Doodles

 am a massive-massive fan of doodling, Which I would vaguely describe as "Daydreaming on paper".  I'm not going to get all deep about "pure expression" or any crap.

I think creativity is at the heart of doodles, and recently I have been using it as a tool in a new way.  Recent studying has improved my awareness and judgement (I believe).  This has improved my initial lines/shapes but more importantly has made me more objective.

I drew a character last night in bed, no reference or what-not.  It looks OK, it's an amalgamation of whatever has influenced me recently.  When looking at it I saw flaws in anatomy (for a humanoid), then I thought of how it could work as part of a larger creature or maybe as a damaged/growth state. 

I then thought further about how it could work as a class/role in different types of game (RTS/RPG/FPS) and it would play - I came up with a ranged (from fragile form), Necro-Cyborg (Bone & exposed brain with wires, probably influenced by videos in Visual Design), Psychic/Magic user (harnissing the power of the brain through technology).

I then thought of how I could justify and rational what was the realistically(ish).  I started thinking of a whole mini-universe to explain exactly how everything there.  This gave me further ideas of an "upgraded" or evolved state.  All of this opened a doorway into creating more and more ideas to support and realise a quick doodle.

Not only did I find this process enjoyable, but also a great form of idea generation.  Doodling is a great way to relax the mind , focus it, or just as a way to think in a different way... Not to mention a great break from coursework.

Breakdown of thought process


Purpose of image?
Unwind.  Practice unique-character creation.  Anatomy & rendering. Spontaneous unreferenced drawing.

Method/Media?
Most comfortable as possible.  Bed, A4 pad, and Pencils.

First Stroke?
I start at the brow - think it might give me good reference points in my mind.
I wanted to do some spindly horn-ish things, but not horns (cliche').  Turned into a hand helmet.

Let it flow
Here is where the doodle takes over - The image is at the mercy of your experience, mood, and influences.  I'm good at this part, just zone out and see what happens.  Lots of the time different forms/ideas flow from whatever you just drew or thought.

Have a quick look from a distance, squint a bit, and think.
Let it flow again.

>STEP THAT'S NEW TO ME<  Annotate
Think about all the different things mentioned earlier.  Looking at the work more objectively can turn a "throw-away" image into a powerful tool.

Develop conclusions and ideas generated.


Rinse.


Re-cycle.


Alright!  Doodles for me are very good.  I just have to keep learning how to incorporate it better with my work and making time to develop ideas further.  I'm hoping this will come with time from learning and repeating the process.  As part of a "personal Project" I'm going to do exactly that.  I struggle to sleep and will use this zombie time to doodle.