I love it when you stumble upon someone clever on social media. I found Claudi Kessels on instagram, and recently I discovered Steph Dillon there too.

Meet doodle bomber Steph Dillon

Steph is a designer and illustrator based in the area I grew up in — Orange County, California. For The 100 Day Project (an instagram challenge initiated by Elle Luna in which you select a theme to post for 100 days) Steph picked — you guessed it — doodle bombs!

In my favorite examples (so far), Steph shows us that suggesting stories, by adding characters, is the key to an engaging doodle bomb.

With a couple of dots, these droplets become dewey critters chatting on top of a leaf.

The symmetry of pairing these seagulls to keep the other one company is brilliant.

Picking an image that has some space, like this one, gives Steph the perfect place to add a kraken stowaway on this sailboat.

Who’s peeking behind the trees here? The bear gives personality to a quiet nature shot.

And patterns — the hallmark of doodling! — drawn on this teepee dresses it up. Love the reflections in the lake too.

Chomp! Chomp! I imagine that palm trees do look inviting to hungry bears.

Cuteness is always charming! I’m partial to this sweet kitty curled up in the Spring blossoms…

When creating your doodle bombs, select an uncluttered photo and think about what might add visual interest to the image.

Steph creates most of her doodle bombs digitally, using her iPad and stylus, but occasionally doodles the old fashioned way — with markers and magazines. Steph has a new coloring book out called Tiny Forest of Wishes (Blurb Publishing). Follow Steph Dillon on instagram to see the rest of her doodle bombs. Or find her here or here.

See also Doodle Bomber Ana Strumpf.

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