Doodlers Anonymous - The permanent home for spontaneous doodle art.

November 5, 2009

Jeff Meadows

I've been finding it tricky thinking of stuff to share that's... er... 'doodley' enough to post here. Hmm doodley?! No... totally blank.

So I stopped by some favorites on Flickr ... and bang! There it was ... Jeff Meadows' bewitching photostream. But is it 'doodley'? (I'll come to that)

It's pretty hard to explain love...I can't get this work out of my head...It keeps me awake at night... you know when you see stuff and you think 'I wish I could do that'? Well this is it for me. I just want to keep coming back for another peak, to get some clues, to try and work out his secret.

Jeff creates carefully crafted 'vintage-style' pieces that are faultlessly executed and beautifully finished that end up looking like brilliantly 'casual' pieces just off-the-cuff, throwaway almost. And that's it. That's the key. That's the 'doodley-ness' right there. It's playful, intriguing, funny, ironic and simple - it retains all of the charm and wit that I'd expect from a simple sketchbook doodle, a simple freestyle line drawing... I don't know how he does it but I love it.

Jeff Meadows is The Clumsy Monkey »

Posted by uberkraaft

Tags: jeff meadows, doodle, vintage, sketchbook

13 Faves

11 Comments

Andy Gosling Posted Nov 5, 2009

Nice find, sir! Very inspiring.

Laura Barnard Posted Nov 5, 2009

Really nice, the textures in his stuff are great. I think it's easy to forget about texture so as Andy says above, really inspiring.

Jim Bradshaw Posted Nov 5, 2009

Yes. That hand drawn feel is throughout his work. And yes, it feels like it all has the spontaneity of a well crafted doodle.

nancy lili g Posted Nov 5, 2009

I do really like the texture in these, but I thought instead I would compliment the accompanying text that went with it! You, sir, have some flare to your writing that I'm not used to reading in this blog. I like it. But yes, love the textures too.

überkraaft Posted Nov 5, 2009

Aw hey... Nancy too kind! Thank you... quiet though or Okat will kick me out :p

okat Posted Nov 5, 2009

Not at all. We like folks with "flare" in their writing, but now you've set up quite the precedent for yourself :)

überkraaft Posted Nov 5, 2009

:D That's just not fare!! (sic)

jeff meadows Posted Nov 5, 2009

Wow, you guys are very perceptive! Actually I have always had a tough time creating anything on a blank surface, and have always just scrapped pieces that were running away by themselves in a direction that I would not choose myself. I also felt that last year was way to serious, and I was not enjoying the creative process as much as I have in the past. With the pieces that I have been creating latley, I have been doing just what UBERKRAAFT and almost all of you have seen. I have just been loosly drawing, or painting, DOODLING, and most importantly having fun with the piece. Sanding, buffing, and going over parts of the piece that I don't like until I get something that is kinda cool looking (rather than tossing it to the buff yard).
I grew up as a skateboarder, and spent years as a street artist, so I think these pieces often remind me of old tag walls or bathroom stalls.
Anyway, blah blah! Thanks everyone for the kind words, and special thanks to UBERKRAAFT for sharing. Boost.

überkraaft Posted Nov 6, 2009

Hey Jeff... no problem , you're welcome! There's a great tip in there too about mussing up a surface or using scrappy stuff to get you over the fear of a blank page :) ... and of course, having FUN! :D

jeff meadows Posted Nov 6, 2009

For sure. Having fun is what this is all about!