Every experienced artist has some tricks up their sleeve. That’s why we decided to ask some of our favorite artists for their top doodle tips. Here’s what we learned.
Doodle Tips
First up is American author and illustrator Matthew Cordell, whose 2019 book, Wolf in the Snow, won the Caldecott Medal. He also made a book called Hello Neighbor! about one of our favorite people, Mr Rogers. Matthew’s latest book is Bear Island.
Tip #1 – Matthew Cordell
Try to doodle everyday, not with a pencil, but with a pen. It’s fun to see what happens, and it sharpens your hand and eye [coordination] when you can’t erase.
Drawing without erasing might seem like commitment, but we dare you to try it! Follow Matthew Cordell on instagram to see his drawings and stay for his awesome bird-watching adventures in his stories.
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Our second doodle tip is from lifestyle illustrator Nadine Mnemoi, whose last name sounds like the sound you make when you kiss. Nadine prefers to doodle digitally, and often cheers us on with her colorful art featuring women.
To be productive and fast, choose the color palette before coloring.
Limiting your color palette to a few shades can also make your work look more sophisticated, and refined. Which colors would you pick, if you could only use three?
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Our third expert doodler is Neil Emmanuel, whose experience includes animation and teaching. Neil is currently working on a graphic guide about the Middle Ages. Here’s a preview below.
Neil’s advice is technique-oriented, and involves drawing something people often consider tricky : hands.
Tip #3 – Neil Emmanuel
[When drawing hands] you can exaggerate the little finger gap in a pose to add a bit more life… all fingers together, flat, looks like a marching military hand.
See how Neil adds a bit of space between the pinky and ring fingers in his doodle above? You should try it next time you’re drawing hands, and see if it gives your drawings a bit of a lift.
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Hope these tips help you with your own drawings. Here’s a bonus doodle tip for you.
Do you have a tip for us? Leave it in the comments below. We’d love to add them to a future installment of our Doodle Tips series. Happy doodling!
Introducing Doodle Battle, a game based on the popular Battleship we all grew up with as kids. This one was created by our resident artist Dylan, aka Little Dude, and inspired by one of his favorite books, Tom Gates.
This is Dylan’s sketch above. I’ve adapted it and created a download for you to play! Ask a friend to join you.
To Play
(for 2 players)
Doodle at least 5 characters in your grid game card, but no more than 10. Both players should have the same amount of characters on their cards.
Make sure to keep your game board positions hidden from your opponent.
Allow the younger player (Player 1) to go first, by calling out a letter and a number corresponding to a position on the game card. Player 1 marks that box on his/her own card with an X, to record that that box has been called.
Player 2 answers with “hit” or “miss”. If there was a successful “hit”, Player 2 should scribble out that box/character with a RED color.
The winner is the first person to “hit” all of his opponent’s characters.
Click here to download a grid game card to play. Enjoy!
What’s your favorite childhood game?
Please note that by downloading Doodle Battle, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
Ron Pippin of Outside Voice, an art network for families based in Austin, suggested a weekly drawing exercise. So we’re introducing a new doodle theme each week for our Weekly Doodle Challenge. (Scroll down for the challenges).
Full disclosure: I found that I wasn’t able to keep this up every week, so below are ideas I’ve collected as well.
Come draw with us!
Just draw and share with the subject tag on social media. We’ll share your work here or on twitter or Instagram with the #weeklydoodle #kidcandoodle hashtags. PS. All ages welcome!
July – August : Potter Week Drawing Prompts with Taryn Knight
Potter Week is perfect for Harry Potter fans! Drawing starts the last week of July, with a different prompt each week. The list is below imagines what it might be like to be at Hogwarts, and is spearheaded by Taryn Knight.
Inktober is a yearly October doodle challenge created by Jake Parker that is popular on social media. You can use any ink, and you don’t even have to go by the prompts if you don’t want to. The thing is to do it daily.
Intober prompts
Inktober rules
This was the one I did for October 1st posted on instagram:
I know I’ve been focusing on other things this year, but I have found a couple of new doodle challenges that I wanted to share:
Lucky Draw Challenge
I discovered Lucky Draw Challenge when Rikin Parekh shared one of his doodles and tagged them on Facebook. They have weekly challenges, and here’s a recent favorite:
This year, we’re introducing guest prompts on the Weekly Doodle Challenge.
Week 36
For you social media-savvy artists, this prompt comes from 14 year-old Leo, creator of Gargar Comics, and Sketchbook Sunday. The latter is a drawing challenge with a different theme each week. Open to all ages, and shared online with the tag #sketchbooksundayDraw a snowman.
Week 35
We had to share this awesome idea from artist Clym Evernden. All you need is a sheet of paper and your favorite drawing pens or pencils. Fold your sheet 8 times, as Clym shows in the video, and draw as you open the page.
