More by Alice Wang

(( CSS, layout, & images by Chiaki Soejima ))

Doodling, the pet peeve of teachers, dangerously addictive to any stressed-out student, and more widespread than Ugg boots, they crowd the notebook margins and planners of many a DHS student. People usually look down upon doodles, and miss their actual potential. In fact, doodles are an excellent measure of the spontaneous creativity of the students in a school – the creations are drawn for creations' sake, without the judgment of grades or other eyes to please. Neirad Enilno is grateful to those students who did allow their work to be photographed so that all can get a glimpse at this hidden world.

Juli Flynn makes good use of the binder holes of her notebook, incorporating them into her doodles. Dark-stroked flowers abounded up and down her margins, as well as rows and rows of any sort of design that happened to come to her when her pencil touched the page.

Kristina Lew pieced together random objects that manage to seem cohesive anyway. Upon seeing this creature with cool shades playing a banjo atop a skateboard, I immediately thought of a cow. However, most people agree that it is indeed a giraffe, hence the “G” on its t-shirt. I guess the long neck sealed the deal. Perhaps it is of mixed breed. Who knows? The giraffe-cow looks too chill to care much what others think of it.

Izzy Duncan's planner is sandwiched by a colorful bonanza of rainbow paint framed by silver and gold and a fantastical explosion of black-and-white imagination. The colors and enthusiastic skeleton are Izzy's work, lending a unique vibrant feel to what was once a bland, glossy, white plastic cover. The front was the work of Neirad Enilno's web artist, Chiaki Soejima, whose attention to detail did not exclude making sure even the tiniest of smiley faces had at least two miniscule dots for eyes.

Haley Miller found this figure spiraling out of her pencil, inspired by thoughts of surrealism, and serves as an excellent example of the unrestricted realm of doodling.

Amanda Hutter has an instantly recognizable style, reminiscent of bubble wrap or the endless curling of Celtic symbols. Her designs are like massive flowers sprawling over the pages of her planner in vibrant colors.

The color purple gives a violet twist on Matt Mullen's doodling, producing, among other things, a scary lady and a stalwart tree.

Lindsey Hartfelder's work shows the most crucial part of doodling: its randomness. Her doodles range from the cute (a beep-bopping robot) to the thoughtful (a swirl design) to the tiny (stars and sharps).

Caroline Farrington has covered an entire sheet of lined paper in a brilliant display of color, layering circular stripes in an eerily 3-D effect.

Michael Coe has filled pages and pages of his notebook with comic strips featuring the memorable characters of the Scarlet Letter, of American Lit. fame. Hester Prynne is especially noticeable, with the infamous “A” marked upon her, as is the tiny creature that is Pearl, who Michael has interpreted as having wings as well. “I am proud of my doodles,” he asserted. Indeed, you would be hard-pressed to find another student in the school who has doodled fictional Puritans attending a Hawaiian luau.

(↑ click to see larger images)

Olivia Markham – Flip open any page of Olivia Markham's planner, and you'll find it filled to the brim with... hearts. Mostly in pencil, but occasionally, one brighter and bigger than the rest will appear, in colorful ink. Olivia, like so many other students, uses her planner as a very convenient sketchbook, utilizing the “Reminders” box and vacation weeks empty of homework as prime doodle spaces.