Category Archives: commentary

I wrote this about a month ago originally thinking that it might be about four or five items in length. It’s now up to 37 and counting.

The Doodleslice Doodle Art Manifesto

1) Lines are movements, let them dance.
2) Accidents are beautiful.
3) Overworked is the enemy.
4) Over-thought is the enemy.
5) Smiles and laughter are not just important, they are noble, elevating, aesthetic experiences.
6) Respect the integrity of your chosen media, embrace the quirks of your chosen media.
7) Experiment!
8) Practice acceptance.
9) Respond!
10) Improvise!
11) Let people see what you make especially the pieces that make you nervous.
12) Art is Love for everybody.
13) We make art on Earth. We are Earthlings one and all and only one planet is open for business.
14) Choose Mudita over Schadenfreude.
15) Glory in color.
16) Strive to bring the feeling of color even when using only a black pen on white paper.
17) Even a single line can be beautiful.
18) Even a single line can be profound.
19) Your hand knows its business – don’t be too swift to judge it when it surprises you.
20) Doodling is openness to the essential.
21) When in doubt, draw a bird.
22) When in doubt, draw a bunny.
23) When in doubt, write a word in the middle of the page. Love is a great word to choose.
24) Believe in every line you draw.
25) When in doubt, be simple and spare.
26) When in doubt, be complex and turbulent.
27) When in doubt about starting, make a single random mark on the canvas or page.
28) When in doubt about finishing, stop and walk away. If you’re not finished you’ll know it when you come back.
29) Poems love doodles and doodles love poems.
30) Grownups deserve art that is joyful without being jaded, mawkish, ironic or saccharine. They need it at least as much as kids do.
31) Give yourself permission to put your whole heart into what you do.
32) Give yourself permission to love the silly, the whimsical, the absurd.
33) Hug unreservedly.
34) When in doubt, draw!
35) When certain, draw!
36) Draw! Draw! Draw!
37) And don’t forget to post.