Some doodles fill a corner of a notebook. Others seem to take over the entire page.
Vexx’s artwork belongs to the second kind.
His drawings are packed with colorful characters, funny faces, imaginative objects, patterns, and tiny details that make you want to look at the picture again. Vexx, whose real name is Vince Okerman, is a Belgian multidisciplinary artist known for his signature doodle style. His work combines imaginative characters with pop-culture influences and larger compositions filled with smaller drawings.
What makes this style interesting isn’t simply the number of things on the page. It’s the way small ideas can work together to create one much bigger picture.
You don’t need to recreate Vexx’s artwork to enjoy the approach. You can take the basic idea—small characters, playful shapes, bold outlines, and lots of imagination—and develop your own version.
What Is a Vexx Doodle?
A Vexx doodle is best understood as a doodle-inspired illustration built from many imaginative elements.
Vexx’s signature characters are often called “Doodles,” and his work can include cartoon-like characters, objects, faces, symbols, and references to things from pop culture. The individual pieces may look small on their own, but together they create a larger scene.
His style also changed over time. Vexx has explained that he originally created quick black-and-white doodles, often in notebooks, before developing the colorful style he’s known for today.
That’s useful for beginners because it shows that a complicated-looking artwork doesn’t necessarily begin as a complicated drawing.
It can start with one little character.
Then another.
And another.
What Makes Vexx-Style Doodles Interesting?
A few features appear frequently in this kind of doodle artwork:
- Playful cartoon characters
- Bold outlines
- Lots of small details
- Unexpected combinations of objects
- Expressive faces
- Repeated shapes and patterns
- Bright colors
- Characters interacting with one another
- A larger composition made from many smaller ideas
The important thing is not to treat these as strict rules.
A doodle can be messy. A character can be strange. An object can be completely imaginary.
That’s part of the fun.
If you’re still learning the basics of doodling, start with what a doodle art is before trying to fill an entire page with characters and details.
How to Draw a Vexx-Inspired Doodle
You don’t have to begin with a huge complicated drawing.
In fact, starting small is probably easier.
Pick one simple character or object and build outward from there.
Step 1: Choose Your Main Idea
Start with one subject.
It could be:
- A funny face
- A monster
- An animal
- A flower
- A skull
- A strange creature
- A pair of eyes
- A food character
- A fantasy object
Don’t spend too long deciding.
The first idea that makes you think, “That could look funny,” is often good enough.
Step 2: Draw the Main Shape
Sketch your character lightly with a pencil.
Keep the basic shape simple at first. You can make the head round, square, stretched, tiny, or completely unusual.
The shape doesn’t need to look perfect.
Actually, unusual shapes can make a doodle more interesting.
Step 3: Add the Face
Give your character an expression.
Try:
- Big eyes
- Tiny eyes
- One eye
- Wide smiles
- Funny teeth
- Raised eyebrows
- Angry expressions
- Sleepy eyes
- Surprised faces
- Silly doodles
A tiny change in the eyes or mouth can completely change the personality of the character.
Step 4: Add Another Character
Now put something beside your first drawing.
It doesn’t have to match.
A tiny monster can sit beside a flower. A smiling face can appear next to a strange creature. A little animal can peek out from behind a larger character.
This is where the drawing starts becoming a world rather than one isolated doodle.
Step 5: Fill the Empty Spaces
Look around your page.
If you see a large empty area, add something small.
Try:
- Stars
- Clouds
- Eyes
- Tiny faces
- Flowers
- Hearts
- Leaves
- Arrows
- Small creatures
- Abstract shapes
You don’t have to fill every single space. Leave some breathing room so the drawing doesn’t become difficult to read.
Step 6: Add Stronger Lines
Once you’re happy with the pencil sketch, go over the important lines with a black pen or marker.
You can make the main characters slightly bolder and leave tiny details lighter.
