For February, our drawing (and media) challenge is to doodle something silly every day. Take a look at the list below. Join in anytime. All ages welcome. Check back here to see our videos and doodles! Show us your drawings on instagram, facebook, and twitter with the tag #28days28drawings and #kidcandoodle and we’ll share your doodles too. Hope you’ll doodle with us.
28 Days 28 Drawings February Doodle Challenge
Day 1 : cats in hats
I’m challenging myself to try a different medium each time — you should too! Whenever possible, I think it’s important to experiment with different materials and play with them. Try each one out, get a feel for how they work, and see which ones you enjoy using. Keep learning!
This was done using China Marker, a grease pencil often used to mark up proofs by photographers. This waxy pencil writes on plastics, windows, and other surfaces. I like their rich, crayon-like color; it’s my favorite drawing implement and what I often use to create the artwork for kidcandoodle.
Day 2 : dancing dogs
This mint + pumpkin risograph print was made at Hato Press in London. The printshop offers a 2-color risograph printing workshop that is ideal for learning how the process works. It’s very similar to silk-screening, but done with the convenience of a photo-copier machine. It was such a fun experience — I want to do it again with Little Dude.
Day 3 : party animals
Double-duty: I added the blue to coordinate with the popular weekly Colour Collective twitter art prompt, “air force blue”. This was done with Prismacolor pencils, one of the best colored pencil brands. (My family gifted me a 72-color set for my birthday this year.)
Day 4 : sloths taking selfies
Biro or Bic ballpoint pens are a drawing tool that I usually shy away from — I find them intimidating. I created these selfie-obsessed sloths using ballpoint, and then colored them in Photoshop.
Day 5 : doodling deer
This doodling deer is painted with Windsor & Newton Designers gouache, and the color palette has a vintage look to it, don’t you think? (Thanks to Carin Channing for this doodle prompt)
Day 6 : panda pillow fight
Painting pillow-fighting pandas with Windsor & Newton Drawing ink seemed very appropriate, because the ink recalls Asian calligraphy, and pandas are native to China.
Day 7 : dinosaur detectives
It’s hard to draw a dinosaur detective without making it look goofy! My Dino Sherlock was drawn with a Pentel brush pen and then colored using a mini set of Filia oil crayons, which are portable, and great for on-the-go drawing kits. I also love the vintage-look packaging.
Day 8 : penguin pirates
My son Dylan likes to draw digitally, using pixel apps such as 8bit Painter, and he’s been contributing several drawings for 28 Days 28 Drawings, like this one for penguin pirates. *proud mama*
Day 9 : rollerblading raccoons
Raccoons are just too cute to draw. This rollerblading rodent was sketched with graphite pencils. A basic set like Derwent should be included in every artist’s supplies.
Day 10 : giraffes in galoshes
Wouldn’t it be funny to see a giraffe in wellies? I thought so too! Oil pastels were used to doodle this rain-ready long-legged mammal.
Day 11 : space hogs
Uh-oh, it’s a swine in space! Drawn with stubby Stabilo Stifte crayons, a genius 3-in-1 tool that can be used as coloring pencil, watercolor, or wax crayon, too. They are nice and soft and the chunky size is fun for small hands to hold.
Day 12 : trees hugging
I wanted to make sure that not all the drawing prompts were of animals, but still include unexpected things, such as this couple of tree huggers. Created with a mix of Windsor & Newton drawing inks and colored pencils.
Day 13 : fruits in sunnies (sunglasses)
A fun medium to try is collage: it’s quick, experimental, and not too dependant on hand-eye coordination — perfect for this trio of sun-tanning tropical fruits. Also colored with China Marker pencil and Adobe Photoshop.
Day 14 : pika pool party
Pikas are such cute critters, resembling mice or hamsters. (You may not have realized that this Pokemon character was inspired by a pika.) I imagined they’d be fun-loving creatures who enjoy a good pool party. Also created using watercolor + colored pencils.
Day 15 : flying foxes
This prompt was intended to have a double meaning: flying foxes could be clever pilots or fruit-eating bats (like those found in my former home of Brisbane, Australia). Please interpret as you please. I suggest using Prismacolor pencils or gouache.
Day 16 : trucks eating tacos
I know this was a tricky one to draw, and it would be challenging to not make it look cartoony. I wanted to have a few prompts that weren’t animal subjects, and it’s a nod to my love of tacos and the many I’ve sampled from taco trucks in Austin and Brisbane, Australia, where we used to live. Drawn with China Marker pencil.
Day 17 : reading rockets
If rockets had a book club, what do you think they’d read? My bet is on science-fiction. This was another quick sketch using my go-to drawing implement: China Marker grease pencils.
Day 18 : aliens skiing
Aliens aren’t very good at skiing. Especially when they have three legs! These creatures are cut-up from magazines — a super resource for collage. Art recycling is re-creating AND re-using. Also doodled with Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens, another artist’s necessity.
Day 19 : flower painting
I purposefully left this prompt open to creative interpretation. I thought of Van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers painting, as well as the act of painting flowers too. Flowers are a lovely source of inspiration for artists — beginner or advanced, alike — it’s no wonder they continue to be a popular subject. Created with Pentel brush pen and Faber-Castell pastel pencils. Pastel pencils are more blend-able than regular colored pencils, but they also smudge easily, so take care when using them.
Day 20 : skateboarding pigeon
Day 21 : surfing banana
Day 22 : squirrels wearing scarves
Day 23 : singing sea lions
Drawing with white and colored chalk pastel on black or dark paper is a terrific artist’s exercise to focus on lighting; it requires you to look at and draw only shadows and highlights. I cheated a bit here because I added the outline (I was being impatient), but ideally, you would try to fill out the figure by ONLY drawing the highlights, mid-tones or shadows. If the paper is dark, such as in this example, you would draw only the highlights and mid-tones, and leave the paper to be the shadows.
Day 24 : hula-hooping hippo
I animated Harriet the hula-hooping hippo, by making a simple gif in Photoshop.
Day 25 : sock superheroes
Introducing: Super Sock, a mini comic for you!
Day 26 : gorilla wearing glasses
Day 27 : cactus eating cookies
Day 28 : octopus enjoying ice cream
