Way, way back, at the end of 2015 I started a daily doodle challenge. I did complete the challenge however never did get around to posting the doodles for the second half of the year. So here is a best of the rest from that challenge. During this time I discovered Posca pens and thoroughly enjoyed developing a new style which has become integral to a lot of what I do currently (more on this coming soon).
It has been ages since I uploaded me daily doodles. Rest assured I have been doodling daily, it just seemed such a hassle to scan them all in, but finally I have managed it, at least for June. I’m still enjoying the use of my tanned scrapbook, and the new Posca pens. In fact I treated myself to set so I now have more than just black and white.
Enjoy this set of doodles whilst you can, because July brings with it  bit of an uninspired spell. But before we get there, appreciate the bright, vivid colours of this lot, because I have. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but it would have to be either the pig, the chicken or the jaguar.
Thursday 30-06-16. A ring in Posca pen.
Wednesday 29-06-16. A dragon in blue Posca pen.
Tuesday 28-06-16. King Luis from The Jungle Book (Disney animation) done in gel pen and biro. Classsic Disney default when stuck for ideas.
Monday 27-06-16. A howling wolf in blue gel pen. I’ve discovered I like drawing in blue.
Sunday 26-06-16. a peg in blue gel pen.
Saturday 25-06-16. Drawn for a prompt of Tequila. It didn’t turn out quite as sooth and sharp as I’d hoped.
Friday 24-06-16. basic dancer doodle in pencil.
Thursday 23-06-16. Basic pen doodle.
Wednesday 22-06-16. Torso sketch in black and white pencil. Enjoying the tanned paper again.
Tuesday 21-06-16. I’m really pleased with this Jaguar. using some crayon and black and white pens. It’s quite effective on the tanned paper.
Monday 20-06-16. A VW camper van doodle. Not much to say really.
Sunday 19-06-16. using all the bright pens I could find. A drawing of a metal chicken I had seen when out shopping. this one makes me happy.
Saturday 18-06-16. I borrowed this idea from somewhere – can’r remember where. I really like it.
Friday 17-06-16. A bug, using the spectrum aqua pens and some pastel. Not pleased with this at all.
Thursday 16-06-16. A fox, using a mix of tools. He’s not exactly what I’d planned, turned out scruffier than intended, but it’s a style of sorts.
Wednesday 15-06-16. A moo cow. I’m back in England so I have my Spectrum Aqua pens again. It turned out a bit pinker than I’d planned.
Tuesday 14-06-16. Some people as seen from above. Drawn in pencil. I like perspective practice.
Monday 13-06-16. A stylised cow. I don’t like it much.
Sunday 12-06-16. A little piggy in felt tip pen and white Posca pen. One of my favourites this month.
Saturday 11-06-16. A hoopoe bird. They visit our garden quite often; usually in pairs.
Friday 10-06-16. A roe using a variety of pen types.
Thursday 09-06-16. Face doodles in pencil.
Wednesday 08-06-16. Some boats in oil pastels, drawn pretty much in the dark.
19 more daily doodles lie ahead. A great highlight of this bunch is some new art materials. I got my hands on a 36 pack of Faber-Castel oil pastels second hand (hardly used) for 3 Euro! I used to love working in oil pastels, they give such bold colours, and there is a childish, hands-on feel to them that makes me smile; they’re kind of like a more sophisticated version of wax crayons.
I also splashed on on 2 Posca paint pens. I’d heard such great things about their versatility and thickness of pigment I thought I’d give them a go. I bought a white one about 2 mm thick and a black about 1 mm thick. The black is great, though my scratchy toned scrap book I’ve been using is a bit hard on the nib, but the white is a little disappointing. The pigment is a bit weak and Doesn’t really paint over dark colours as well as I’d hoped. One of my greatest missions in life is to find the perfect white pen/pencil for art highlights, as yet I haven’t found it.
