Doodle Your Heart Out!

A couple of months ago, Brandi Kincaid introduced us all to how fun doodling can be in her first class at Big Picture Classes, Doodled. Now that you're a pro doodler and you've got piles of awesome doodles lying all around your house, we're bringing Brandi back to give you some more ideas for using those gems! 

One thing I discuss in Doodled is how to use all those great doodles you’re making. Having recently finished my Week in the Life album, I found myself using doodles in so many fun ways. Making your doodles work for you, especially as journaling prompts or to tell a funny story your camera didn’t capture, is a great way to put them to use.

Starting with prompts for the things you do most often is easy, and begins with a list. Keep it as short as you need it to be, or as long as you’d like it. For example: meals, clothing, reading, television shows, etc. Here’s my short list:

• Reading
• Watching
• Listening to
• Buying
• Eating

After reading over my list, I brainstormed images that might represent these activities. There’s no right or wrong here. For the reading prompt, you could doodle something as simple as a book, or you could try the electronic device that you read or listen on. To represent the listening prompt, you might doodle the device you use, a simple music note like I chose, your favorite instrument, or a new record player that you love listening to LPs on – all of these would be great! Here are a few examples of how a variety of doodles can represent one idea:

After completing my prompt doodles and expanding my list a little, I scanned them as digital files so that I could make copies to use for each day of my Week in the Life album. You could also use new doodle prompts for each day or situation. I am already dreaming of broader prompt ideas for a monthly page I could use in my Project Life® albums, or even a yearly recap page that would make an awesome New Year’s layout.

Another great use for doodles in journaling is to record those moments you don’t have a photo to represent, like all those funny, sweet, or silly things said by you or your loved ones. I often want to add a bit of journaling about a conversation or something funny someone said, but I don’t always have a photo to go with it, and I can only use so many screen shots of text messages. The freedom to put your own image into a project without having a photo is so wonderful.

In this example, I wanted to capture a conversation between my husband and me, so I drew both of us and wrote our words next to the doodles. The conversation on its own is pretty great, but the doodled representation of it makes me enjoy the memory even more.

I took this doodle, added a bit of color for fun, and made a super simple layout that I can tuck into an album so I never forget this moment.

This would be a great way to capture the words of little ones, too! I love when my friends share their children’s words and pronunciations, but I don’t always have a photo to pair them with. By doodling the child, I can remember both the kids and their awesome phrases.

Struggling to doodle hair for guys, or dying to doodle a dog? Take a minute and head over to the Doodled classroom for a special mini bonus lesson, released today by Brandi!