Show & Tell

Pen & Post-It Doodle Show

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Pen & Post-It Doodle Show

 

Pen & Post-It Doodle Show is a tribute to my son’s favorite thing to draw on. The ubiquitous mini yellow notepads, accidentally invented by 3M with a low-tack adhesive strip, are a popular paper choice for doodlers. For years, I would collect little booklets my son had made, like these doodling manuals . . .

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How to Draw Cool Stuff by Little Dude

 

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Drawing doodle back cover booklet

A book for Drawing and Drawing only!

 

The idea to feature the famous sticky note in a doodle show came when I discovered artists sharing their doodles on @drawonapostit on twitter. I even asked the owner — Ben Law Smith — if he’d co-host a doodle show with us, and he agreed.

Post-It Notes are perfect for doodles because they are small (less scary to fill a big blank page), are relatively cheap, and found in stationers and supermarkets. They take to media a bit better than napkins, which can be too absorbent for markers or soft for pencils.

Just because they are inexpensive doesn’t mean that every Post-It doodle is a “throwaway.” Proof that they are an underrated canvas can be seen at the annual Post-It Show at Giant Robot’s GR2 gallery in Los Angeles. Hundreds of artists around the world contribute to the popular show where fine art can be had for $25 per Post-It.

This year many of our entries came through social media, on instagram and twitter. We want to thank everyone who participated and played along. Cheers to our online doodle community!

 

Happy Doodling in 2018! Cheers from Kid Can Doodle!

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Doodle Bomb Show

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Doodle Bomb Show

 

Our Doodle Bomb Show was for those of us who can’t resist “doodle bombing” — doodling mustaches on faces, or scribbling on photos in magazines or newspapers.

This show was inspired in part by these great doodles by Ana Strumpf:

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And THANKS to this tumblr blog for the name.

Claudi Kessels, a Kid Can Doodle friend, also continues to inspire us with her doodles on photos that become whimsical works of art. And we found lots of artists doodle-bombing on Snapchat too; the app allows you to doodle on photos, just like on your phone images. (We can’t resist doodle-bombing our photos).

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Congratulations to Violet, age 8, who won all these doodle books!

 

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Cheers to everyone who submitted doodle bombs! We enjoyed seeing them all! Our youngest doodler was Teaghan (4) and most experienced was Paul (12). It’s funny that sharks showed up in couple of doodles, and kudos to those who added some color (Carley, Dylan, Masha) to yours. We love that many of you enjoyed it so much that you shared more than one doodle bomb!

 

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Foster Pride Art Show

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This art show is our most special yet! We’re featuring art produced by the kids of Foster Pride, a New York charity that provides art programs, scholarships and mentoring to kids and teens in foster care.

Did you know that 50% of foster children don’t graduate from high school? And statistically, as many as 7 out of 10 of them end up homeless. Lynn Schnurnberger founded Foster Pride to teach these kids skills, give them confidence and create opportunities for them, so that hopefully their odds of succeeding will improve.

I love that art and creativity can help make a positive difference in these kids’ lives.

 

When I lived in New York, I had the privilege of helping to facilitate a few of the “Creative Connections” art workshops conducted during parent-child visits. During one of the classes, a couple of siblings treated us to a dance performance that their mom had choreographed. It was so much fun to see, and lovely to think of the mom dancing with her kids. I still think of them.

Each year, Foster Pride holds a “Show ON!” exhibition of the children’s works. The shows are a big deal for the kids — they get to experience seeing their work framed and shown at places such as the plaza at Lincoln Center or the concourse at Rockefeller Center.

Here’s a collaborative collage created by the children for the prestigious Lever House Gallery.

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Below are details from a Bronx mural was painted by middle school and high school students on one of the walls at GSS Burnside, a foster care agency.

We’re so pleased to share a selection of the children’s work from Foster Pride.

 

Foster Pride’s upcoming benefit is at New York’s Standard Hotel on September 29, 2015. If you’re interested in attending, donating, or would like more details about their programs, check out their website. Thanks to Lynn Schnurnberger and the kids at Foster Pride for sharing their work with Kid Can Doodle.

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Feature with a Creature Show

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Our latest kids’ drawing show, Feature with a Creature, had a goofy premise: drawing animals in everyday human situations. Picture a giraffe going potty or an octopus brushing his teeth! We even created a doodle game especially for this Show & Tell to help you come up with silly scenarios.

With each show, there’s a balance between suggesting a theme, and not being too restrictive. We had an underwhelming amount of submissions for this one, so I wonder if it was a bit high-concept for some. On the flip side, I was able to share one of Gemma Correll’s Doodling Books (THANKS Walter Foster Publishing) with each household of participating artists.

