Craft-a-Doodle | I’m in another American Craft Book

Yes, I’m published in a book! You will find my name, photos of my notebook and my doodles in the new Jenny Doh book, called Craft-a-doodle. It’s just out on the market and I got an advance copy that I’ve been enjoying for a few days. I’m really proud to be in this book. The yummy cover, with its embossed title and pretty colours, is so inspiring to me. And the content inside is too. I’m in good company here, with 17 other artists – some of which I have been a fan of for years and years. Together we’ve come up with 75 (!) creative exercises for you to try!

I might write a real review later, but for now I just want to “think about this” for a while! I’m in yet another American book, and that is quite amazing to me. I can’t really wrap my head around these things. Because, hey, I’m not best known for my doodles or drawing skills am I? If known at all I think it must be for blogging consistently for eight years or filling volume after volume of art journaling, where collage is more protrudent than anything else. But drawing? Not much.

When I got an email from the famous Jenny Doh, who has compiled a whopping number of books showing other people’s work through the years, asking me if I wanted to be one of the contributors to her new book? I hesitated. But then I said yes. Yes please Mam!

I don’t know what criteria she used when picking people to ask, but the contributors of this book is kind of a strange mix. Some are professional (amazing!) illustrators, and you can tell by their work that their stuff is drawn with a steady and secure hand. Others, not as pro or steady… Personally I can’t even draw a line as pretty as Cori Dantini or come up with funny stuff, like my favorite cartoonist Gemma Correll, seam to do on a daily basis.

To start I really hesitated about saying yes, I’ll admit it, even at the time I had no idea who the other artists would be, all featured along with me. I think that you really can’t teach doodling, and I still think that. Mindless doodling can’t be taught… It’s in the word; it’s just doodles, random marks on paper. If you do them, you can. If you’re not inclined to doodle, then you won’t…. But as with everything else in a creative life, I think that anything that can inspire you is a good thing! If looking at my doodles will inspire you to give it a try, I am the first to applaud that and encourage you!

So once I gave the project some thought, I wanted to contribute with my wonky style to show that you don’t need to be an illustrator to have fun while drawing and doodling! I think the point of a book like this one is to encourage people who don’t think that they can even doodle (and everyone can do that) to give it a try. And as I’ve already tried some of the exercises in the book I can just tell you, it is super cool to copy a style and learn something new in the process! Because the text invites you to copy, I’m inspired to do so.

The books purpose seam to be to explain, and show, how easy and fun it is to craft a doodle. Right? To give some ideas of things to try, and also explain that these are starting points that work for someone else. Why not give it a try?

I’m actually surprised how much I like this book already. And seeing it in person makes me so happy to be one of the contributors! I will not get paid for taking the time to come up with prompts, writing them down, drawing them and sending them in, or even helping with the marketing by writing a text like this one, though I did receive a free copy from the publisher Lark Crafts. Yay free books!

I remember sitting outside with my Safari fountain pen and Moleskine journal slowly and carefully drawing my doodles on a cream coloured blank page – trying not to smudge the ink or mess up the page. This was in the beginning of 2012 I think, and since then I’ve kept quiet about my traveling notebook that now, after being in the US for its photography session, has come back to me!

I guess the biggest reason for me to be invited to contribute to a book like Craft-a-Doodle must be because I have this blog, though I haven’t asked Jenny why why. Having a blog makes it, at least a possibility, for the right people to find you… Or so I’ve heard. Though the real reason for having a blog will always be the joy of sharing, for me. Thanks for being here!

Today I also took the time to create a new page about where I’ve been Published previously (in books, magazines and online). Check that page if you want to know the reason of this posts title – yet another American craft book… And I’ve also updated the page about books that I have Self-Published.

Yay me!