The advantage of doodling (Part 5)

This is my fifth and last post for the topic on doodling. Please click here for my first post on this series.

Throughout the period of time spent on doodling, I feel that the process of doodling is an interesting process which combines one’s artistic talent (which is not mandatory), subconscious thinking, associative thinking and visual elements into a single art piece that demands interpretation from one’s personal viewpoint. While deeper interpretations can be sourced through online research and others’ opinions, doodling as a therapeutic tool is most efficient when a personal interpretation by the artist is given.

However, doodling should not be considered as a psychological tool, a technique merely to be administered to individuals facing mental hardships. Doodling can be used by anyone who wishes to deepen their understanding of oneself through the creative use of visual elements.  Much creative endeavors arise from the right sphere of our brains and they are associated with associative rather than linear thinking. Hence, it’s not surprising that while doodling remains an interesting tool, the interpretation of its visual elements remains enigmatic to most except the more psychologically attuned and the spiritually-inclined. Nevertheless, with effort and persistence, doodling can be added to one’s accessory of self-knowing in our journey of self-learning and self-awareness.

In addition, it is not unreasonable for one to affirm the argument that doodling can be used as an appendage to enhance the technique of mind-mapping for intellectuals, students ,working professionals and the creatives.  The human minds work better with visuals rather than text. Hence, doodling can serve as “visual anchors” to link a word to its visual counterpart, thereby facilitating faster mental recalls and improving one’s memory. This is especially useful when one applies this to subjects and topics on humanities.

Let doodling be a part of your life if possible and reap immense benefits!

The Advantage of doodling (Part 4)

This is my fourth post for this blog series on doodling. Please click here for my first post.

Having doodled in an impromptu manner with and without words, I feel that words add coherence to the entire image. More importantly, doodling is best done with a certain conscious intent when drawing, not so much in having an objective or goal in mind (as that would be akin to mind-mapping, which is another topic altogether) but  rather, consciously completing the doodling act by completing the visual element after a conscious recognition of the appearing visual (by associating the element with one’s recognition of the partially shown element based on associative thinking and one’s accumulative knowledge of things and people).

By doing so, one’s visual representation of the doodle would not be hampered or impeded by a pre-defined goal, and one is able to doodle at will, retaining a certain degree of flexibility for more varied interpretations from one’s subconscious. This allows one to manoeuvre at free will without being too “one-way” in thinking, thereby adhering to a stricter definition of “doodling”.

I feel that doodling applies to all areas of life. However, in the act of doodling, it is important for the artist to realise that  many of the visual elements are drawn out of one’s subconscious and hence are symbolic. These elements should almost never be interpreted at the surface level. For instance, a dove is not a dove. A dove is love and peace. As for flowers, its interpretation should be made based on what it represents. For example, a rose is not a rose. It is romantic love and beauty, which differs from carnations (with its modern interpretation of maternal affection).

Previously, before the emergence and prevalence of the internet, symbolic interpretations of visual elements and dreams are restricted to professionals. However, since the internet’s proliferation, researching and understanding visual elements pulled from one’s subconscious and dreams have never been easier. Yes, it takes effort but with perseverance and gratitude, one can easily identify interesting thoughts from one’s own drawings and seek to understand oneself better. So, my personal opinion is that doodling does have a healing effect on oneself, thereby serving as a useful therapeutic tool for everyone.

Nevertheless, I have to add that not everyone is attuned to the act of doodling or even drawing. For some, there is a need to allocate some time to this endeavour for doodling to be an effective therapeutic tool.

In my next article, I will examine the process of doodling and how it can be used to enhance one’s self-learning in one’s journey of self-discovery.

Stay tuned.

The advantage of doodling (Part 3)

This is my third post for this blog series on doodling. Please click here to read my first post.

As mentioned, I have included words in my doodle and observe the differences between this piece of work and my previous.

Basically, words doesn’t make a world of difference other than the fact that it increases the comprehensibility of the diagrams.

One noteworthy point is that this current diagram contains more disparate elements than my previous doodle – something which- to me – has more to do with impromptu thoughts than anything else.

While the previous doodle has more a more singular thematic element, this current doodle draws upon more sophisticated and complex elements of philosophy, zen, knowledge and wisdom. This doodle consists of elements from the human realm (humans, globe etc.), the galactic sphere (sun and the moon), creatures of fantasy (unicorn), and musical instruments of New Age (harp).

If one were to identify a common thread that runs across these elements, it would be knowledge and wisdom, as well as peace and tranquility.

The main focus is the human figure based on the elements’ proportions, with his left ear absorbing information while his right ear synthesises thoughts and observations (drawn in from the left ear ), synthesises the information and   identifies common patterns to spark up creative ideas. This entire representation seems to be the creative process itself – drawing great ideas from the frequent observation of our environments.   The castle should serve as a filter/gatekeeper to allow only the right information in, while the globe and lightning (which represents the environment and weather) represents the source of information and knowledge. The book above the globe represents one common, visual metaphorical representation of knowledge and the wind vane right at the top indicates that a right direction has to be taken to acquire the appropriate knowledge for progress in one’s journey of knowledge-seeking.

