Yes, Larry David, it’s somewhat ironic. And the star of Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t the only one who has enjoyed a bit of doodling.
Leonardo da Vinci, Samuel Beckett, Mark Twain, John Keats and Sylvia Plath all let their pencils and pens wander around the page, creating all sorts of imagery when they might have been trying to concentrate on something else.
However, there is evidence that doodling isn’t the result of an idle mind, but a keen one.
Numerous studies have been carried out in the past few years to get to the heart of what makes us doodle.
In 2009, research by Jackie Andrade, professor of psychology at Plymouth University, showed that doodling increases our attention span in meetings. The study made two sets of volunteers listen to a boring phone message and then asked them questions about it. Those who had been doodling had better powers of recollection.
Subsequent studies elsewhere have found doodling can help children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Doodling can also make great art. The most beautiful paintings aren’t just conjured up out of nothing. They begin with a simple sketch.
But the appeal of doodling is that we all can do it, even if we are good at drawing or not. Just ask Larry David.
But were our teachers wrong? Were all those hours spent doodling away in geography class good for our brains after all?
Derbyshire-based artist Andrea Joseph puts doodles at the forefront of a lot of her work. She took up drawing seven years ago after a long break.
‘I always knew that drawing was the thing I was meant to be doing with my life but somewhere along the way I forgot,’ she told Metro.
‘Even when I wasn’t drawing I was always doodling – playing around with handwriting, text and doodles. I’d have the most decorative shopping lists you could imagine.’
She agrees with studies which say doodling is not merely a case of zoning out.
‘Sometimes doodling can be paying a great deal of attention,’ she said.
‘Doodling through classes or meetings can often result in pages, spreads or maps that have both illustrated the subject and stored it away in our memory in a much more effective way than taking down notes.
‘Doodling is a way of developing creative ideas. I often find that my preparatory doodles for a finished drawing are much more interesting than the drawing itself.’
Next month sees the return of National Doodle Day, run by charity Epilepsy Action. Now in its tenth year, the event asks people to draw a doodle to raise money to support those with epilepsy.
Illustrator Neil Hanvey, from Manchester, is another keen doodler. He says anybody can do it.
‘You don’t need to be a great artist to doodle – you just need a little imagination.
‘I used to doodle on the back of bingo tickets, envelopes and anything I could get my hands on.
‘When I was young it was things like tanks, guns and sci-fi monsters. Recently, I just doodle characters and just see where it takes me.
‘I zone out but that’s probably the appeal. I don’t have to concentrate too much on what I’m drawing so I can let my imagination take over.
‘For some people who never went to art school and spent years learning about composition and colour, it’s definitely a way to get into the art scene. It’s also cheap – everyone has access to a pen and paper.’
‘For people in the creative industry, it’s definitely a productive past-time. It’s a good process for sharing ideas.’
He said doodling is about following your instinct.
‘Just draw what you want. If you’re planning it out or using a rubber then you’re doing it wrong.’
Miami-based illustrator and designer OKAT is the founder of art website Doodlers Anonymous, which has more than 9,000 members. Doodling is booming.
‘I would always daydream in class, so in order to focus I would scribble in my notebook while listening to the teacher,’ said OKAT.
‘My attention span improved and I quickly got into the habit of drawing out my ideas on paper. I never put the pen down after that.’
He said his love of doodling really took off when he was the creative director of an advertising and design agency.
‘I got fanatical about seeing a concept evolve on a napkin, on a chalk board or in the margins of a creative brief. I started Doodlers Anonymous to celebrate all of that.
‘Soon after, I got encouraging emails from folks everywhere with a peek into their sketchbooks and daily post-it note doodles. Many were from people that you’d normally not associate with a creative profession and yet their sketchbooks and business meeting scribbles were just as fascinating to me.
He said the beauty of doodling was that ‘it’s an art form that literally has no form and no specific medium or style that clearly defines it’.
He added: ‘I don’t think there is any true formula to what makes a good doodle. I’ve featured pages that look like they could hang in a museum and others that were improvised on a random business card.’
Ms Joseph said: ‘I don’t know if there is an art to doodling. I see it as a meditative practice. Like meditation, when doodling I acknowledge my thoughts but try to go beyond thinking.’
http://metro.co.uk/2013/01/30/love-me-doodle-is-doodling-good-for-our-brains-3371766/
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