Imaginative Doodling While Listening

 

I read an interesting article about how the act of drawing, even so-called mindless doodling, affects how the brain processes information. Some evidence indicates that doodling can improve memory while listening to lectures. “Rather than think of drawing as a talent that some creative people are gifted in, we should consider it as a tool for seeing and understanding the world better — one that just so happens to double as an art form.”

As I’ve mentioned here recently, I’ve been trying to develop my skills in drawing more from my mind instead of from sight. For my current 100 Day Project, I’ve decided to focus on drawing from memory after focused observation. That’s very different from what I would call imaginative drawing, which is more along the lines of some types of cartooning: Drawing what is not observed at all.

I haven’t actively practiced that type of imaginative drawing since I took Taylor Dow’s Observational Cartooning workshop last fall, but the article I read made me recall the type of doodling I sometimes do while listening to podcasts. That type of doodling seems “mindless” in that it has no conscious content, but I do think I listen better and retain more of what I’m hearing when I sketch at the same time. I also like taking notes on the same page. The two acts together – taking written notes and doodling –seem to be a strong combo for improved information processing and retention.

The page shown here is an example of my doodly notetaking while I was listening to an interview with Felix Scheinberger on the SneakyArt Podcast.