Minimum Viable Doodle

My life has seen lots of upheaval over the last couple of months. My schedule has been chaotic, and it has impacted the normal times I would be creative.

My ideas for illustrations and the newsletter content start off simple, but I always get more ideas and struggle to produce all of the illustrations that I want to create.

In the tech world, there is the concept called MVP, or minimum viable product. MVP is about creating a product with just enough features so that users can try the product out and provide feedback. Ideally the MVP helps tech teams learn and refine.

There is a lot wrong with the tech world at the moment, especially AI, but a minimum viable product is a good idea.

What if during my busy work schedule, I just tried to draw something?

This question led me to the idea of a minimum viable doodle (perhaps MVD for short). Just put some doodles on the page and don’t be precious about it. Just doodle. Once the doodles are out of my head and onto the page, I can decide which doodles I might want to refine and work on further.

Art Tools

With little time and changing schedules, I needed to limit my art tool selection, so that I could carry everything in a small backpack.

I picked the following tools to carry in my bag:

• a small Moleskine Cashiers Notebook

• two pens

• three art markers

• a couple of colored pencils

I tried to keep my supplies light. I did want to draw with traditional analog tools even though I also carried an iPad Mini for digital doodles. Taking a break from screens, even for a few minutes, helped me to meditate and get lost in doodling.

Here are a few recent pages from my sketchbook.

Maybe my minimal tool kit and approach will help you create your own minimum viable doodles.

Be kind to yourself on your creative journey.

---

Support the Newsletter

Thank you for reading my newsletter. The newsletter and illustrations take time and effort to create. You can support the newsletter and my illustrations by forwarding the newsletter to someone who would like it or by signing up for the paid version. Like ❤️ or leave a comment 💬 to help SubStack find and promote the newsletter.

You can also Buy T-Shirts, make a purchase in my digital shop, or give a one-time tip on Buy Me a Coffee.

Buy Me a Coffee (Ko-Fi.com) makes it easy to support the newsletter and my art. In just a couple of taps, you can make a contribution (buy me a coffee). It doesn’t even require you to create an account.

---

You have reached the end of the newsletter. Here is a video of the amazing illustrator and author Mo Willems using limited tools to come up with a drawing. The video may seem like it is for kids, but don’t let it fool you. It is a creative spark for doodlers and artists of all ages.