We love this doodle a scribble monster idea from Hello Wonderful,a terrific creative lifestyle resource for families. We agree that it’s a great way to show “everyone can draw!”
Have you subscribed to or followed The Dad Lab yet? This clever pop mixes art + science in his projects for kids that delight and teach. I like this doodling idea on a sunny day: Shadow Tracing.
Michelle from Beret Nice Illustration has a nifty tip for using Copic blenders with regular Crayola marker pens (which are much cheaper!) to get better results. She also shows us how to doodle birds with her in this video:
Week 30
An unexpected doodle prompt comes from Paperchase, a popular stationery chain in the United Kingdom full of gorgeous illustrated goodies. Draw a literal picture of king prawns, king crab, hammerhead shark, or cat fish, like in this shop window.
David Zinn creates whimsical street art with chalk and his imagination. See if you can doodle outside using some of your surroundings as inspiration. Can a crack in the sidewalk or patch of grassy weeds become part of your drawing?
This week’s prompt is inspired by a drawing by Maya that I discovered at House of Illustration in London. Draw an animal and then add an extra body part to it:
Have you guys heard about the $3,700 Doodle Theory Contest? To enter, download and doodle some squiggles like these below. See all the details and download the squiggles here. Deadline is August 10, 2016.
Week 24
Love this Less is More idea from Frédéric Forest: Describe something with fewer than 10 lines. Can you do it?
If you’re not spending warm summer days outside, maybe you’ll be doodling Yuval Zommer’s “How to Draw Bugs” from his beautifully illustrated The Big Book of Bugs (via The Guardian)
We love this doodle idea from calligrapher/lettering artist Tolga Girgin : Doodle faces with the shadows from a crumpled-up piece of paper. Watch the video below.
I love Sarah’s “blind contour” portrait (drawing while looking at your reference and NOT your hand/paper):
Week 20
Health coach and mother of two boys, Ceren Arik-Begen has an easy doodle puppet that I had to share with you.
Take a letter or A4 sized sheet of paper, fold it in half and then half again, so that you have four strips. Open the sheet, and re-fold in the two ends so that they meet in the middle. On these two panels, draw something with a mouth that would open where the two ends meet.
(Here’s two fishies)
Then open it, and draw the “inside” of the mouth. When you’re finished, refold and animate your puppet character by gently opening and closing the mouth.
Thanks for sharing these lovely drawings and gorgeous idea with us Ceren!
Designer, illustrator, and doodle bomber Steph Dillon gave us some pointers for creating a doodle bomb: Find a photograph of your favorite landscape or urban setting and fill the empty spaces with a structure, objects, and/or characters to create your own unique scene. You can use markers on printed pieces or draw digitally in your favorite photo editing app.
Week 17
Penny Neville-Lee is back again with a Weekly Doodle Challenge worthy of Mother’s Day (next Sunday, May 8, 2016 in the USA). Collaborate with your kids! Here, Penny colored in her son’s drawing:
Week 16
So stoked that Claudi Kessels is our doodle guest this week! I remember stumbling across Claudi’s instagram and was chuffed she agreed to be on 3 1/2 Questions. (Claudi’s as charming as her drawings, and inspired our Field Notes doodle download). Doodle bomb this photograph:
psst . . . Make sure to subscribe to kidcandoodle (above) for an exclusive doodle download created by Claudi Kessels!
Week 15
Multi-talented Melani Grube gave us this week’s doodle prompt based on her own wonderfully wet paintings. See if you can transform these paint splotches into your own doodle.
Here’s Melani’s doodle:
Week 14
This week’s guest is none other than the inspiration for Weekly Doodle Challenge — Ron Pippin himself! Ron is currently working on an upcoming Creative Arts Show for kids called ARTtv and we can’t wait to see it! His suggestion, co-drawing, comes from Outside Voice’s popular blog Explore Art. To play, you need a partner, paper, and pens or pencils.
The younger person should go first, making a line on a page.
Then each person takes turns doodling and adding to the same drawing, collaborating.
Voilà!
Week 13
Our guest this week is one of my favorite artists of all time, Henri Matisse. I am especially fond of his paper cut-outs. Matisse first used cut paper to design his painting commissions, but when he became ill in his 60s, it became his preferred medium.
Doodle an animal using only cut paper (refer to The Snail, 1953, above).
Week 12
When kid can doodle debuted on twitter, Lucy Monkman was one of our first followers. Lucy’s doodle challenge is just in time for Easter/Spring. Lucy favors simple shapes in her work, and she suggested using these egg shapes to doodle chicks, bunnies, or lambs:
Here’s Lucy’s doodles:
Week 11
Shari Mallinson is not only a darn-good doodler, but a frequent contributor and friend to KCD. Shari invites you to collaborate with her by downloading and finishing this doodle:
Esther K Smith, author of Making Books with Kids, gave us our Doodle prompt this week. If you haven’t already, please check out her new book here. Then download the instructions to make a pop-up face accordion book.
