Filipino graphic artists turn blank walls into artistic murals, promoting
doodling as a way to cultivate creativity.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES REUTERS -

One group of artists in Manila cannot resist a blank wall and a
bunch of magic markers.
    In a span of thirty minutes, they can spontaneously create a mural of
doodles, without planning or practice.
    With day jobs as graphic artists for a television network, they would
doodle on their notebooks to flesh out ideas.
    Soon, one of them thought that their pages of doodles could be
magnified and exhibited.
    Last year, they formed the group WeWillDoodle, and they are
commissioned to work on wall murals in apartments and restaurants.
    The group believes that doodling is the doorway to art.
    "Doodling is the basic building blocks of art. Before you can make
a grand masterpiece, you have no choice but to start with doodles. So in that
sense, it seems that the instinct to create is so basic," said Paolo
Ferrer, co-founder of WeWillDoodle.
    The art is as much in the process as it is in the end-product. During
the free flow session, they draw whatever comes to mind and build on each
other's ideas -- a cloud here, a mushroom there. It's as if only mind were at
work. 
    Pino Restaurant in Manila hired WeWillDoodle to create a wall mural.
The owner says the drawings spice up their otherwise plain interiors.
    "We commissioned their group to perform their art work. It's like
music, you hire a musician to do his thing. You don't interfere," said
Paolo Peralta, co-owner of Pino Restaurant.
    On a recent weekend, WeWillDoodle held an art activity in a shopping
mall, as part of their advocacy to encourage more people to doodle. Unlike
fine art only appreciated in museums, doodling is more accessible, they say.

    They believe that anyone can doodle, and everyone must doodle, for art
and creativity can save many from woes. 
    "Imagine if everyone were drawing and all people were creative, we
could stay away from most problems. We would not get into drugs. We would not
fall into awful vices," said WeWillDoodle founder Lionel Yumul.
    Curious children joined in, fighting for magic markers and space on the
two-sided wall.
    "It's really fun. It's just something new for me, seeing other
people's drawings. That's all," said seven-year-old Rodney Perez.   

    Jhoann Medrano, co-founder of WeWillDoodle, says that while they can
teach children how to draw, they too can learn a thing or two from them about
doodling.
    "When you've been to art school, you follow certain rules such as
form, line, etcetera. But not the kids. What they do is the real kind of
doodling, it's what comes to their minds. So we learn from them," Medrano
said.
    The group has taken doodling to a beach party, corporate events and
outreach activities, and they hope that as more people doodle, more ideas are
brought to life.