If you’re learning basic doodle techniques, this how to draw doodles guide can help you practice the simple shapes before building a more detailed composition.
Step 7: Add Color
Color can completely change the mood of a doodle.
Vexx’s work became increasingly colorful after his early black-and-white drawings, and he has described choosing a limited group of main colors and thinking about how neighboring colors work together.
You don’t need dozens of colors.
Start with a small palette.
For example:
- Pink
- Yellow
- Blue
- Purple
- Orange
Then repeat those colors throughout the page.
This can make a busy drawing feel more connected.
Vexx Doodle Ideas to Try
Once you understand the basic approach, you can start creating your own collection of characters.
1. Vexx-Inspired Face Doodle
Start with a simple face and exaggerate the eyes, mouth, teeth, or eyebrows.
Give it an unusual expression so it feels like a character rather than an ordinary face.
2. Funny Monster Doodle
Create a strange little monster with uneven eyes, horns, teeth, or extra arms.
Don’t worry about making it scary.
A goofy monster can be much more fun.
3. Tiny Character Collection
Draw several small characters together.
Give each one a different shape, expression, and personality.
One can be happy, another confused, another sleepy, and another completely wild.
4. Animal Doodle
Turn an ordinary animal into a cartoon character.
Try:
- Cat
- Dog
- Frog
- Bird
- Snake
- Fish
- Bear
- Rabbit
Add unusual expressions or accessories to make each one different.
5. Food Character Doodle
Give food a face.
Try a smiling pizza, angry burger, sleepy cupcake, confused banana, breakfast doodle or tiny ice cream character.
Food is especially easy to turn into doodles because the basic shapes are already recognizable.
6. Eye Doodle
Fill part of the page with different eyes.
Try round eyes, sleepy eyes, giant eyes, surprised eyes, or eyes with unusual pupils.
Then connect some of them to little characters.
7. Skull Doodle
A skull can become much less serious when surrounded by flowers, stars, funny faces, or colorful characters.
You can simplify the shape rather than trying to make it realistic.
8. Fantasy Creature Doodle
Combine different animals and objects to invent something that doesn’t exist.
Give a bird a monster body.
Give a cat wings.
Put tiny horns on a fish.
There really isn’t much of a rulebook here.
9. Full-Page Doodle
Start with one large character in the center.
Then slowly build smaller characters and objects around it.
Keep adding details until the page begins to feel like one connected scene.
This is one of the easiest ways to understand the appeal of dense doodle compositions.
10. Black-and-White Doodle
You don’t have to use color.
Try creating an entire page with only a black pen.
Use different line thicknesses, patterns, expressions, and small characters to create visual variety.
This can also be a good exercise if you’re trying to focus on drawing rather than coloring.
11. Colorful Character Doodle
Create a group of characters and give each one a different color.
Then repeat a few of those colors throughout the drawing so everything still feels connected.
12. Pop-Culture-Inspired Doodle
You can use familiar themes, objects, or visual ideas as inspiration while creating your own characters.
The important part is to transform the idea into your own drawing rather than simply copying someone else’s artwork.
13. Nature Doodle
Mix characters with natural elements.
Try flowers with faces, clouds with expressions, trees with tiny creatures, or leaves surrounding a funny character.
14. Strange Object Doodle
Take an ordinary object and make it weird.
A smiling camera.
A nervous pencil.
A walking shoe.
A flying toaster.
A grumpy alarm clock.
The stranger the combination, the more possibilities you have.
15. Pattern-Filled Doodle
Use simple patterns to fill selected areas of your drawing.
Try:
- Dots
- Waves
- Spirals
- Stars
- Zigzags
- Checker patterns
- Tiny circles
Patterns can help connect separate characters without making every part of the drawing equally detailed.
For more general inspiration when you want to explore different doodle subjects, you can browse these cool doodle ideas.
Making Your Own Doodle Style
The easiest mistake to make with an artist you admire is trying to become a copy of them.
