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If You Can Doodle You Can Paint by Diane Culhane (2017 )
, 27 Dec 2022
THE BOOK IN A NUTSHELL
1/ We collect all our doodles and make connections between them re style and themes. We upgrade their presentation by framing them or putting them in the center of a sheet of paper.
2/ We make doodles using just lines. They can be thick, thin, tall. short, curvy, straight, dotted, dashed, etc.
3/ Then we make small doodles by just using our hand and fingers; sticky notes are perfect for this. Then, we make medium-sized ones by moving the wrist and forearm; paper sheets are perfect for it. Finally, we make large doodles by moving the full arm and even the whole body; big rolls of butcher paper attached to the wall are perfect. We can use three sheets of paper one for each king of doodling size and also mix the three doodle movements in a single piece of paper.
3/ Now we explore doodling by mixing circles and lines, starting with 7 of each,mixing and matching them in different ways and layouts.
4/ This is the time to start a doodle from the left side of the page and keep going, as if we were writing without a stop; when we reach the end of the line, we move to the one below, starting from the right side. We fill in a page this way.
5/ Doodle while reading is the following exercise. With one hand we hold the book we're reading and with the other, without looking, we doodle automatically and without much thinking.
6/ Now is the time to pick a theme and doodle about it repeatedly: flowers, animals, things, leaves, trees, birds, landscapes, everything goes.
7/ Take a line for a walk, inspired by Paul Klee's work, is a variation of the exercise described in point 4. We walk the line all around the page, starting with a black pen or marker, and then we fill in the white spaces with colors. We can use different colored pages as a substrate.
8/ Now we start preparing for the painting. We prepare the paper with gesso, add texture and color. There is a tutorial to build a simple lovely colored paper book where to doodle. We can also use old journals to create a substrate on where to paint.
3/ Then we make small doodles by just using our hand and fingers; sticky notes are perfect for this. Then, we make medium-sized ones by moving the wrist and forearm; paper sheets are perfect for it. Finally, we make large doodles by moving the full arm and even the whole body; big rolls of butcher paper attached to the wall are perfect. We can use three sheets of paper one for each king of doodling size and also mix the three doodle movements in a single piece of paper.
3/ Now we explore doodling by mixing circles and lines, starting with 7 of each,mixing and matching them in different ways and layouts.
4/ This is the time to start a doodle from the left side of the page and keep going, as if we were writing without a stop; when we reach the end of the line, we move to the one below, starting from the right side. We fill in a page this way.
5/ Doodle while reading is the following exercise. With one hand we hold the book we're reading and with the other, without looking, we doodle automatically and without much thinking.
6/ Now is the time to pick a theme and doodle about it repeatedly: flowers, animals, things, leaves, trees, birds, landscapes, everything goes.
7/ Take a line for a walk, inspired by Paul Klee's work, is a variation of the exercise described in point 4. We walk the line all around the page, starting with a black pen or marker, and then we fill in the white spaces with colors. We can use different colored pages as a substrate.
8/ Now we start preparing for the painting. We prepare the paper with gesso, add texture and color. There is a tutorial to build a simple lovely colored paper book where to doodle. We can also use old journals to create a substrate on where to paint.
9/ We then enlarge (or shrink) our doodles by zooming them out (or in) via photocopy or scan. Then we color them and apply warm, cool or neutral hues, or a mix of them.
10/ We use a wood panel, apply rice paper with gel medium and them copy one doodle, previously enlarged as follows: "Trace the doodle with the pointer finger of your non-dominant hand, and with your dominant hand, use a marker to simultaneously recreate the image on the rice paper." (Page 78). Then, we add acrylic color.
11/ Another exercise is to draw a grid and use it to position several doodles inside.
12/ We can practice the painting techniques described above to create a series. This can be done by using figurative or abstract doodles.
Voila!
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GREAT
>> This is a simple easy-to-follow method that is both practical and enjoyable.
>> Culhane demonstrates that any humble doodle is important for art making and why.
>> The structure of the book is great and organic.
>> The step-by-step photographed tutorials.
>> The book has plenty of photos of the artist at work, of her doodling, and of the process and exercises she she explains
>> The easiness of the exercises and the fact that they don't require expensive art supplies.
>> The reuse of old notebooks for art purposes is brilliant.
>> The color wheels in page 74.
>> No typos or editorial oddities in view.
>> Very user-friendly digital edition.
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DOWNSIDE
>> I don't think you need wood panels to carry out the last part of the workshop unless you're a professional painter and/or want to sell or gift the outcome. I think watercolor paper will do the job at a fraction of the price and it's easily archivable.
>> Even though I love the idea, using bill rolls of paper attached to a wall is nothing renters can do, at least in the country I live in.
>> The Artist Gallery at the end of the book, is a bit too small. Also, I would have loved the author explaining the criteria used for the selection.
>> The digital price is a bit high for such a simple book.Just my opinion.
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