when the opportunity arises, I can quickly do a sketch of anything that presents itself. While I'm out and about, the pencil and pens are tucked under the elastic that's attached to the notebook.


When there are larger bits of spare time, I'll occasionally draw or paint for longer periods of time and on larger paper sizes, or on materials other than standard paper. That is where the Sunday specials come from.

When scanning the doodles, I have to put a white sheet of paper behind the currently scanned doodle, otherwise the doodle on the next page is visible. This is very obvious in the first doodles I put up here. Occasionally I used digital editing to wipe out the shadow image that was made visible via scanning.

I'm writing dates on most of my doodles, some, however, are without a date because I stopped working on them without ever considering them 'finished'.

I also write the name of the place where I finished the doodle on them, but use digital editing to remove it after scanning, because I don't want to give away my favorite spots on the planet.

I have the intention of putting up all my notebook doodles here, even the ones I consider ugly. My OCD tendencies make me want to have it all together in one place. Some doodles are really, really, really ugly, I think, and I am still on the fence about putting them up or not. I guess I'll pass that bridge when I reach it.

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