Without realizing it at the time, August 5th was the first year anniversary of these pebble prose doodles!
The doodles are often referred to as “pebble doodles”, but that isn’t actually the best term for them. What are they? Mixed media illustrations of sorts, shared every week via email, in the hopes of adding a spot o’ whimsy to the morning. Though pebbles are the main characters most usually — they aren’t always the focus. Potted plants, twigs, and Christmas baubles also have a habit of entering the scene.
But nevertheless that is what they shall be called. Prior to the pebble doodles, illustration and photography weren’t things I ever really mixed. At least, on a very regular basis. In 2022 I played with the idea, but it was only in 2024 did the concept of integrating the established pebble prose clan into photographs suddenly appear!
Before, I would tote a camera around to simply snap photographs of the goings on. After the pebble doodles began, photography became something different. The camera was a tool for pebble spotting. Everywhere we waltzed — home, Tokyo, gardens, bakeries — pebbles were afoot.
This at first took some getting used to. Were the pebbles considered work? Was having them in the back of my mind whenever I was out a sign of a poor work-life balance?
I have since concluded that: no. Certainly not.
It is play.
And even though pebbles have infultrated many strolls this past year, looking back at the pebble doodles is almost like looking at a personal diary. The pebble doodles traversed many spaces, and so did we.
A brief account of the first year:
The first few doodles were used with photographs already taken. Some photos that had been snapped within the week, but also some things taken in Europe the summer prior.
These first doodles were exploration. I didn’t know exactly what they were. They were just scribbles made while watching The Dick Van Dyke Show with my nephew.
But then suddenly, there were seven of them.
A pipe dream has always been to work on a project similar to a comic strip. Something that would lighten the mood on a regular schedule. A project that was strenuous, yet fun. Something to push me into doodling nearly every day.
I tried comic strips. Don’t have the brain for it.
But then these doodles popped up and well, it seemed the perfect thing. I decided to share three doodles a week for a period and see where they would go.
So we finished off the summer together:
And did some venturing:
…Sometimes we felt a lil stuck:
And Monday’s still existed:
But generally? all proved quite Adventurous:
Though I quite enjoyed the doodles, when 2025 began I wasn’t entirely sure if the pebble doodles would continue. I wondered if there were more important projects to focus on, was still workin’ out the work-life-balance question, and had grown a bit weary after spending much of December doodling Christmas-themed pebbles.
I was considering halting them altogether when my nephew and I visited an art gallery. It was empty. Near the back was a small storage room without a door. A safe sat inside.
I suppose it was the proper timing. It was a New Year, after all. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when I suddenly spotted a pebble, pulling a heist ala Ocean’s Eleven (1960), in the scene.
… and so the doodles continued.
In some locations, only one or two pebbles would seem fit, while in others, a whole gaggle of them would decide to be photographed.
More often than not, I wasn’t the one that would see where a pebble could be in a scene. Rather, it was someone else I was with who could visualize a pebble climbing a tree, drinking hot chocolate, or reading a good book.
When traveling to far off and distant lands the camera rarely gets a moments rest. While I still took photos of the usual travel-y things, the pebbles seemed to feel very comfortable on foreign soil.
(The doodle of the pebble in the storm drain was one of the most fun to make so far!)
The schedule of the doodles changed as a few larger projects muscled their way into the foreground. It switched to just Monday mornings for a few months. It provided a lot more breathing room compared to the three day a week schedule.
A bit too much breathing room.
At the beginning of summer 2025, a book that utilized this style popped up in a matter of less than two weeks: Ellery Quartz and the Adventure of the Invisible Author! And the schedule changed again. Every Monday and Thursday.
All sorts of pebbles and other such characters continued to appear throughout a summer spent at home. In the garden, the glasses shop, in the bookstore.
And then, well, August 5th came and went.
It was a lackluster celebration. A forgotten one, in fact. I imagine the pebbles were upset that there was no cake.
When it was realized, at first it didn’t seem right. A whole year? Certainly not! Why, it was only a couple of months ago that the Christmas doodles were being worked on!
Oh… wait… August…
Reflection and other such things thus proceeded.
What was happening last August? What happened after that? Simply consulting the pebble doodles answered such questions. Every year has ups and downs, and when looking back, it seems that the pebble doodles most definitely played a role in easing the downs, or at least distracting from them. I hope they did the same for you, as that was the goal from the beginning. To reveal the whimsy in the mundane.
And so they continue :) See you bright and early Monday morning!
— ht