Doodle Pipidae
05-05-2026 at 12:22 pm
Summary: This page is the main workbook page for my watercolor journal “Doodle Pipidae.” Here, you’ll find ideas, thoughts, and experiences as I work through this project.
Image by SimoneVomFeld from Pixabay and cropped in GIMP
By Brian Gratwicke - Flickr: Xenopus laevis, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23752908
Aquatic Frogs
Purpose
This sketchbook is a place for me to explore with heavily wet media. I frequently don’t use actually good, 100% cotton watercolor paper, so I want to explore that media.
Structure
- Tests show that I can do heavy washes on front and back.
- I’ve decided to include borders for all the pieces in this book…though that’s just for large ink washes. Acrylic marker foregrounds can go over border.
Sketchbook Goals
- Practice watercolor skills. I never feel comfortable doing watercolor so I need to accept that my watercolor sketches will suck. That’s ok. Practice.
- Test all sorts of water media. Watercolor, acrylic inks, India inks, acrylic paints, gessoes. And experiment with them together.
- Finish.
Sketchbook Rules
- No tearing out pages. Let be what will be…unless tearing out pages (or pieces of pages) is part of the art piece. Then it’s ok.
- Experiment with abstract art. Do things I haven’t tried before. Combine abstract art with doodles to see where I can push my skills.
- Be truly mixed media. This is part of the experimentation. I have a lot of art supplies, I should use them.
- Learn from mistakes, don’t dwell on them.
List Of Stuff I Like Drawing or Using
(Also a list of art block breakers!)
| Subject | Description |
|---|---|
| Ink Dropper | I like using the ink dropper to draw and splatter. Makes interesting shapes. |
| Stratified Layering | A very nice technique to sooth the mind. |
| Doodle Pattern Library | Ideas for when I need them of my doodles. |
| Bricks | I like drawing bricks. And stone. And plants to juxtapose it. |
| Patterns | Just fun to have patterns. Visually nice. |
| Zentangling | A classic. |
| Plants and Flowers | Some of my favorite stuff to draw. |
| Abstract Realism | I like scribbing random lines using pens and markers (and the ink droppers) on the page and then finding realistic images within the scribbles. |
| Contrast | Love having contrast in color, shape, size, everything. |
| Meditative Practices | I like relaxing to things like maing repetative marks or patterns on a page. Like the same shape over and over, or in using colored pencils to make gradients, or using acrylic markers to make cool swooping shapes. |
Creative Workbook
Strikethrough indicates idea is officially planned as a spread.
- Heavy ink washes with lots of blooms.
- Watercolor based doodling and washes.
- Ink scribbles.
Description
Started: 05/03/26
Finished: In-Progress
A book of doodles and abstract art, experiments and fun. Specifically geared twoards wet media like watercolor and inks.
Process Notes
Progress Notes
- 00/00/00 - CONTENT
Completion Notes
- CONTENT
Pages & Planning
This sketchbook is unique in that I really like to do backgrounds separate from any foregrounds I put on top. So I’ve got the backgrounds I’ve done so far and any ideas I have for the foreground separated below.
Page Backgrounds
These are the backgrounds I’ve completed that need to be connected with my foreground ideas. I don’t know if they’ll all be used in full pieces, but at least their existence will live here.
P. 1 - The They Palette
P. 2 - Spacey
P. 3 - Broken Doodles
P. 4 - Green Trip
P. 5 - Fire
P. 6 - Ice
P. 8 - B’s Colors
Page Ideas
These are the random Ideas I have that I may want to turn into a full piece.
| # | Title | Description & Planning | Inspo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hex Code | Black gesso base with grid of rounded square tiles. Each tile colored with acrylic marker like pixelated hex color selector. Black "grout" remains. | ||
| Spectral | Poured ink best friend chose for the piece: Magenta, yellow deep, Hooker’s green, cerulean blue hue, and carbon black in Liquitex Acrylic Inks. She picked the colors I’m going to use. | ||
| Home Sweet | Layers to look like hills in front of a blue (ink) sky. | Layered Pattern Hills | |
| Don’t Spiral | Thick India ink spiral starting center moving counter-clockwise. Maybe include a bunch of lines and shapes and stuff also spiraling along. | ||
| Make Waves | Mandala-esque patterns. Cirlces and concentric rings of various colors and media filling up the whole page to ultimately look like a mandala. | Mandala Egg | |
| Graphite Circles | |||
| Doodle Layered Leaves | |||
| Boxes & Flowers | |||
| Rainbow Leaves | |||
| Agate | |||
| Doodle Leaves | |||
| Negative Painting | |||
| Giant squid in front of a big dark blue and black background. Maybe some cerulean. |  |
Index of Art Supplies
| Material | Count | Referenced |
|---|---|---|