What day is it?

It is celebrated every year on March 7 Doodle Day. On this day, famous people in the fields of music, cinema, sports, and art take up pencils, paints, and pens and make interesting thematic sketches. Later, these essays are sold on eBay for three days, and the money collected as a result of this event goes to the research of the serious disease of epilepsy and the development of methods to combat it. People with epilepsy also receive financial support. These March events, which take place in the first decade of the month, take place every year. The first doodle day took place in 2004.

How did the idea to celebrate Doodle Day come about?

The very word “doodle” (doodles) originated in the 17th century and indicated simpletons or fools. Etymologists believe that the English word “dudl” comes from the German “Dudeldop” – a simpleton, and the verb “dudl” in the 17th century had a meaning that spoke for itself – “to deceive”. Today, this word is used for politicians who made many promises, but did nothing for their constituents. From this, the verb “doodle” appeared, that is, “to do nothing.”

What is a doodle?

Sketches, doodles, doodles… In simple words – sketches. The word “doodle” is translated from English as “sketches in the fields”, “scribbles”. Drawings in doodle style have their own characteristic features – simplicity, strokes of the same thickness, funny cartoon images. On the other hand, there are no elegant lines used in sketches.

Doodle (Doodle) is also the logo of the Google search engine, stylized on the occasion of some holiday or event. More than 4,000 doodles have been created by the corporation’s artists over the years. Clicking on the doodle will take you to the appropriate search page for the event or holiday. A whole team of talented artists (doodlers) and engineers is working on the creation of holiday logos. The goal is to make the search engine page brighter, to please users.

Another meaning of this word is doodles. This is a sketch made by a person at a time when he is focused on something else. For example, funny pictures drawn during a boring conference. Images are quite simple, they can have a certain meaning or consist of abstract images and lines. Such drawing is often associated with pictures of children who, due to a lack of visual-motor coordination and children’s understanding, cannot make sketches within the limits of a specific line art. Despite this, similar creations can be seen in the works of adults who make sketches out of boredom. These are drawings made by students in the fields who are bored in class, or sketches during long meetings and phone conversations.

In popular doodle you can find caricatures of colleagues, comrades, teachers, movie heroes, performed in a comical animated way. You can also “doodle” landscapes, geometric shapes and interesting scenes.

How does doodling affect the overall development of a person?

A scientific article was published in the journal “Applied Cognitive Psychology”, which talks about the benefits of sketches for memory development. When a person is focused on drawing, it helps him to focus more on a specific subject, and his attention is not distracted by extraneous topics and dreams. The study was conducted by Professor Jackie Andreyd of the School of Psychology at Plymouth University. The results were amazing: the group of people who drew remembered 30% more information than the group who didn’t draw.

Sketches improve understanding. Thus, visualization of information allows a better understanding of the studied material. During drawing, parts of the brain are involved that improve information processing. That is why drawing is an effective tool for deeper understanding and memorization.

In addition, doodling helps relieve mental tension and stress. Therefore, it is not for nothing that drawing is part of art therapy, which allows a restless person to stop, focus on a specific subject and calm down.

Famous doodlers

Sketches in the margins are often found in notebooks Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. In them, the great poet drew profiles of his friends. Pushkin’s notebooks are considered real works of art. In the film “My favorite time”, which was released in 1987, director-animator Yuriy Norshtein animated Pushkin’s sketches.

Rabindranath Tagore – another famous figure who was fond of doodling. The famous Bengali and Indian writer, poet, playwright, composer, Nobel Prize laureate made interesting funny sketches in his manuscripts.

However, “doodles” were admired not only by poets and writers, a famous mathematician also showed a knack for drawing Stanislav Ulam, who sketched while bored at long mathematical conferences. And not for nothing, because this is how the Ulam spiral appeared for the representation of prime numbers.

How to celebrate Doodle Day?

Despite the interesting history of doodling, the purpose of the holiday is not just to make a beautiful sketch. It is necessary that the drawing be bought, and the money earned be spent on charity. To make the most of this day, we recommend taking the following steps:

1. Make a sketch – a portrait, a landscape, an image of your favorite movie or cartoon character, etc.
2. Put it up for sale. For example, famous personalities place their creations on the eBay trading platform.
3. In the event of a successful sale, make a donation for the treatment of patients.

In this way, you will not only have an interesting time, appreciate your drawing skills, but also help those who need help.

When will we celebrate Doodle Day?