Scribble Drawings

I've mentioned my scribble drawings in the past, but I've never shown you them. They're my own personal version of the Rorschach inkblot test. While they're not scientifically backed up by any research or scientific finding, I swear by them, as do many of my friends and several random middle school kids who ride the F train with me in the mornings. Whenever I'm having trouble jump-starting my imagination I'll do a scribble drawing.

I prefer someone else do the scribble, as it keeps me honest. I want the scribbles to be wild and not at all driven or coerced. The best way to do that is to have someone else create one. I have friends in Spain and Australia who will actually email me scribbles from time to time. They love seeing the end result. Growing up I did them as parlor tricks for company. In college I sold them for a dollar a piece in Union Square.

I squint at a scribble and twist it around a bit, and then go in for the kill. After a few of them are sitting side by side, I'm back in creation mode. They get me ready to draw like mad again. They work like a charm and never fail.

Here are a few of my faves done in a scribble drawing binge with friends at Two Boots last Monday.

The red line is the scribble, the black the scribble drawing:

This one below was a collaboration with Garrett Rose. When everything was said and done, a few people could actually tell that it was a whistling beatnik. One of the great testaments to the bliss of scribble drawing is that most people watching get excited and eager to try their hand at it. Garrett jumped in on this one and started getting his sea legs.

This fun little frog guy was done by Rachel Micheal. I provided the scribble ;)


I highly recommend a scribble drawing a day. I kind of binge scribble draw these days. They will make you forget yourself, and in this crazy art world that's never a bad thing.

If you have any random scribbles lying around you want me to take a stab at,
remember I'm only a click away: info@amberalvarez.com
Afterall, I could use the help ;)