“Doodle Diary” Trend Review

Looking at the battered, paint-splattered notebook in my hand, I get flashbacks to my spring break a few months ago. A spring break during a pandemic meant the only change of scenery I was getting was moving from my bedroom to the kitchen... and back to my bedroom. Needless to say, I was incredibly bored. 

So, I did what everybody does. I grabbed my phone and ended up wasting hours away down a shameless Youtube spiral. As I searched the corners of the internet, I came upon an interesting video by artist and Youtuber, Myriam Tillson. In it, she showed a book she had kept updated for a year, her Daily Doodle Diary.

That day I discovered what a doodle diary was. The trend is: you sketch, draw, or color one page a day in a notebook or sketchbook. The doodles can be extremely simple, like stick figures, or can be complex works of art.

Some people use them to try and improve their drawing skills, others to record their daily experiences, and others to cope with the stressors of everyday life. Any medium can be used, and it can be kept for any amount of time, although it is most commonly kept for a year. 

When I started mine during spring break, I did it for all three benefits. My goal was to use it to practice a bit of mindfulness during my day, to grow my artistic abilities, and to record the happenings and events of my life. Now it’s the beginning of summer, and I’m reviewing my experience with this trend. Did it have the intended effects, was it practical, and would others enjoy it?

The Review:

I definitely saw my mood improve, thanks to my doodle diary. It gave me something to look forward to during the day, and a chance to wind down. I ended up doing it before bed, which helped me fall asleep better as I wasn’t on any electronics.

Regarding improvement in my art, I did see some improvement in overall technique and skill. But personally, artistic improvement ended up not being as important as I originally made it out to be. As I worked through my notebook, the doodle diary became more about simply having fun and creating something, no matter how technically correct.

The art I made didn’t end up directly correlating to the events of my day. Many of my daily happenings were too hard or were, quite frankly, just too boring to recreate. Instead, my doodles were closer to a reflection of my emotional state at the time of creation. A chaotic, overwhelming day? Be prepared for a cluttered, confusing work of art. Boring but peaceful? Maybe a pot of plants. Looking through my diary has been found to be a good way to reflect on how I’ve been feeling through the months.

While I did see many benefits of the diary, practicality was a small issue. I am a person who is not the best at sticking to schedules. That meant that some days I completely forgot to doodle. Others I was simply too busy to take out even the simplest of art supplies. After all, procrastination can keep a person up for way too long to even consider drawing. In between that, I had some days where I was too exhausted or couldn’t find my notebook and so on and so forth. I could list more excuses for why my notebook has more blank pages than it should have, but it doesn’t change anything. It was difficult to get an art piece in every single day. 

Yet despite that, I’m still going to continue the art journal, because I have seriously enjoyed it. It’s an extremely cool thing to look through, and I would honestly recommend buying into this fun trend and starting your own art journal. Even if you aren’t the best artist or are terrible with sticking to schedules, it doesn’t matter. You can make this trend your own, and you don’t have to follow the “rules” perfectly.

Create whatever you want, whenever you want, in whatever medium or style. The benefits will still materialize. Make it private and have a secret, or make it more public and share it with your friends. With summer just around the corner, I’m planning on taking the doodle diary in a different direction. I’m planning on documenting the summer with my friends. In the diary, we’ll draw experiences and little but important things from our days together. If all goes well, we’ll be able to look back on it during those extra-long, bitterly cold weeks of winter when we’re all praying for summer.