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If You Can Doodle, You Can Paint
I love little things. They are treasures that can be easily held and stored in nooks and crannies. There is nothing better than making a little book with pages that are sewn together or folded into one another (no need to bind them). These small painted books are handy when a doodle attack comes on. Store them in your pocket or bag for easy access. Be sure to also keep various pens or markers around so you will have a variety of tools to choose from while doodling. If your paper has a dark background, use a light or white pen. If the background is light, use a dark or black pen. These value contrasts make for a more dynamic doodle and create interest for the viewer. I used three folded pages, but you can use as many as you want.

Posted by Creative Publishing international • Published 14th July 2017 • See Creative Publishing international's 96 projects » © 2024 Diane Culhane / Quarry Books · Reproduced with permission. · If You Can Doodle, You Can Paint by Diane Culhane. Published by Quarry Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group (£12.99). Out now. Available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2sx9sOh

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Step 1
Apply gesso with a paintbrush to both sides of a sheet of watercolor paper. This seals the surfaces and gets them ready for acrylic paints to be brushed on top. Applying the gesso with a brush also gives the surface a brushstroke texture.
Step 2
Start with bright, warm colors of acrylic paint and cover both sides of the paper. This makes a great background for the darker markers we will be using.
Step 3
Next, cover another page with cool colors of paint, making a background for light-colored markers. Let dry.
Step 4
After the paint dries, decide what size pages you want for your book and then double the length, because you will be folding the pages in half. Any size works well for doodling. Making a larger folded book, such as 6" x 6" (15 x 15 cm), which will be 6" x 12" (15 x 30.5 cm) before folding, will give you some wiggle room. For small folded books, I like a sheet that is 3" x 41/2" (7.5 x 11.5 cm), or 3" x 9" (7.5 x 23 cm) before folding. After measuring out the pages on your watercolor paper, cut or tear the edges.
Step 5
A cut edge is clean and precise; a torn edge is a little bit raggedy and has a less refined look. To tear the edge, fold the paper first to get a really good crease. Place a straightedge on the crease and pull up on the paper to tear along the edge. I love a torn edge, as it produces a beautiful presentation. Either method works well for the finished pages of the folded or sewn book.
Step 6
Fold the pages in half and nest them together. You can sew the pages together along the spine or staple or tape them. Sometimes I just fold them into one another without binding them.
Step 7
Now you are ready to doodle to your heart’s content. On a warm or lighter background color, use a dark-colored line. On a cool or darker background, use a light-colored line.

Apply gesso to watercolor paper.
Warm colors
Cool colors
Torn edges
Cut edges
Fold the pages into one another.
Sew the pages together.
Dark line on top of warm-colored background
Filling in with colored pencils
Step 8
Taking It Further
You can also use watercolor. If you do, you do not need to gesso the paper. Let the watercolor paint flow from your brush as if it were a marker or pen.

Using the tip of a watercolor brush to doodle on ungessoed paper