Doing it with doodle

Unique hobbies

It was an online post on a social media platform that triggered Kirti R, a software engineer, to explore the world of doodling. The fine detailing and the beauty of the art mesmerised her and she took it up for a brief time. Little did she know that this would transform the way she looked at art itself.

Kirti started working on doodles a year back. “A post on Mother’s Day in 2015 showed a work with the title ‘doodle’ on it. I got curious and researched about it. That’s when I read up about doodling and found it interesting,” she says. ‘Doodling’ means drawing anything, like one does when in a boring class or when lost in one’s thoughts.  Kirti smiles, “I took it to a more serious level by trying zen doodling or zen tangles. This art form involves a lot of circular motions and tangles, in patterns and designs in repetitive style, to complete a work.”

Kirti draws and then fills up a design with details and patterns. “I keep researching on what to work on. I came upon the various versions in zen doodling and found it fascinating. I started off with my first frame, which had letters on it. My patterns were inspired by ‘mehendi’ designs, as I didn’t know what to work with initially,” she says. Kirti moved on to work on Disney characters as she was always impressed by the princesses in their stories. “I even had one in which I worked with ‘Batman’, as I like superheroes too.”

She likes keeping her themes varied. “I’ve worked on an eagle, a girl and even a small house . I don’t like following themes as that restricts creativity. When an image fascinates me and I can imagine it well with patterns on it, I work on it. This can happen when I am surfing through the internet or see something around me,” says Kirti. The young professional wants to keep working on people, as to her this means adding more detailing to a character. “I have worked on an image of actor Audrey Hepburn, another on singer Elvis Presley and yet another on pop star Michael Jackson,” she says.

Though Kirti doesn’t find time to delve into her hobby every day, she says that when she has some time to spare, one can see her at her desk, sitting with a frame or paper and ink and pen. “Each medium has its own challenges. The time spent differs on the size of the medium and the complexity of the design. While it might take only a couple of hours to finish something on paper, it could take days on other mediums. I love using fine-tip pens and gel pens as this creates perfect designs.”

Kirti has even doodled on a helmet. “My friend had an old helmet with him. I used sandpaper and then repainted it fully with acrylic colours. After that I sandpapered it again and then drew some designs on it. The challenging part was when I had to fill in the design as it was a circular surface,” she details. Kirti made a cone with a thin tip and filled it with acrylic paint and used that to make the design.

Kirti looks forward to working on real-life faces in her doodle frames. “It is easy to work on images from the internet but I want to work on faces of people I know.” Her hobby has been inspiring her to push her creativity. “Doodling needs a steady hand. Also when one is working on it, it ups one’s concentration levels. As a hobby, doodling has helped me express myself and relax in the best possible manner,” she sums up.

(Kirti can be reached at [e-mail])