I’m trying to cut down on animations based doodles, but there’s still a few; they’re a comfortable fall back when I don’t know what to do. They’re also relatively easy, look clean and tidy with little effort and I am inherently lazy; they are the easy option. There’s a couple more architectural type doodles,  these are a newly discovered favorite of mine. I have only really started to draw buildings this year so I have the daily doodle challenge to thank for this discovery.
So without further ado, here are 19 doodles, judge for yourself whether the new art supplies were worth my excitement.
Tuesday -7-06-16. A common fly, in oil pastels and a bit of Posca pen and marker for the black and white. One off the more detailed pictures of the lot, another favourite.
Monday 06-06-16. A crow, for no real reason other than I needed a black based picture for my pens. Posca pens in my tanned scrap book. I really like it.
Sunday 05-06-16. I thought Grumpy looked interesting to draw, Pencil crayon and felt tip pen outline.
Saturday 04-06-16. Another tired night with little inspiration. Default to Disney. Dopey, Bashful and Doc for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Felt tip pen and gel pen.
Friday 03-06-16. Taz of Tazmania in felt tip and gel pen. I was tired and this looked easy.
Thursday 02-06-16. Chili peppers for a prompt. In gel pen. I’m really pleased with this one, I like the style.
Wednesday 01-06-16. A Ferrari sketch in black gel pen and Posca pen.
Tuesday 31-0-16. An Aztec mask, for a prompt. Black Posca pen, white gel pen and a touch of pencil rayon. I like how this turned out, The ideal toned paper for it.
Monday 30-05-16. Trying out my new Posca paint pens with some silhouettes accented with gel pen. The white is a bit week and blotchy on this paper.
Sunday 29-05-16. A dog in black and white gel pen. I like this effect.
Saturday 28-05-16. The oil pastels make an appearance! A running rhino just because it was a cool picture. One of my favourites in this batch.
Friday 27-05-16. Soft pastel and a touch of gel pen, based on a reading meme picture I saw.
Thursday 16-05-16. Pencil sketch of my own hand in different poses. I actually like drawing hands and seem to be improving.
Wednesday 25-05-16. A gel pen basic drawing for the prompt of elven royalty. This is why I don’t do character drawings or caricatures. I just can’t create personality.
Tuesday 24-05-16. A pencil crayon sketch for a prompt of sprout. One day I’m going to buy some decent pencils.
Monday 23-05-16. Some town houses in Xativa. Felt tip out line and pencil crayon colours. I love drawing town houses, particularly if they’re wonky.
Sunday 22-05-16. A pen sketch of a roof top sculpture in Alicante, based on a photo I took.
Saturday 21-05-16. Pen sketch of a few life poses. Not the best, but I don’t practice enough straight in with pen.
Friday 20-05-16. felt tip pen sketch of Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter.
A bit of a mixed bag the last few weeks. There’s been a few practice days and a few sketches that I spent a long time on. I’m still drawing a lot of movie and T.V. based pictures, but I’ve branched out and started trying to use toned paper; it’s amazing, why didn’t IÂ use it before! You may have to take my word for it though as it doesn’t photograph very well.
I have created my very first sketchbook tour video on youtube, so if you want to hear what i have to say about my first sketchbook of daily doodles then click sketchbook tour video.
I have also done my first time-lapse video of a full sketch, in this case it is the peregrine falcon from 07/05/16. You can find this at Falcon time-lapse video.
Check out the videos, like, comment and share if you feel so inclined.
Thursday 19-05-16. This is one of the few children’s cartoons that I genuinely liked, I still like it now. Recess, T.J. Mikey, Gus, Gretchin, Spinelli and Vince. In black felt tip and gel pen for the finer detail.
Wednesday 18-05-16. This one is definitely a doodle, just some felt tip pen to colour in parts of a structured scribble.
Tuesday 17-05-16. Another avenger, Black Widow. Soft pastel pencils again, didnt really have a suitable colour for the hair.
Monday 16-05-16. Ash Ketchum and Pikachu in pencil crayon in my tan coloured scrap book.
