They say that too much television can turn your brain to mush – but for Mr Doodle, the fanciful worlds of SpongeBob SquarePants and Tom and Jerry served as inspiration to evolve his childhood scribbles. Now his works of art shoot up walls in the UK and across Europe, bringing playfulness to offices across the globe. Here, we talk to Mr Doodle about his artistic journey.
What’s your artistic style?
I would describe my style as ‘black-and-white graffiti spaghetti’, because it wraps and tangles around surfaces and various objects, kind of like how spaghetti loops and sits. My style is full of weird and fun characters and patterns that all exist in a world that I call Doodleland. I try and make everything happy in Doodleland, so that people enjoy looking at my work.
Did you doodle as a kid?
I was inspired to draw a lot of things as a child. My work didn’t become particularly good until I was around 10 or so, but I loved drawing. I made my own design for a video game when I was 13 – I had all the levels, boss characters and storyline planned in a big folder full of drawings.
What would be your dream to paint?
I’d want an entire town painted in white: all the cars, lamp posts, street signs, tall buildings and roads covered in white paint, with small factories, shops and houses all prepared in pristine pearl white ready to be covered in my doodles. I’d film the whole thing as a huge production, in the form of a crazy time-lapse from flying drones, cameras within the town itself and tripods on wheels that would follow me down the streets as I’d doodle them. The whole thing would be live-streamed so that people all around the world could watch it happen day by day, and could comment the kinds of things they’d like to see in the doodles.
What’s your tip for making art a viable career?
Just try as hard as you can [and] you will give off the energy you put in. I would personally prioritise quantity over quality when making work, and become more concerned about how much you’re doing, rather than the quality of your work. This will help you meet quick deadlines and prepare you for any creative-block issues you may face on the way.
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