Instead, use the artwork as a starting point.
Take the parts you enjoy—funny characters, bold outlines, unusual combinations, bright colors, or busy compositions—and experiment until the drawings begin to feel like yours.
Vexx has spoken about being self-taught and about the value of experimenting rather than following a fixed way of making art. He has also described his early decision to pursue his doodle style seriously and improve it over time.
That’s a useful lesson for anyone learning to doodle.
Your first page probably won’t look the way you imagined.
That’s fine.
The second one might be a little better.
Then you notice a character you really like and draw it again. Maybe you change the eyes. Maybe you give it a different body. Eventually, those repeated choices start becoming your own visual language.
Where Can You Use Vexx-Inspired Doodles?
A detailed doodle doesn’t have to be made only as a finished artwork.
You can experiment with the style in:
- Sketchbooks
- Notebook pages
- Journals
- Art practice pages
- Posters
- Personal illustrations
- Doodle notes
- Margins
- Creative projects
You can even start with a small doodle in the corner of a page and slowly build around it when you have more time.
For example, if you’re taking notes, a tiny character can sit beside a heading. Another character can point toward an important idea. Small drawings can make an otherwise plain page feel more personal.
These doodle notes ideas can give you more ways to combine drawings and written information.
Vexx Doodles When You’re Bored
You don’t always need a big art project.
If you’re sitting somewhere with a pen and paper and have nothing interesting to do, start with one tiny character.
Then give it a friend.
Then add an object.
Then another character.
Before you know it, a blank corner can turn into a small doodle scene.
Students who like drawing during quiet moments may also enjoy these easy doodles to draw when bored in class.
The important thing is to keep the drawings simple enough that you can continue without getting stuck.
Vexx Doodles as a Relaxing Drawing Practice
A busy doodle page can look complicated when it’s finished, but you don’t have to create the whole thing at once.
You can draw one small character, add another tomorrow, and keep building whenever you feel like drawing.
That slow process can make doodling feel less like a task and more like an open-ended creative activity.
If you enjoy repetitive drawing, patterns, and experimenting without worrying about making a perfect finished picture, mindful doodling is another interesting direction to explore.
You can also find more creative approaches in these mindfulness art activities.
Easy Vexx Doodles for Beginners
If a full-page composition feels overwhelming, don’t start there.
Draw one character.
Then draw three.
Then make a small group.
A good beginner exercise is to create ten tiny characters using the same basic head shape but different expressions.
Try:
- Happy
- Angry
- Sleepy
- Confused
- Surprised
- Shy
- Excited
- Worried
- Silly
- Completely strange
Then give each character one unusual feature.
Maybe one has three eyes.
Another has giant ears.
Another has tiny legs.
Another has a huge smile.
This kind of practice helps you discover characters without worrying about making a polished illustration.
If you want more simple drawing subjects before moving into detailed doodles, these easy drawing ideas can give you easier starting points.
Learning From Vexx Without Copying Him
One of the most interesting things about Vexx’s journey is that the recognizable style didn’t appear fully formed overnight.
His early work was much simpler and black and white. Over time, he kept drawing, experimenting, adding color, and refining the idea of combining many small characters into one larger image.
That’s worth remembering when your own doodles don’t look the way you want them to yet.
You don’t need to find your perfect style on the first page.
Draw.
Change something.
Draw it again.
Keep the parts you like.
Eventually, those choices start adding up.
Final Thoughts
Vexx doodles are a good reminder that a large artwork can begin with very small ideas.
One funny face can become a character. A character can become part of a group. A group can become a scene, and suddenly an empty page doesn’t look empty anymore.
You can explore bold outlines, strange creatures, tiny characters, patterns, bright colors, and unexpected combinations while developing a style that feels like your own.
The goal isn’t to make an exact copy of Vexx’s artwork.
It’s to take that sense of curiosity and playfulness and see where your own doodles take it.
