Line Let Loose: Scribbling, Doodling and Automatic Drawing

As forms of drawing go, scribbling is the most basic: it is seen as playing a formative role in the drawings of both children and primates. Doodling, while still being a widespread phenomenon, is largely an adult preoccupation—a nomadic form of drawing typically produced during meetings and phone calls. But even though those who engage in it are not necessarily trained artists, automatic drawing is a more dramatic event, and the results of an absentminded or trancelike state are sometimes a...