“Neuron” pen and ink by mayah ©2013
“Chromosome” pen and ink by mayah ©2013
These are examples of what I call “Doodle Art”. I like to create these late at night; I get into bed and prop myself up with pillows. I take a plain white sheet of 11 X 8.5” paper and place it on a notebook in my lap. I draw using a regular blue or black ball point pen. I have no concept of what I’m going to draw before I’ve drawn it. After the drawings are complete, I look at them and the first word(s) that pop into my head is what I name them. “Neuron” wasn’t named until two days after I drew it. “Chromosome” popped into my head as soon as the drawing was complete; earlier in the day I had been talking to a family member about DNA, chromosomes, and genes but had “forgotten” about it by the time I went to bed. My unconscious mind obviously remembered!
“Neuron” was initially drawn with my eyes open; “Chromosome” was initially drawn with my eyes closed. When my eyes are closed, I let the pen wander. The drawings are simple but take a long time to complete, from initial thin ball point pen ink line to fleshed out with more ink and then outlined with a fine tip micron black ink pen. When I am drawing, I do not think of anything in particular; if thoughts come up I just let them pass by. Usually I’m not thinking of anything at all, just focusing on what I’m doing. I have no feeling of time passing as I’m drawing; I’m always surprised with how long a drawing takes! “Chromosome” took 2 hours from start to finish.
Although I call this “Doodle Art” one could as easily call it “meditative art”. The idea is not to create a masterpiece; after all, they are simple line drawings, but to access part of the brain not usually accessed. I find it very relaxing.