ABOUT

Ooodles of Dooodles is about making colouring pages for adults and therapeutic purposes. My love of doodling and creating my own art has been a love of mine for many years with the recent idea of turning them into colouring pages.

THE STORY

December 2014 I was in hunt of a new hobby and for christmas my mum had bought me my first adult colouring book. I loved the idea as I loved colouring as a kid but was a bit apprehensive as it was stereotypically a children's activity. After completing my first page I fell in love with colouring all over again. I loved all the intricate patterns and this inspired me to draw a lot more. A friend at work had seen my drawings and said I should make them into colouring pages and this was when Oooodles of Dooodles came to life. I created a couple of designs and shared them on my personal Facebook page and the feedback and support i got was incredible. So I went on to create a separate page and tumblr where people could go and access my colouring pages.  

BEHIND THE DOODLES

With mindfulness the buzz word of the moment, colouring in is an easy way to calm the mind and occupy the hands. Speaking at a mental health workshop in 2009, author, speaker and communication expert Mark Robert Waldman explained that active meditation focuses attention on simple tasks that require repetitive motion. Concentrating this way replaces negative thoughts and creates a state of peace, and many people who have a difficult time with concentrative meditation can find this easier. This gentle activity where you choose the colours to create your picture and the repetitive action of colouring it in focuses the brain on the present, blocking out any intrusive thoughts.