An interesting contrast was made between the sun and the moon, and it seems to indicate that knowledge-seeking takes place 24/7, and that one can seek knowledge both during the day when one is awake, and in the night, when one is sleeping (i.e. dreaming at times at a subconscious state).  Both the unicorn and the harp (with the female musician) indicates a close association with the moon (often a representative of the tranquil and the serene). It seems to indicate that knowledge can and should be sought in times of quietness and solitude in the night . As for the eight (a lucky number in Chinese culture) birds in the sky near the sun , it seems to imply that knowledge is best sought in groups during the day, which seems to suggest a collaborative approach in knowledge seeking. A crowdsourcing source such as Wikipedia immediately comes to mind.

Interestingly,  the human figure wears brown shoes (where brown is an earthy colour that often indicates pragmatism and practicality), shaped like a magnet that holds fast to the ground (which seems to imply persistence here).

The advantage of doodling (Part 2)

This is my second post for this blog series on doodling. Please click here to read my first post.

This is my first attempt at doodling and the above is what I have came up with. Amateurish, I know. Still, I have managed to express what I have wanted to express through the image.

Much as I would like to say that doodling is pretty much an impromptu and casual act, I have to admit to myself that in the middle of my doodling, logic and reality sets in – along with a dose of fantasy. I am not sure if this is just me, or if all doodlers experience such an awakening. Maybe that’s why there are some who state that art is a form of expression of the unconscious and draws from within oneself, what one really feels and sees.

Maybe it’s the row of wedding bells from friends ringing in my life in recent years or an aspiration to some futuristic world filled with romanticism that the colours of my doodle turn light more out of choice than sheer coincidences. I also have a fascination with duality and feels that life is made complete in pairs (which probably also explains my complex fascination with other natural beauties, such as the spiral structures of seashells  and the serendipitous moments of candid photo-taking processes and moments).

I probably bring in auspiciousness into my doodle as well, introducing turtles (which stands for longevity in Chinese cultures) and cranes (which stands for honour, loyalty and peace for cranes in Japanese culture).  I have always held an interesting fascination with the metaphoric representations of artistic subjects and the semiotic expressions of entities.

Come to think of it, while the colours is inclined towards the feminine, the drawing per se is definitely skewed towards the masculine, based on the large capacity of the boat and a widely-spaced stairway, which leads up to its destination.

Before I digress too much, let’s get back to the drawing. The intertwining neck lock between the love birds and the closing of distance between the turtles indicates a convergence of relationships, while the two hearts symbolise romance.  The large back seats indicates family committments.

On the while, the pictures do reflect one’s mood, I guess. But even if it doesn’t, at least it indicates optimism. And that’s a a pretty good thing, wouldn’t you say?

All right,  I broke a rule. There’s a word on the picture, and I said previously I don’t add words. But hey, that’s the son of Venus. 🙂

The advantage of doodling (Part 1)

The term “doodle” is defined by thefreedictionary.com as:

i. To scribble aimlessly, especially when preoccupied

ii. kill time

It can be observed that both definitions come across as somewhat negative but if one were to plough through the net using “benefits of doodling”, it is surprising to find many articles that advocates the contrary. For instance, consider the following:

 An interesting article by TIME magazine

An insightful piece by The Smashing Magazine

Try doodling to keep the brain on task

Even Oprah has a mention of doodling on her website

And the Huffington Post offers insights into how doodling aids the learning of math

Jose Luis Anizar wraps up the benefits of doodling with his Scoop.It curating website

Such interesting articles spurs me on to conduct an experiment of my own. So, I proceeded to purchase a drawing pad and pencil to begin a doodling journey of my own. Although I sketch anime cartoons on paper when I am younger, I never considered myself a talented artist as my art works is mostly based on replication of the original (as in sketching line by line, shade by shade, from an existing piece of art). This probably explained my interest in photography later in life, as painting with light and shadows suits my artistic aspirations better.

Although doodling does not come naturally to me (as compared to some of my students), I am still intrigued by what doodling has in store for me nevertheless. I am writing this blog post in several installments, with this being the first.

My first experiment will be pure aimless visual drawing, with no signs of words, phrases, quotes, sentences whatsoever, and see where it brings me. I will treat it as a form of art and will work to decipher the benefits behind it.  My thoughts on it will be reflected in my next post.

My next experiment will combine doodling with words inserted (as in what comes to mind).

I will subsequently examine if doodling can be effective in self-analysing and/or self-healing in dating, romance, marriage, work and life.

I will then analyse the similarities and differences between the various experiments, and examine the possibilities of doodling serving as both a de-stressing and/r or therapeutic tool, as well as a great device for facts-recalling. If this proves possible, it may well debunk the “myth” that doodling are for daydreamers.

After all, daydreamers can well dream without doodling, right? So, why make Doodling Daydreaming’s partner in crime?

Till my next post.

Stay tuned. 🙂