Sunday 10 August 2014

Holiday Doodles


I have just returned from a couple of weeks away on a lovely family holiday. We had no phone signal or wifi (imagine that!) so we were forced to communicate with each other and make our own entertainment LOL! 

I used to really stress about which art materials I should take on holiday and I was never ever satisfied. I used to spend ages planning, then packing and unpacking, always stressing about which important items I may have forgotten or suddenly decide that I need while I am away. (Not to mention fitting it all in the car along with the family, my mum, the dog, the bikes, the canoe etc etc) 

Then I realised that I was kind of missing the point. You don't need a whole load of art stuff to satisfy your creative urge, you can get creative with anything, and in some ways the less you have with you the more creative you need to be.  So, now I travel light, and it's soooo much easier. I take my Art Doodle Love book (by Dawn Sokol) with me (ready made backgrounds - bonus!) and a small selection of pens and pencils, and my coloured pencils. (Most of the following pages were done with Polychromos by Faber Castell). It all fits neatly into my handbag so I can smuggle it anywhere.

In the pub, waiting for lunch ....



Most of these pages have been filled in a little at a time, growing bit by bit,  in various weird and wonderful locations as I never leave the house without 'something to do' in my bag as I can't still still for two minutes ...





And here's my latest as a work in progress, inspired by the wooden spoon dolls by daughter used to make when she was younger. I started this page at home but no doubt it will be added to in various locations until I have crammed as much as possible onto the page :-)


And finally, here's my July page finished. Woohoo! I'm on top of this thing!


Byee for now, I'm off to doodle ....

29 comments:

  1. Great pages. Your doodles are amazing. Glad your holiday went well.

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  2. Fabulous art, love your colourful pages! :D x

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  3. Beautiful work Kate. I especially like the first page with the little white houses, stunning page.
    I agree sometimes you can take too much and then are stuck.
    I hate flying, and in June when I was on a flight with Mum and Sister I pulled out a load of stamped mushrooms and outline flowers and started to Zentangle (so all I had packed was a black pen and the stamped image), cannot believe it kept me going for the whole 2 hours!!
    DebbieX

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    1. Such a great idea thanks. I am going to stamp some things before my next flight (Brisbane to NYC in October, lots of time to create in the air)

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  4. Looks like you had a fab holiday, some fantastic images created while you were away :-)

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  5. I love your art! The colors are stunning! When you make pages like "jumbled thoughts ", do you have a plan before you start, or do you fill the pages little by little with anything that comes to your mind?
    Kind regards, Karianne

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    1. Hi Karianne, Thanks for your comments :-) No, no, I never have a plan! Yes, that is exactly what I do - fill the pages little by little (sometimes over days, even over weeks) with anything that comes to mind!

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    2. Thank you for the answer. Your work is really inspiring! I ordered "Art doodle love " last week and I'm looking forward to bring it with me on holiday. :-)

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  6. Kate, I could spend HOURS looking at all of the beautiful doodles that you've created. They are delightful!

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  7. Wonderful work! I love that you say "you can get creative with anything, and in some ways the less you have with you the more creative you need to be." So true and I need to take that more to heart. I always love seeing your colorful work. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Love your suggestions on traveling with limited supplies. I usually take too many supplies myself. Love your doodle journal ideas. What kind of white pen(s) do you prefer. I've been looking for a good dependable one.
    Love your doodles! :)

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    1. Hi Beth, the ONLY white pen that consistently works well (in my humble opinion!) is the Signo Uniball in broad. I love this pen!

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  9. Love your colourful doodles Kate and sounds like a fab holiday to me ... family and doodling. :)

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  10. WOW Kate beautiful pages! Funny how much more art can be created when away from it all and just relaxing!! xo

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  11. What fantastic art holiday doodles, I love your colourful pages, really lovely! Your calendar pages are fabulous too!

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  12. I absolutely love what you have created!!! I too usually fret over what to take with me when I am away....I love how you created such gorgeous pieces with limited supplies. Very inspiring Kate!!

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  13. wonderful artpieces and for the doodle page - you were either really bored or very Patient - great that you were :)

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    1. haha! Not bored, but yes, I am patient. And being without a phone signal or wifi for 10 days miraculously gives you a few extra hours in the day ;-)

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  14. What super doodles, shows what can be achieved with next to no supplies !!

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  15. brilliant pages-love both the doodling and your girls!!

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  16. Love the doodle; the white on the pink & orange looks fantastic. Your work inspires me, as does your blog, especially since I'm new to the blog thing (only 3 posts so far). Thanks for this colourful post of yours!

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  17. I'm just catching up on blogs after my holiday, and like you, wondered what crafty stuff could I take with space limited to luggage only - trains, coaches, planes etc. So I packed a couple of pens, a pencil, rubber and pencil sharpener in a tiny pencil case, along with a small Tim Holtz District Market book to use as a diary. Each day I wrote in the diary and tried my hand at doodling. I think I got better as I went along and it gave me my crafting 'fix' whenever I needed it. Thanks for your inspiring blog, Kate, I really enjoy it!

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  18. The pages with the white pen are amazing. So simple - something most people would be willing to give a try. Of course you render it with a lot of skill, but it makes it feel really accessible. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work.

    Amy

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  19. I love these pages and they are so different from any others I have seen.

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  20. Beautiful doodles! It looks like you have a real talent, these are so vivid and creative.

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