Sunday 15-05-16. Still on the toned paper, but this time with normal pencil crayons. A scene from Disney’s animated version of The Jungle Book. Baloo and Mowgli.
Saturday 14-05-16. My first attempt at using toned paper. Iron Man, in soft pastels. The paper is a bit scratchy for the pastels but I am pleased over all.
Friday 13-05-16. Felt tip pen and gel pen line sketch from The Sword in the Stone. Merlin and Mad Madam Mim.
Thursday 12-05-16. Figure practice in pencil.
Wednesday 11-05-16. Airport sketches, I’m heading off again so back to limited supplies. I really need to practice drawing from life. I’m not quick enough, or don’t have the right approach, people move before I’m ready.
Tuesday 10-05-16. My first attempt at watercolours since I was at school. It’s by no means perfect but I am really impressed with myself.
Monday 09-05-16. A kingfisher in spectrum aqua markers. I like this one too.
Sunday 08-05-16. Away from home again, a quick late night sketch of a pile of books.
Saturday 07-05-16. A peregrine falcon in soft pastels. Not really a doodle, it took about 2 hours. Check out the YouTube link in the blog post to see its creation.
Friday 06-05-16. Wine glasses in gel pen and pencil crayon. Quite pleased with this.
Thursday 05-05-16. A pen sketch from Tarzan, featuring, a young Tarzan, Tantor and Terk. One of my favourites from this collection.
Wednesday 04-05-16. After another, unnecessarily, extremely long day, this is how I felt. I made this up myself, face practice is paying off.
Tuesday 03-05-16. I had a long day, only time for a quick pencil sketch of Pongo and a few puppies from 101 dalmatians animation. I never even got around to inking it or adding spots.
Monday 02-05-16. More face practice in pencil, specifically looking at angles. I meant to do others but got bored.
Sunday 01-05-16. Face practice in pencil.
Saturday 30-04-16. Merida from Brave, in spectrum aqua markers and some pencil and gel pen. I really like how the hair turned out.
I have spent the last several weeks in Spain and consequently I have been working with very limited supplies. I’ve particularly been focusing on line work, and cross hatching which I think suited the available materials better and I think I’m getting the hang of it. You may notice that there are quite a few uninspired pictures in this collection, I just haven’t been feeling it, never mind. There are a few I like, generally those based on animations, but also my attempt at Bellatrix Lestrange.
Friday 29-0416. Hands practice using pens, simply because I’m home and I have pens again.
Thursday 28-04-16. A coffee mug, I just realised I hadn’t had any coffee all day. Note the use of pens just because I can.
Wednesday 27-04-16. I have just returned home and really can’t be bothered, so here are some dinosaurs.
Tuesday 26-04-16. Last day in Spain for a while, so here is a sketch of Humphrey the kitten.
Monday 25-04-16. A watering can in green gel pen. I’ve spent a lot of time in the garden this trip.
Sunday 24-04-16. A line sketch of the garden in biro. This is the view from the breakfast table.
Saturday 23-04-16. A quick doodle in pen. I ran out of time today.
Friday 22-04-16. A pen, line sketch of some building in Xativa in Spain. A combination of gel pen and biro, based on a photo I took.
Thursday 21-04-16. Another biro sketch of one of my favourite animations. Bonus points to anyone who can name the movie.
Wednesday 20-04-16. I thought I’d try a picture that suited the tools available so here is a felt tip pen drawing of my favourite film of all time, Disney’s animated version of Robin Hood.
Tuesday 19-04-16. The hulk in felt tip pens. Sadly it didn’t turn out like it did in my head. I’m blaming the pens.
Monday 18-04-16. A gel pen line sketch of Carl from Up. This animation was possibly the most emotion inducing film I have ever seen. I left of colour as my options weren’t great.
Sunday 17-04-16. An attempt at Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter. In a black marker and gel pen, a touch of pencil crayon on the lips. I like it.
Saturday 16-04-16. A scene from my Lion King book in Spanish. SPOILER ALERT – Scar, just before he kills Mufasa. The start of my animation based drawings, in red and black gel pen.