Esther says: What will you draw on yours? You can draw with your scissors too. Try cutting other kinds of lines instead of the straight ones for your pop-up eyes and mouth. But be sure to leave enough space for your fold. That’s your hinge that keeps it from falling apart.
Week 8
Our doodle guest this week is Colour Collective, a weekly challenge to make art featuring a different hue, initiated by Penny Neville-Lee, “illustrator and all round good egg.” To join in, this week’s color is Moss.
Here’s Penny’s gorgeous entry. Follow her on twitter.
Week 7
Colleen Kong Savage, our first guest on 3 1/2 Questions, has our doodle prompt this week: Take an ink pad (or a little bit of paint) make a thumbprint with your finger. Add details.
Week 6
Hey Kids! This week’s guest is Tom Nash, the wordsmith behind Tut and Groan “a wordplay webcomic by someone who can’t draw.” Not long ago our own Little Dude was a guest on Tom’s toon, and we’re tickled that Tom has treated us to two prompts: Draw a pie in the sky or add to the following doodle:
Our guest this week is Pinch Punch Post, aka social media darling Thea Baker, suggesting a theme to doodle each month. Contributors are invited to share their drawings on twitter or Facebook at the beginning of the month. Kids can join too by tagging doodles with #pinchpunchpostjunior. March 1st theme is a butterfly.
Herewith the first prompt in 2016: courtesy of the lovely Sheena Monahan, who created @3yroldscribbleDownload this scribble below and transform into your own drawing.
Need to add to your doodle library? Here’s ten doodle books to keep you drawing and your imagination growing. These are not books that show you how to draw things in a specific way, but ones that help get your wheels spinning. Presenting:
by French illustrator Jochen Gerner (b small publishing) is terrific for younger artists, but stirs those creative juices, so it won’t bore older ones, and has enough activities to keep everyone amused!
I’m a big fan of Serge Bloch’s drawings — especially his work combining photos of real objects — and his new book, 3, 2, 1. . . Draw! (Wide Eyed Books) is sure to make you see things in a whole new way.
(Macmillan Children’s Books) This book is a great way to introduce budding artists to some of the best illustrators working today. It allows you to collaborate with your favorite artists (including Lorna Scobie) and demonstrates how they all doodle differently — each having their own personality and style.
Hirameki (Thames & Hudson), Japanese for “flash of inspiration,” is a clever book by artists Peng & Hu, who encourage you to doodle what you see out of paint splotches. Perfect for all ages.
A companion to Shackleton’s Journey (also by) William Grill, is brought by one of my favorite publishers, Flying Eye Books. William Grill’s brilliant illustrations make me want to draw with colored pencils.
Andrew Rae and Lisa Regan created this book, My Crazy Inventions Sketchbook(Laurence King), for all of us doodlers with fantastical ideas (and those who want to come up with fun inventions, too).
(Quarry Books) Can a doodle change your life? Author/illustrator Salli S Swindell (and I) think so! Doodling regularly helps your brain to think visually, observe details, focus, and become more creative. Doodle on!
This last one is not actually a book, but a lovely brainstorming box for budding designers who appreciate specially-packaged things. It includes a pack of illustrated cards that detail your “client’s” needs, and a pad for you to doodle your designs. There are three kits available here.
These lovely books are available at fine bookstores and museum bookshops.
WIN!
Win a set of the 10 imaginative doodle books above by showing us your doodle bomb by June 30, 2016. Click here for more details.
Did I tell you we just recently moved all the way from Australia to England? Which means that at the moment our drawing implements are pretty basic since we haven’t received our shipping container yet. But last week, my sister-in-law gifted me a collection of markers. They naturally became my second media experiment.
Markers and pens have never been my favorite drawing tools because I find that the consistent line width means they are are less forgiving; that any mistakes are easily seen, and you can’t erase them! You either have to be pretty confident with the marks you make, or not worry too much if they aren’t exactly perfect. The beauty of this experiment is that I’m trying new things and learning how to use them.
I first tried incorporating the markers in my doodles.
Then I just doodled with them, trying monkeys for upcoming LunarNew Year:
What I learned
Since you can’t really blend with markers, the best way to shade is by using different colors. I grouped similar colors together, limiting my palette with each drawing, using the light colors as highlights and darker hues for the shadows.
And while the line widths are uniform, you can be expressive with the strokes, as I tried to be with the animal fur, and in the hash marks for shading too.
The one bummer is that when the markers have been used awhile or if you forget to put the lid on, they do dry out, and may affect the quality of your drawing.
Have you tried using markers? I bet you have some lying around the house. Give them a go! The more you use them, the less likely you are to be concerned with mistakes, because you can’t erase! It’s actually freeing!
