Craft-a-Doodle: 75 Creative Exercises from 18 Artists by Jenny Doh is published by Lark Crafts (who sent me a review copy) and retails for $19.95 in the US and $21.95 in Canada. Amazon sells it for $12 to $10 US. The back cover has a tag line that says “Where Drawing Meets Play,” and that is what came to mind while I was looking through this book. Many of us doodle as a way to keep ourselves occupied and awake when we are sitting in a boring meeting , but the focus of this book is to use the idea of doodling as a method for exploring the art of drawing, but near the end of the book, it also crosses over into other crafts a little like embroidery and altered books.

Before you dismiss this book because you are not much of a drawing artist, that is really a non-issue because many of the various exercises step you through the drawing process using very rudimentary sketching skills. For example, one exercise shows how to draw an owl, and you start by drawing a large U. I think most of us can do that. Some exercises like the owl and doodle cup cake are very specific and show you how to draw the item step by step. Others are more methodology rather than exact steps. The “Sweet Combination” exercise has you start with a list of words, and then you collaborate with a partner to turn this into an art piece.

Each exercise starts with a prompt, and then guides you through a process from there, which includes step drawing and finished art pieces to view. I think this book would appeal to someone who has wanted to pick up some drawing techniques but was not sure how to get started, and it obviously would fit in with in with anyone who enjoys paper arts and, of course, doodling.