Long-time friend of DA, Mr. Jess Smart Smiley is making a children's book he's quite passionate about. It's not often that I post about Kickstarter type projects, but I couldn't help falling in love with his cute monsters and playful scenes. The book is titled, Rumpus on the Run, and is Kickstarter's first "look-n-find" book.

Lucky for us, Jess passed along some of his sketches from over the years. Take a look below and make sure to check out his Kickstarter page, the rewards especially, he's even offering to draw some of you right into the book ;)

Some of my favorite moments working on Doodlers Anonymous is when we extend ourselves beyond the internet to produce something unique and tangible and born from the art of our community.

This week we published our second coloring book. I am thrilled and I'm pretty sure you will be too. I promise that you've never seen a coloring book quite like it. With every page turn you'll discover another style of drawing by a different artist. 60 of them to be exact.

It's now for sale at doodlersanonymous.com/coloringbook (get yourself or your best friend a copy). It will soon appear at a few boutique shops around the globe too. If you'd like to carry it in your shop or know somewhere that should, drop us a line.

Much love and respect to our stellar community of artists and aficionados. It's been a pleasure hosting all of you.

You'd normally be offended if someone insulted you, and you'd probably be doubly offended if you'd had to pay for the privilege. But if Mr Bingo insults you, you're one of the lucky ones. Every time Mr Bingo advertises new slots for his Hate Mail project they sell out in a few minutes. I've tried to get myself some Hate Mail 3 or 4 times now with no joy.

The idea is simple. You pay Mr Bingo a tiny sum (I can't remember how much off hand) and he sends you an original… hand-drawn… one of a kind… insult!



Which means the purchaser gets a signed original drawing, the postman gets a laugh and a story to tell his mates, and the whole world is a little happier. It definitely makes me a little happier to see new Hate Mail examples pop up around the internet.

And if you're unlucky in your quest for Hate, like me, you are now IN luck. Because some of Mr Bingo's favourite Hate Mail has been collected in his new book which is imaginatively titled, Hate Mail. The book will be available October 11th, and if you follow Mr Bingo on twitter he's been announcing a bunch of (UK) dates where he will be doing book signings and things like that.

I've been drawing my whole life, but often I find myself stuck staring at a blank page wishing for some kind of push to get me going. As a creative, momentum is everything. Once I settle in, I feel like I can draw for hours and never stop, but getting there is always the challenge.

If you can relate, then you need to be friends with Lisa Currie. Lisa is the queen of drawing prompts, a muse in a way. She has this incredible ability of presenting you with a guided challenge (and constraint) from just a few simple black lines and a short phrase, but don't mistake that for meaning there's a lack of sophistication to the task. It's specifically that simplicity that encourages the most creative and aesthetic responses.



She'll posts prompts and submissions weekly over at the Scribble Project's blog, but now there's something way better. The folks at Perigee (a division of Penguin) have published 192 pages of her quirky and imaginative doodle sheets, and they've declared it: The Scribble Diary. I love this book because I can carry it with me anywhere and find that it's constantly the spark I need to put my pen to paper.






(Sample Pages drawn in by Jaimeks, Lisa Davies and Takatoshi Sano)

We are lucky at Doodlers Anonymous, because Lisa is on staff here as one of our favorite contributors. We'd like to congratulate her on this book and encourage all of you to get your hands on it and play along. You'll find it to be a gem in your collection.

This half-drawn-lady in the hands of David Jablow, led to pages of pages of creativity and insane doodle greatness. On an old novelty pad, David found the above half-drawn prompt with the simple words: Do it yourself. Doodler.

So incredibly uncomplicated, but within that simple constraint David went off and drew some incredible themes of most anything you can imagine, like the inside of a spaceship to the rings of a wrestling match.

It's now a 48-page book. Love it.

If I were to envision Doodlers Anonymous as a published book, it would look damn close to the one I am about to give away.

Julia Rothman is an illustrator and pattern designer who runs the popular blog Book By Its Cover, which features a different art-related book every weekday. We've been fans of the site since day one and especially love the weekly sketchbook series.

Her latest book, Drawn In, is a peek into the inspiring sketchbooks of 44 fine artists, illustrators, graphic designers, and cartoonists. It's an incredible read, filled with insightful q&a and beautiful full-color photographs of sketchbook pages that were quite possibly never meant to be seen.

We are fans not only of the content, but because it features some of our favorite artists. Of the 44, at least 10 have been featured on Doodlers Anonymous, including the amazing Ted McGrath.

Friends of DA, we are giving this great book away. To be in the running, just leave a comment with the title of a book you bought because of its cover. We'll pick a winner from the hat. Comments close June 15th (Wednesday) at 2pm Eastern. Good luck everyone;...and for those of you that can't wait, get your hands on the book today. It deserves to be on your coffee table.

And the winner is: Robyn Wells. Congrats!

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Mr. Fender this weekend, Vaughn Fender that is. He met me at the coffee shop across the street from my apartment (I am so lazy but shhh...don't tell him that). We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and sharing stories. He was sporting a back pack filled with goodies, including this book (it's actually a very thick magazine). He told me it is one of the books he always grabs when he needs to get inspired. And after flipping through the pages, I agreed. So although this book is a bit of an oldie, we both urge you to get it in your hands if you don't already have it. It's page after page of drawings and scribbles and all things doodle-icious.