Silly Doodling by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

This is the project I take with me when I travel. It’s what I turn to when I’m stressed or in need of a smile. It’s my go-to for making postcards. And it’s the reason I get my gold and white pens by the DOZEN! 

Everything needed fits into a small zippered pouch: Quarter sheets of dark red cardstock plus white, black, gold and turquoise opaque ink pens and a paper towel or two to protect whatever flat surface I’m using under the projects – the tray on the plane, a tissue box, a book or magazine, or my trusty lap desk that has a pillow attached beneath the hard surface.

Care to join me?

1. Cut some pieces of lightweight white computer printer paper or tracing paper into quarters. Practice doodling the outlines for some imaginary flowers or whimsical animals, making sure that something in the design touches all four edges of the rectangle – hands, feet, skirts, leaves, wings, ears, heads…Don’t draw eyes or petals or any other details yet – just draw the basic outlines!

2. Using a pencil to draw very pale outlines*, trace the designs onto quarter sheets of dark red cardstock or another color like dark pumpkin, olive, or gray, but not navy or black. Put a paper towel or clean sheet of white paper under the cardstock to protect the work surface. Fill in all areas (the negative space) around the shapes with a gold opaque ink/paint pen, covering the pencil lines and extending the gold all the way to the edges of the rectangle. 

*Alternatively, if you’re feeling brave, don’t draw any outlines at all! Simply start filling in the gold AROUND where the outlines would be if you had drawn them… 

3. Now start doodling! Add faces, feathers, petals, and whatever else you think your creation needs…

4. Choose different shape rectangles and make tags, bookmarks, or other projects.

5. Use your creations as postcards, add to a card front or art journal page.

Supplies:

• Gold opaque ink/paint pens with fine and broad nibs - AKA bullet and chisel (Sakura Pen-touch)
• White opaque ink pens in various nib sizes (Sakura Gelly Roll)
• Black permanent ink pens with assorted size nibs (Sakura Pigma Micron and Pigma Graphic)
• Turquoise opaque ink pen (Sakura Gelly Roll Moonlight)
• Red cardstock
• Computer-weight or tracing paper
• Pencil