Doodles, zendoodles, zentangles and zendalas, all encompass the relaxing art of doodling. Doodling seems to have been with us from the very beginning, we are always making patterns in our imaginations. When we are staring idly at the clouds, creating delightful shapes meandering across the blue sky, or making hand-shadows on the walls, the quacking duck that delights us as children or the scary spider as our hands crawl menacingly across the ceiling, ending in shrieks and hiding under the bedclothes. Scribbling away on our jotters at school, marking the desks, graffiti on the walls, the idling away whilst we wait on the phone, a robotic voice tells us our call is in a queue, and invariable the same tinny, electronic musak repeating over and over. We draw with sticks in the sand, chalk on the pavements, even rocks and pebbles are used to make our mark. We make out shapes in wallpaper, carpets, you name it and we can create an image out of almost anything.
There is even a National Doodle Day held on the 8th February.
I like to sit and doodle when I am half-listening or watching something on the internet, it is relaxing and I tune in and out of what I am listening to, my mind drifting onto other things. The Buddha image was inspired by seeing a metal Buddha face hanging on a wall, it is also a prelude to a painting of white or silver on black, something I very rarely try as I enjoy as much colour as I can muster.
These zendoodles are approx. A5 size and simply silver pen on black card. I keep them in a book, but I love the idea on this blog: Travelling-zendoodles of keeping them in a nice purse or box. The other idea that appeals is to put all the zendoodles together to form one large collage, nice.
If you haven’t doodled for a while, try it out its fun!