Why Doodles?
Diana 
A 5-question Q&A about my children’s books publishing career, my brain injury and recovery journey to put my Humpty Dumpty pieces together again:
1. Question: "How did you start doing this?"
Answer: I’m a 30-year career children's book illustrator, turned brain injury survivor. The brain injury that I experienced impacted my vision and permanently affected my ability to draw and paint. After a decade of brain recovery and grieving the loss of my career, a friend suggested that I learn to draw digitally and offered to help.
As a traditionally trained illustrator, facing the learning curve of digital art-making was a challenge. I practiced for two and a half years until one day another friend offered to support my daily efforts by subscribing to receive my drawings digitally delivered to her email inbox, and that is how it all began. We are currently well over doodle #600 and counting— and yes, I count each one.
Diana Doodles is a nonprofit mission that is 100% donation-led, promoting self-compassion, empathy for others and a caring connection through my creative print and digital media.
2. Question: "How long does it take you to do a doodle?”
Answer: Because I invent the doodles from scratch each day, on average a doodle takes me anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to create, from concept to completion. It takes a long time. I don't notice the time so much as I notice how late it gets into the night if I get a late start!
3. Question: “Do you make a new doodle everyday or do you make a lot at one time and save them up?”
Answer:I don’t make up a bunch and bank them. I start in front of a blank white page each day and invent an idea. Usually this step takes the longest because I aim for a fresh idea. When I’m done creating one it's rare that I have time, energy or inspiration to complete another. They are one a day for me, like a vitamin.
I challenge myself to draw things that I haven’t drawn before, and I work on getting my words just right—true and to the point. I find fulfillment in simplicity. Albert Einstein said any idiot can complicate things. Jazz composer Charles Mingus said, “making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
4. Question: "How do you manage to do this every single day?"
Answer: Inventing a new doodle each day is my creative and reflective daily practice. Folks say that they can't imagine doing such a thing every day for so many days in a row, and that's why I'm convinced that this is important work. I simply want to send a virtual hug each day by email to as many people as humanly possible.
5. Question: “Why do you do this?”
Answer: Creating daily doodles helps me to feel connected to the people and things that I care about: kindness, compassion, humor, friendliness and lightness of being. For me, the daily doodles are like brain therapy, heart therapy and art therapy all rolled into one.
Now my passion has become my mission, and I make daily doodles as a means to help to soothe and uplift: to help us all get over the bumpy parts of life a little easier and to help make the bigger burdens of life feel a little bit lighter.
My daily doodle practice is a gentle daily touch and connection-point in the spirit of togetherness. An African proverb that speaks to the value of togetherness. goes like this: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Love and hugs, Diana....
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Categories: : Artistic Journey, Creative Process, Q&A