I stumbled upon Mr. Doodle‘s Instagram page a couple of years ago, when his page had less than 100,000 followers. Since then, I’ve followed his journey of creating a countless number of doodles across the world. It’s easy to find yourself in a trance while watching videos of him at work.
With now over a million followers on Instagram and a relentless doodling schedule, I was happy to have gotten in touch with Sam Cox, a.k.a. Mr. Doodle, to learn more about the world he created.
Read our Q & A below.
1. Tell us about yourself.
My name is Mr Doodle, I’m 24 years old and I am from Kent in England.
2. At what age did you start doodling?
I have been doodling for as long as I can remember. I think I learnt to doodle in the same way I learnt to breathe, it just came instinctively. I’ve loved being able to express myself in that way since before I could walk.
3. When did you become Mr. Doodle?
January 2015
4. What was your first doodle masterpiece?
I covered my bedroom with paper doodles the first time when I was 9.
5. What is the biggest piece you’ve doodled?
There is a tunnel in London that I doodled a few years ago and that’s probably the longest. The tallest was a school wall in Brussels.
6. What’s your favorite piece you’ve ever doodled?
I think it might be my temporary doodle shop in Old Street, London because the video of me doodling got seen by lots of people online so it’s significant for me.
7. When you’re doodling large pieces, do you improvise the entire time or do you ever plan ahead?
This always depends on the subject of the piece. Usually in my day to day sketchbooks I make up these worlds where it’s completely improvised. I have different levels of improvisation though, for instance when I doodled Donald Trump I made the piece about America, so all the doodles were very considered. That being said I never know where everything is going to go as I work on each doodle individually. I don’t know how the final image will look until it’s complete, it’s a journey each time and I am taking a walk through the drawing and discovering new things all the time.
8. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve doodled in one sitting?
50 hours.
9. What is Doodle World?
DoodleWorld is my vision of the world. It has always been my idea to create a collection of artworks that express my desire to doodle over everything and DoodleWorld is my exhibition that does just that. It’s on show at Ara Art Center in Seoul, South Korea, and it’s on for 10 weeks. It features my doodles consuming icons like the Mona Lisa, The Sphinx and Donald Trump. I challenged myself with these works by applying my doodle virus to various subject matters that I believe takes doodling to a different realm. It was so much fun to create and I hope people have as much fun exploring the show as I did creating it.
10. Tell us about Dr. Scribble.
Dr. Scribble is my evil twin who draws with his left hand! His scribbles are composed like mine and flow everywhere over everything. However they aren’t happy and friendly like my doodles, instead they are evil and twisted. The characters are all attacking each other with weapons and tying up the weak and the innocent in horrible cages and prisons. Everything in Dr Scribble’s world is either scary or scared. The scribbles are all created in negative, in theme and style. Dr Scribble is my menacing twin who sometimes manages to escape for long enough to invade my exhibitions! He even has his own hidden room in DoodleWorld!
11. Which other artists do you take inspiration from?
Walt Disney, Picasso, Bob Ross and lots more. The whole world is an inspiration.
12. If you could give any advice to other artists, what would it be?
Find what you love to do most and sell it.
13. What upcoming projects can we expect from Mr. Doodle next?
Doodling on an even bigger scale! Whole towns of doodles! And much more online doodle video content to be enjoyed by doodlings all over the universe!
Thank you, Mr. Doodle, for giving us more insight into the mastermind behind the doodle universe. Many may not think of doodling as a fine art at first glance. However, you have taken doodling to the next level. Your candor and motivation for doodling is inspiring to those who aspire to do what they are passionate about, whatever that may be. I look forward to seeing you continue your journey of bringing your doodles to life.
Follow Mr. Doodle on Instagram.
Follow Dr. Scribble on Instagram.