Friday 15-04-16. Just a little dragon in felt tips.
Thursday 14-04-16. A black and a white knight using gel pen and cross hatching for shadows.
Wednesday 13-04-16. A gel pen doodle, generally an indication that i can’t be bothered.
Tuesday 12-04-16. A feather in 4 different gel pen colours.
Monday 11-04-16. I was tired and couldn’t be bothered so went for a classic optical illusion in felt pen.
Sunday 10-04-16. Qvothe from the front cover of ‘The Name of the Wind’ by Patrick Rothfuss. The book I was reading at the time, now finished and reviewed here http://wp.me/p6YJZh-xf
Saturday 09-04-16. Just a cafetiere done in a similar style to my previous tea pot drawing in red gel pen.
Tuesday 01-03-16. A spot of fan art. I went to see Deadpool and thought he would suit a simple sketch. It got more complicated, nothing seemed the right colour.
I am still out in Spain with limited art supplies; it’s a hard life. Despite this I really like almost all these drawings. I think the word doodle might be a bit misleading or insulting as some these had quite a bit of time and focus spent on them so don’t imagine I can doodle these in 10 minutes flat.
I’ve had a bit more of a focus on architectural drawings, and particularly focusing on keeping things clean and neat, which is not my usual style. There’s also a few drawings based on animated movies which are always nice and easy to draw. My drawing materials this week were mostly my standard gel pens, felt tip pens and pencils probably costing in all about ÂŁ4. but for the fist time in a long time I used some soft pastel pencils on a picture. I love soft pastels, they’re very forgiving and malleable, this particular set I’d had for many years and just forgotten I had them. I tried to look this set up but it seems they don’t exist any more, anyhow, I wouldn’t have recommended them, they’re a bit scratchy, but that could just be their age.
Without further ado, here are the last 15 days of doodles:
Friday 08-04-16. Big Ben in Gel pen, based on the front cover of a Peter Pan book I bought in Spanish to help learn the language.
Thursday 07-04-16. A blue domed roof in the small Spanish town of Enguera. Drawn in Gel pen and slick ink pen.
Wednesday – 06-04-16. A minion in felt tip, gel pen and pencil crayon. Inspired by a 1000 piece minion jigsaw I am working on.
Tuesday 05-04-16. The Eiffel Tower in Paris. Based on a photo I took a couple of years back when there with work. I actually had to fish of the gel pen work on a second day, but the base pencil drawing was done on the 5th.
Monday 04-04-16. A blue saxophone in felt tip,.I drew this while watching Snow White on the TV.
Sunday 03-04-16. Zazu in slightly off colours, felt tip pen and gel pen. From a picture in my Spanish version of the Lion King book.
Saturday 02-04-16. Pippie Long Stocking. No idea where I got this idea. Another gel pen drawing.
Friday 01-04-16. Gel pen city sketch. I like doing these.
Thursday 31-3-16. A tea pot in red gel pen. I saw a version of this on a notebook and it looked simle enough.
Wednesday 30-03-16. A glass, king, chess piece in gel pen and pastel. Based on a photo I saw on Instagram.
Tuesday 29-03-16. Pencil sketch from life, drawn very late at night while we were all sat outside enjoying a drink. Not a great likeness but people insist in moving.
Monday 28-03-16. Just a pretty lamp post in gel pen.
Sunday 27-03-16. Very quick Easter sketch of chickies in gel pen.
I am away on holiday for the time being and have taken only a pen and pencil with me as well as a new sketchbook; I do have a few supplies out here but they are quite basic. You will notice in this collection some bold clumsy colours from children’s felt tip pens, some pale depthless colours from children’s crayons (like trying to colour with plastic) and my personal favourite, gel pen drawings. I love drawing, sketching and colouring with gel pens because it gives such a fluid bold line and colour. In terms of inspiration I’m feeling quite drawn to architecture at the moment and some of the Spanish streets here about provide some great scenes. I actually tried drawing from life for the first time in a long time and rediscovered why I don’t do it often; people do insist on moving.
