Art
Mr Doodle: get to know the Red Bull Doodle Art judge
Britain’s Sam Cox – known as Mr Doodle – will be one of the judges at the Red Bull Doodle Art World Final. Here’s a profile of the artist who created his own doodle world.
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From private collectors to commercial commissions, from his native England to Asia (and beyond), and all over the internet – Mr Doodle has made his mark on the art and pop culture scenes with bold doodles that convey a love for life. His signature red hair and doodle-covered suit will make him easy to spot on the judging panel for the Red Bull Doodle Art World Final. But to discover what makes him tick, check this out.
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Background and upbringing
While Mr Doodle has enjoyed drawing since childhood, it was at secondary school that he became “obsessed” with art, and doodling in particular.
He explains: “Along with my parents, my art teacher, Morgan Davies – who’s now my full-time creative director – encouraged me to pursue my passion for doodling. He encouraged me to develop a style of my own [and eventually] booked a gallery space and told me it was time I showed my work publicly. The experience was a pivotal point and led to me working closely with a number of big brands over the next few years while I was at university in Bristol studying illustration.”
There really are no limitations to doodling
It was during those university years that the artist developed his Mr Doodle identity, including his doodled suit and the narrative around Mr Doodle and DoodleLand, a place he made up to explain where the Mr Doodle persona comes from.
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Notable works by Mr Doodle
One of Mr Doodle’s hallmarks is how he can transform the way we see objects by blanketing them with doodles. The viral project that was perhaps most instrumental in making him a household name was literally his own house, where he doodled every surface, inside and out. Amazingly, he didn’t sketch the doodles in advance but created them in the moment.
Mr Doodle covered the entire exterior of the house with doodles
© Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images
He also doodled the interior of the house from top to bottom
© Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images
Mr Doodle relaxes in the Cloud Room
© Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images
Even the bathroom and bathtub are awash with doodles
© Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images
“I wanted the doodles in the bedroom to include mostly sleepy characters, and the doodles in the kitchen to broadly relate to food and drink. Some of the rooms upstairs have less literal themes, such as the Cloud Room and the Splash Room,” he describes. “The themes were planned in advance, but the doodles were created spontaneously as I went along.”
Another high-profile project was The Doodle Bull, a jaw-dropping showcar that was realised by covering an Oracle Red Bull Racing RB14 racecar with doodles from nose to rear wing.
“It is always exciting to doodle on an object or surface that I haven’t done before, although these situations also pose different creative challenges, which is part of the fun,” he says.
Max Verstappen, Mr Doodle and Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez with The Doodle Bull
© Red Bull Racing / Red Bull Content Pool
Mr Doodle carried out one of his most recent transformations at the STRAAT Museum in the Netherlands, where his fresh take on Amsterdam’s iconic symbol of three bold X’s was created to serve as inspiration for participants of the Red Bull Doodle Art World Final.
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Artists who have influenced his work
“There are many artists that inspire me, both past and present,” Mr Doodle says. Among them he cites Keith Haring and Banksy.
“I respect how [Haring] managed to cross the divide between the different worlds of art and graffiti, long before the ‘street art’ genre blurred the boundaries,” he notes. With regard to Banksy, he adds, “Although my work is in no way political and my identity is anything but anonymous, I respect the way that he is able to communicate his ideas and views in such a universally accessible way.”
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Influences outside art
Mr Doodle’s creativity is also sparked by experiences that lie outside what the establishment typically defines as “art,” including comic books and computer games.
Often, too, he is inspired by everyday things that catch his eye, saying: “I look at buildings, walls and objects, even streets, environments and communities, and imagine them entirely covered in doodles.”
The artist is especially intrigued when he discovers opportunities to connect something in the real world with his DoodleLand narrative.
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How Mr Doodle grew his brand through social media
One of the many ways that Mr Doodle brings his art to the people is through social media. Among them are YouTube, where a time-lapse video that captures the creation of the Doodle House has more than five million views, and his Instagram account, where he has been building his presence since 2015 and now can claim 2.8 million followers.
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Mr Doodle’s current collaboration
Having already created the 3X artwork in the STRAAT Museum, Mr Doodle is getting ready for the next phase of his collaboration with Red Bull Doodle Art: his role on the judging panel at the World Final, where he’ll help choose the Global Winner from among 62 national finalists.
Mr Doodle and an admirer survey his finished work at the STRAAT
© Ali Mousavi / Red Bull Content Pool
“There really are no limitations to doodling; it really is just about letting your imagination wander and allowing your hand to move freely over the page," he says. "Ask 100 people to do this and you will get 100 different interpretations, so I am looking forward to being surprised and inspired by the diversity in style and content of the doodles.”
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Plans for the future
When it comes to the future, Mr Doodle has numerous plans for himself and for DoodleLand, but one of his overall goals is to build wider appreciation for doodling itself.
“I would love for people to recognise that doodling is worthy of recognition as an artistic genre in its own right," he says, before pointing out that many genres of art, including Pop Art and Street Art, weren’t immediately accepted when they emerged.
"Doodling is such an accessible practice, which anyone, regardless of age or experience, can have a go at. You don’t need a formal art education to do it, it doesn’t require expensive equipment, it can be done anywhere at any time, it’s a truly mindful activity and the possibilities to develop it into something bigger and better are endless.”
He’s quick to emphasise, however, that he wouldn’t want doodling to become an “elitist” type of art that exists only in galleries and museums.
“It deserves to be something which happily exists on the corner of a notepad in an office as much as it does in a sketchpad, on a canvas or on the wall of a building,” he says.
Doodling every day makes me feel truly happy and fulfilled
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Benefits of doodling
All kinds of people find benefits in doodling, and Mr Doodle says that in his case, it makes him feel “truly happy and fulfilled".
He elaborates: “It allows me to document and share everything that goes on in my life and within my imagination. I feel very fortunate to be able to spend each day doing the thing I enjoy doing most, to have the opportunity to doodle in some really exciting places and on some really interesting things. I also met my wife, Alena, through doodling, so I guess without doodling, we may have never met!”
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Mr Doodle’s doodling tips
As one of doodling’s biggest advocates, Mr Doodle is happy to share his top tips for anyone looking to pursue the artform.
“The best advice I could give any aspiring doodler is to keep doodling as often as you can and wherever you can,” he encourages. “Stay true to yourself, doodle whatever or however you want. If you are passionate about it, then others will be, too.”
He concludes: “Doodling should firstly make you happy. If you enjoy it, then anything extra is simply a bonus!”
You can see the National Final–winning doodles from Red Bull Doodle Art participants around the world here.
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