Doodles Unleashed: a book review

I confess, I haven't done a book review since August, 2010. At one time, I was reviewing a book about every two to three months. But here it is over a year and a half later, so a book review is long overdue.

My art friend Kathy left this book with me the last time she was in town (several weeks ago). She told me she bought it on a whim and thought it would be a great book to teach her how to make some new faces. Kathy didn't realize the book would be mostly doodles, so she was very disappointed.

I, on the other hand, had NO expectations, and NO burning desire to own this book, because doodles are a four letter word in my book. I simply don't doodle. I don't zentangle, I don't make little swirls. I don't keep drawing the same pattern over and over as I talk on the phone. I try not to grip a pen or pencil any more than I absolutely have to. I can't say this enough: I don't doodle.

HOWEVER, I have never


been able to review a book at the same time it was being passed around during an online book tour. So, I felt I needed to do it justice and ignore the fact I don't doodle. After all, I completed a couple of Traci's free lessons during the Strathmore classes. I also enjoyed watching the videos, although I was unable to access the "downloadable instructions." So, if for no other reason, I was eager to dive into this new book written by Traci Bautista and published by North Light Books, 2012.


There are only three chapters in this book, but each has several projects. Now I realize I have the most horrible camera in the world, BUT this was one book that was hard to read due to the various font styles Traci chose. Just look at the font in the promo photo above and you will see how much of the book is illustrated.


The page on the right was a preview of what was to come, and I was quite familiar with Traci's work. I was hoping for something new and unusual. We shall see!

As with most books of this type, this one began with the requisite materials and tools needed for creating your art. Like many artists, Traci has her recommendations, but she also advocates using found objects, and anything you can find at the dollar and thrift stores. My kind of shopping! For that, I give her a solid thumb up.


Chapter ONE was all about where we find doodle inspiration. I quickly passed through that chapter, not interested in where one would look for or find doodle love.


Chapter TWO: Organic Backgrounds. Now we're talking. I am willing to learn a new background any and every day of the week. I was ready. I was pumped!


First came "Surfaces and Backgrounds."


Next up was "Repetitive Patterns." Didn't I try this during the Strathmore class? Could this really be a background? If you look at it that way, I guess so.


Another background technique, according to Traci, is to photocopy, then cut up your own art and turn it into backgrounds. I hate to say this, but her stuff looked busy enough the first time around, much less cut up and revamped. And there's no way I could get something like that out of my inkjet printer, so a photocopy would be exactly what I would need.


The examples of the use of stencils and masks reminds me of the snowman wall hanging I made while taking Traci's free class. I do like how she used a silk flower petal as a mask in the upper right side of the completed piece.


This is an exercise in what Traci calls her "Collage Canvases," pieces that are built up using old photocopies, papers, cardboard, and photos. In the exercise above, she uses modeling paste to build up the background and keeps the palette neutral.


Traci also gives a nod to digital art, where she includes examples of merged layers and exercises to stretch your imagination. I'm not sure I would use these as backgrounds, but that's the chapter all these techniques are filed under.


Here is where Traci gets into dollar as well as thrift store finds. She even suggests what to use.


More of Traci's collage paper techniques are shown here, this time emphasizing the doodling tool.


Now we get to the reason my friend Kathy bought the book in the first place. She said she thought it was all going to be about drawing faces, but I personally like Kathy's faces better than the ones I see in this book. And since I can't draw a realistic face, I know I could NEVER draw a stylized one.


I guess art really IS in the eye of the beholder, since I simply can't wrap my head around these faces. This one just creeps me out. To me, it looks like a lady who has put on too much makeup and is now crying it all away. Of course, I can just hear those of you who love this kind of art, telling me I need my head examined.


One thing I DO like is graffiti. If done tastefully and with respect, it can make a powerful statement. In fact, I am considering finding graffiti in my own town and photographing it. Of course, that presupposes I have a decent camera to capture the art.

I must have looked at that above image a dozen times, and even more as I was sizing, cropping, and uploading it to Photoshop. And yet, looking at just the right angle, at this very moment, I finally saw the woman represented in the image on the right side of the page.


This page really and truly interested me. I had no idea as I looked at it, that each letter was created on a full size sheet of watercolor paper (9" X 12").


Here Traci explains how she got the look of each letter using various tools and techniques. For those of you who love to doodle, and/or love alphabets, this book is worth the price for these few pages alone!


The final page is all about the author. What I really like about this book is also what I don't care for. Traci Bautista is the sole author of this book. She doesn't rely on any "guest" artists. This book is ALL her doing, her ideas, her doodles, her art. I like that because there are times when guest artists seem more involved and make better art than the named artist (the artist whose name is on the cover of the book). Not so with Traci's book.

But ultimately, I didn't really care for the fonts chosen for this book. I have to blame that on Traci, because she must have had input on all that font. It all looks so "her." Some of it was difficult to read. The black fonts were quite easy to read, but some of the paler type was a bit more difficult, especially in low light. And some of it reminded me of that new bubble type font Blogger is using for Word Verification!

I did like Traci's easy going style and understandable instructions. I didn't get lost in her instructions once (and that is saying something, since I often have to read instructions several times to make sense of them). All in all, I would have to recommend this book IF and ONLY IF (that's a math term, by the way) you like to doodle. Although I don't believe I learned anything truly new, I enjoyed skimming the book and reading about a few backgrounds in detail. I hate to admit that many of Traci's doodles look the same to me, but I don't claim to understand the subtle complexities of doodling. Again, I can't really be as supportive of, or enthusiastic about, this book as someone who loves to doodle. But for all you doodlers, it will probably be a fun book to add to your collection and keep on your art bookshelf.