When I feel vaguely creative — when I want to sketch or write, but have nothing specific in mind — these loopy doodles are one of my go-to options.
When I was about ten years old, living in a trailer in Florida with my extended nuclear family, my Mom introduced me to these doodles. Some of my favorite memories of that time are when she and I would retreat to her bedroom to draw, or play chess, or design our “dream house” on graph paper. She’d make a giant loopy doodle on a full sheet of graph paper, then we’d both dive in with colored pencils.
I still enjoy making these doodles so many years later, partly because it’s meditative, but also because it reminds me of those quiet times spent with my Mom.