I am without scanner for the time being and relying on my old faithful digital camera so the photos aren’t at their best. Anyway, overall I like these. As always comments, suggestion and ideas are always welcome, I struggle for ideas often.
Saturday 25-03-16. A country telephone box, in gel pen.
Friday 24-03-16. An attempt at sketching my brother sat in the sunshine. Sadly he moved so I abandoned it as is.
Thursday 23-03-16. Felt tip pen sketch of a Spanish street. I like the lines and overall shape, I just wish the felt tips were more subtle.
Wednesday 22-03-16. Gel pen sketch, not perfect but fun to do. I challenged myself by going straight in with pen.
Monday 21-03-16. This is Eric the robot, another gel pen sketch.
Sunday 20-03-16. A Spanish street nearby looking down from the bridge above, I love the colours. Sadly my pencils aren’t great.
Saturday 19-03-16. A very quick sketch after a large Spanish party celebrating my Aunt & Uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary.
Friday 18-03-16. A tree sketch, thought I’d see what could be done with these pens – not a lot it would seem.
Thursday 17-03-16. The traditional gel pen doodle that starts all new sketchbooks.
I struggled for inspiration for this lot. Some of them I’m very pleased with, others I would never show anyone if it weren’t for the sake of continuity. There were a few days in here when laziness spawned creativity. My pencil was downstairs and I was upstairs, consequently I had to jump straight in with pen, (obviously i wasn’t going to go all the way down stairs for my pencil). I actually really like the pen pictures and will likely do more.
I’m away for the next few weeks and only taking the most basic of supplies – sketch book, pen and pencil, but I shall be reunited with my best white pen. I have really missed it.
Wednesday 16-03-16. A coke bottle, didn’t really pan out as well as I’d hoped but not too bad.
Tuesday 15-03-16. If in doubt, doodle. Classic flower doodle in gel pen.
Monday 14-03-16. It’s called ‘Bad Hair Day’. The last of my lack of pencil inspired sketches. I think a little over done compared to the others but I like it non the less.
Sunday 13-03-16. Another sketch straight in with pen.
Saturday 12-03-16. My pencil is beyond my reach, Straight in with pen then.
Friday 11/03/16. A page of doodles in pen.
Thursday 10-03-16. An apple, not great but never mind.
Wednesday 09-03-16. This is what happens if I start drawing without knowing what I’m drawing. You get this horror. Should stick to the swirley doodles.
Tuesday 08-03-16. I really like this. Gel pen city sketch.
Monday 07-03-16. Whatever, just some expression attempts.
I’m more organised this week and therefore have managed to get my pictures online a bit quicker. I’m proud of this bunch, there’s some intricate work, some good colours and mostly some well finished pieces. My particular focus lately (if you can see any focus at all) is expressions; I’ve noticed I’m not very good at giving characters any personality so I’ve been trying to improve. I think mostly I’ve succeeded; perhaps further exaggeration would help.
Friday 04-03-16. A duck, because why not.
Thursday 03-03-16. A lighthouse. I feel the scanner didn’t really do this picture any favours.
Wednesday 02-03-16. A city in colour. I liked the sketch in the last batch and felt it would suit some bright colour.
Tuesday 01-03-16. A spot of fan art. I went to see Deadpool and thought he would suit a simple sketch. It got more complicated, nothing seemed the right colour.
Monday 29-02-16. Expressions practice.
Sunday 28-02-16. Someone posted a picture of Lady Stair’s House in Edinburgh. I liked it so thought I’d try a pen sketch.
Saturday 27-02-16. Trying to get expression on a robot. Another pen sketch.
Friday 26-02-16. Cats in pen.
Thursday 25-02-16. A happy little turtle, it seems I don’t have a green marker, had to layer the yellow and blue.
Wednesday 24-02-16. I’ve been wanting to draw this for ages but it looked hard. I think it came out well in the end. Black gel pen as usual.