A well-known artist spent two years doodling all over his home to create the fantasy house of his dreams.
Illustrator Sam Cox, commonly known as Mr. Doodle, is well-known throughout the world. When he turned an Appear Here pop-up into a live art project at London’s Old Street Station in 2017, he shot to fame.
But besides becoming a well-known artist, he also had another long-held ambition. Since he was a teenager, he’d always wanted a “doodle house.” The cartoons and video games he had played as a kid served as inspiration for him.
He and his wife Alena purchased a six-bedroom home in the quaint Kent village of Tenterden in 2020.
Although the home’s seller did not want doodling on the walls, he was amenable to their request. His love of doodling and his inner artist overcame him, and he began to doodle on every surface in the house.
Cox published a two-minute stop-motion clip of his doodle-covered dream home. He covered every available surface with drawings, including the television, stove, and bathroom, which are all covered in black-and-white doodling, as well as the walls, furniture, and amenities.
Cox claims that although he didn’t design any of his doodles, he did come up with a theme for each area. Drawings of Heaven and Hell cover the staircase, and works inspired by Noah’s Ark fill the hallway.
While his en-suite bathroom has a marine motif, his main bedroom has a “dream” theme. It features 2,000 tiles with drawings of various sea creatures on them.
Although I had a general notion of the theme, each sketch is completely impromptu, he claimed.
Cox shared that he used black acrylic paint for his doodles and a bingo marker pen in four different sizes. He used spray paint for the outside property for a more artistic result. In total, he used 286 bottles of paint, 900 liters of emulsion, and 2,296 pens.
The first phase of his doodling project was challenging and took two months to complete. Still, the great illustrator was committed to finishing it on his own. ‘It’s the longest project I’ve done. I wanted to say I’d done it all myself.’
He drew his ideal house on his own, and he was proud to display it to the world. The entire house is real; everything was hand-drawn for the animation; CGI was not used, according to Cox.
The artist published an animation of his home’s exterior, complete with his doodled Tesla. “The planet is getting doodled,” the message declared. He said that he created the entire animation by himself, using 1857 photos that he had taken over the previous two years.
In the upcoming weeks, Cox and his wife intend to stay in their doodle house since they are thrilled that their doodles now have a permanent home in the UK.
There is only one drawback, though: His doorbell was constantly rung by nosy neighbors who wanted to know more about his doodle mansion. Fortunately, nobody has objected to his doodling, so there is no immediate need to change the appearance of his house.
Even if it were for an incredible sum of money, Cox added, “I’m unlikely to be persuaded to move.” I would be sad to leave this house because it is my first.
“When I was a kid, I used to watch shows like Tom and Jerry, play video games like Crash Bandicoot, and watch the shows Wacky Races and SpongeBob SquarePants. I’ve always wanted to create video game characters.
Cox was encouraged to spread his creativity by drawing more houses in his neighborhood and maybe creating a “doodle” community when his ideal “doodle” house became a success.
“My boyhood desire to doodle the entire planet and to get the art world to acknowledge doodles as an art form is just getting started with the construction of the house,” Cox said.
To view more of Mr. Doodle’s artwork, follow his Instagram account.
