LINES - Creative Prompt • Stained Glass Doodle
Doodling Part 2… Just add more lines and fun colours!
Doodling like the ‘three-line’ doodle and this ‘stained-glass effect’ doodle are structured doodles that can aid with relaxation through straight forward prompts and repetition of line, form and colour.
The simple instructions provide the creative doodler a starting point through structure. Sometimes this approach is needed when the blank page or thought of a completely spontaneous sketch or doodle might be a little daunting.
“The essence of drawing is the line exploring space. ”
Creative Prompt: Stained-Glass Doodle
Invitation.
This is an invitation to doodle using multiple overlapping lines, shapes and colour. You can use a full page to create your doodle or create a square or shape and doodle within that outline. The structured doodle provides a random assortment of shapes and a readymade design for the addition of colour. Examples below.
Materials.
• paper + pencil + coloured pencils or markers
Begin With Lines.
• Begin with a series of pencil lines. Start at the top of the page or shape and end somewhere at the bottom. (In the above example, 5 lines were used starting at the top and ending at the bottom of the square).
• Again, like the three-line doodle, your lines can be straight, curved, created from loops or hard edges, or a combination of a variety of elements.
• Additional lines can echo elements of the other lines or be completely different. They can be vertical… horizontal…diagonal… As shapes are created by overlapping and intersecting lines, have each of your lines overlap each other in one or more places.
Leaving Space. Adding Colour.
Add colour to create fun organic or geometric shapes and forms. To create the dramatic stained-glass effect, alternate areas filled with colour with areas left empty or minimal. The outlines (from the original lines) can be made bolder with a darker coloured pencil or black marker.
Discover.
Create a series of doodles using this process. Explore different combinations of lines and colours. The possibilities are endless!
Stained-Glass Doodles.
“In essence, doodling (and drawing and painting and making things in general) can be a self-regulating experience as well as a pleasurable road map of thoughts and ideas.”
Share Your Designs.
Share your creations or just enjoy the process. There are benefits from engaging in various types of doodling, and I will continue to explore and share ideas and creative doodling prompts in future posts.
Read about the Benefits.
Doodling Your Way to a More Mindful Life • by Cathy Malchiodi • Psychology Today • 2014.
What does doodling do? • by Jackie Andrade • Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24 • 2010.
The “thinking” benefits of doodling • by Srini Pillay, MD, Contributor • Harvard Health Publishing • 2016.
