Drive-By Drawings

Perhaps now is the time to re-examine the doodle as an art form, right up on the easel next to oil paintings. If all art is the result of outward experience enriched by the artist's inner creativity, then surely doodles qualify.

A case could be made that doodles are among the purest of art forms, since they are the result of our practical mind distracted from the creative process. They spring forth before we have a chance to anguish over color, line or composition.

Considered useless by most people, doodles have long been employed by artists as preliminary sketches for larger paintings. I am often more attracted to these uncensored drawings for their rawness and energy, qualities often missing in the finished paintings.

In my own case, there has always been an endless loop of images running through my head. When I slow down, turn my gaze inward and get out of the way, some amazing drawings emerge.

Let's just call it doodle art.