If artists were to have some quasi-phobia of anything, it would perhaps be the fear of blank space. A white wall or a blank page of a notebook would probably trigger some inner outrage, a mental panic that can only be calmed by having a marker in hand…ready to attack, ready to create, ready to make sense of what appears to be nothing.

One of the simplest ways to consume space is through doodling. Spontaneous, raw, and free flowing, doodling is probably the most forgiving form of art –no need for special mediums and equipment, no rules (therefore, no mistakes), no highfaluting abstract messages or ambiguous interpretations required. It is what it is, and a group of Filipino doodlers, aptly named WeeWillDoodle, have been celebrating this fun activity as a collaborative form of performance art since May of 2007.

Everything started with a piece of paper for these graphic artists. “The group started doodling collectively on a piece of notebook paper that was passed around during one boring day at the office,” Jhoan Medrano, one of the group’s core members shares. “But after several doodling sessions, we then decided to take it to a much larger scale by opening our first exhibit at F*art Gallery and putting up 50 feet of craft paper filled with our unique and imaginative characters. Surprisingly, it gained so much attention that we decided to call our group WEEWILLDOODLE (added “E” on We to make it fun as in wee!) Core members are: Nelz Yumul, Jhoan Medrano, Paolo Ferrer, Kyx Castaneda, Angela Angeles, Julius Sebastian, Oliver Sarmiento, and Brendan Goco.

The group’s goal is to make art fun and stress-free by simply drawing whatever comes to mind. After all, that’s what doodling is all about… just a mindless activity that doesn’t need a lot of concentration. But they’ve turned in their measly notebook paper for bigger, blanker papers and walls. What used to be just “scratch” work has transitioned into becoming personalized, one-of-a-kind wall art. Now, they’ve been commissioned to doodle on murals for apartments, restaurants, and other commercial establishments.

Watching the doodlers do their work is almost like taking a trip back to childhood where crayons and markers were the weapons of choice and everything blank and bare would pass as paper. A star here, a cloud there, and a miniature robot in between, it’s a no holds barred kind of an activity –one that is not meant to be done all by your lonesome but created through a collaboration between creative, almost quirky individuals. They don’t even discuss their individual tasks during a doodling session. Almost in a trance they just doodle in harmony, each contributing his or her scribbles until they create a piece of art in unison…like jigsaw doodle pieces that come together after practicing a little bit of patience (usually for about 30 minutes).

Jhoan says, “For the 2 years that we’ve been collaborating, we kind of know how each other works…the style and the strengths. We have our own characters as well, and basically we start from there. We respect each other’s doodles and we connect it in such way that it will look cohesive. Most of us are graphic designers. That is why perhaps we know how to balance it all. Angela adds, “The group’s aim is to push the limits of creativity by fusing these separate and distinct elements into one cohesive art piece. This is achieved by using various “connectors”—doodles/drawings that link one character to another.”

Recently, WeeWillDoodle participated in Yahoo! Philippines Project purple –a social movement rallying Filipinos (online and offline) to be Purple and be more creative through the web. Up for grabs for Yahoo! users was an exclusive Honda Jazz car sporting purple artwork created by WeeWillDoodle. “It was fabulous!” Jhoan enthuses. “We had a lot of firsts during that campaign: first time to doodle in a museum in front of media people during the launch, first time to doodle on a car, and I think that was awesome! It was also our first time to use purple metallic pen, first time to work on such a huge project that involved coordinating with different agencies from here and Singapore.” Angela shares in the excitement as well. “We’ve worked on a variety of mediums—shoes, shirts, walls, vinyl toys, and even on human skin, but the most exciting so far is doodling on the car!”.

On some occasions the WeeWillDoodle team will hold art activities in shopping malls, as part of their advocacy to bring out the artist in everybody, to let loose, and to just doodle away. Doodling for them is the doorway to art –a simple, accessible way to exercise creativity. Kids and the kids at heart have picked up their markers and have joined the team in doodling. But Jhoan confesses that some do feel a bit intimidated at first. “The usual initial reaction for people we invite to doodle is that they’ll first refuse. It’s either they feel shy or they think they don’t know how. But the moment they start, you can’t get their pens back. It’s fun when it’s collaborative, you can connect each other’s ideas and then you have a story together. Fulfillment from this kind of art is subjective. It depends on the individual’s definition of the word.”

“Collaboration is always fun,” Angela reveals. “It doesn’t matter whether we’re doodling with members or nonmembers. What I like about it best is, when doodling as a group, we’re sharing this fun and energetic vibe that bounces back and forth until the piece is finished. So even if I’m doodling with fellow members or complete strangers, I can always count on the fact that it will always be a fun and spontaneous experience.”

So the output may be no where near a Picasso, but the spontaneity, the group effort, the simplicity and rawness of a doodle can be just as inspiring…it’s a reminder that it’s a free world and just as long there is no vandalism involved, it’s all good.

>Written by d/visible contributor Romina Tobias.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am and is filed under Graphic Arts, Culture, Illustration, Art & Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.