Thanks again to all of our contributing artists! We really love seeing your work.

 

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Doodle Your Dad

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This doodle show was inspired by a blog post I had seen of daddy drawings. I thought it would be fun to do the same, so we asked you to doodle your Dad for Father’s Day, and you delivered these wonderful drawings. Thanks to all the doodlers who shared their Dads with us.

 

 

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Jr Art Critic Retrospective Show

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When a friend told me about the “Jr Art Critic,” I knew we had to do a feature about her. Siri Jackson may be only 7, but she’s passionate about art and has been drawing and making for several years. Her mother, Anika, often took her to art exhibitions and gallery shows, and because Siri wasn’t shy about sharing her opinions on art, Tammy Dowe, owner of Esperson Art Gallery, dubbed her the gallery’s Jr Art Critic.

We asked the Jr Art Critic for her take on a few famous contemporary works:

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On Monkeys (Chair) © Jeff Koons, 2003:

“I like monkey art, this sculpture is joyful and funny. It makes me happy.
I would like to have it in my bedroom.”

 

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Regarding Such Cute Flowers by Takashi Murakami, 2010:

“This is so flowery, happy, and colorful. But it looks like the flowers are squished together. It is crowded and overwhelming. I don’t like it.”

 

Ai-Weiwei-LEGO-Alcatraz-portraits-2photo credit: Thor Swift for The New York Times

About the Lego portraits, Trace by Ai Wei Wei, 2014:

“This art is great for Legos — life-like and captured realistic images while adding color. I like it and the creativity, but it is not something I would want to own.”

 

And regarding her first retrospective show, Siri says, “It was exciting to be creative and let my dreams come through my art. I started taking art classes when I was five years old, because I was always drawing and creating. My favorite thing to draw is designs from nature. My favorite media are paints and markers. I don’t like art that focuses on one thing, it can get quite boring. For instance, if it just trees and a meadow. It would be more fun if there were animals in the nature.”

Her favorite artists include David Addickes, GONZO247, and Kelley Devine. She cites her art teachers at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Glassell Junior School as her inspiration, especially Donna Garoh.

You can follow the Jr Art Critic on Instagram and Twitter. Thanks Siri for sharing your work with us!

 

All images courtesy of the artist Siri Jackson unless noted.

 

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Selfies

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Our first show featuring portraiture is one of my favorites. We looked at self-portraits from the masters, and had some great guests (Justin Garnsworthy, Charlotte Love, Bill Sullivan, Kirsten Ulve) who showed us how they do faces. I hope you found How to Draw Your Face and 5 Ways to Draw a Selfie helpful, and enjoyed seeing the Museum of Selfies.

I love seeing everyone’s take on themselves, and just wanted to give a shout out to a couple of entries that featured different media or techniques: Colette’s use of collage, Dylan’s “Minecraft” pixel portrait, and Elena’s window drawing. I also adored Cameron’s expression, and seeing Henry’s haunting(?) eyes. Thanks to all who took the time to enter! We [heart] you!

 

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Fashion123 Student Show

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KCD is honored to showcase the beautiful work by the students of Fashion123, a fashion design and illustration program for kids (ages 7-14) in New York City, founded by industry professionals Yoon Chang and Dorit Landau. Through the program, students will learn model drawing, illustration, how to put together a portfolio and the process of fashion design.

Read more about the fashionable duo in our 3 & 1/2 Questions: Fashion123. And please see their website for more information on their classes or stylish fashion parties!

 

Lollygadoodling

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Lolly gagging + doodling = a delectable drawing experiment. It was the first show incorporating objects into our art, inspired by Christoph’s gummy bears and Javier’s tortilla chipped-doodles. There’s lots of sweet sketching in this show, but tasty treats included Tom’s lolly-turned-bot-blast, Piper-Rose’s chocolate-kissed raccoon, and Allegra’s candy-covered balloons. Thanks to all our artists for sharing their work.

Congratulations to Hannah and Reuben (as well as Ally) for winning Taro Gomi’s books.

Next up: For our first show of 2015, it’s all about you! We’d love to see your Selfies!

To Boo or Not to Boo

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In honor of October, our first online show features magical monsters, cuddly creatures, and critters that might go “Boo!” in the night. Frightful or not, we think these drawings are fierce!

Thanks to all the artists who participated in our inaugural show. Seeing the entries made me smile! We just want to give a shout out to the descriptive captions added (by Charlotte and Eitan), Violet’s MadLibs-style narrative, the colorful efforts, and Charlotte’s sweet acknowledgment (right back at ya!) Congrats to our Smiggle© game draw winners: Anouk and Eitan. We hope you’ll enter our Lollygadoodling Show & Tell!