• It's every child's dream — drawing over the walls all day long. Now, one artist, known as Mr Doodle, has turned it into a reality at his home in Kent, the UK. All photos: PA
    It's every child's dream — drawing over the walls all day long. Now, one artist, known as Mr Doodle, has turned it into a reality at his home in Kent, the UK. All photos: PA
  • Cox, who lives with his wife Alena, says he spent two years creating the Doodle House, a 12-room home he bought for £1.35 million.
    Cox, who lives with his wife Alena, says he spent two years creating the Doodle House, a 12-room home he bought for £1.35 million.
  • Cox has covered the entire mansion inside and out in his eye-catching, monochrome and cartoonish hand-drawn doodles.
    Cox has covered the entire mansion inside and out in his eye-catching, monochrome and cartoonish hand-drawn doodles.
  • Even the plug sockets has been scrawled over.
    Even the plug sockets has been scrawled over.
  • Cox in one of his bathrooms.
    Cox in one of his bathrooms.
  • The sprawling property in the leafy England.
    The sprawling property in the leafy England.
  • Doodle House was completed using 900 litres of white emulsion paint, 401 cans of black spray paint, 286 bottles of black drawing paint and 2,296 pen nibs.
    Doodle House was completed using 900 litres of white emulsion paint, 401 cans of black spray paint, 286 bottles of black drawing paint and 2,296 pen nibs.
  • Sam Cox and his wife Alena outside the Doodle House.
    Sam Cox and his wife Alena outside the Doodle House.
  • Flowers inside Doodle House.
    Flowers inside Doodle House.
  • Cox is already hugely popular on the internet, with his videos attracting millions of views. His Instagram account has more than 2.7 million followers.
    Cox is already hugely popular on the internet, with his videos attracting millions of views. His Instagram account has more than 2.7 million followers.
  • The kitchen inside Doodle House.
    The kitchen inside Doodle House.
  • The stairwell.
    The stairwell.
  • According to online resource 'artnet.com', Cox's works have amassed nearly $4.7 million in sales.
    According to online resource 'artnet.com', Cox's works have amassed nearly $4.7 million in sales.
  • Cox told 'The Sunday Times' that the couple who sold him the home begged him not to doodle on it.
    Cox told 'The Sunday Times' that the couple who sold him the home begged him not to doodle on it.
  • Another view of the bathroom.
    Another view of the bathroom.
  • The kitchen counter inside Doodle House.
    The kitchen counter inside Doodle House.
  • Cox outside the Doodle House.
    Cox outside the Doodle House.
  • Cox now wants to doodle more houses in his neighbourhood and make a doodle town.
    Cox now wants to doodle more houses in his neighbourhood and make a doodle town.
  • Last year, Cox made headlines after someone paid almost $1 million for a green-and-black Mr Doodle canvas titled 'Spring' (2019) at Tokyo Chuo Auction Company.
    Last year, Cox made headlines after someone paid almost $1 million for a green-and-black Mr Doodle canvas titled 'Spring' (2019) at Tokyo Chuo Auction Company.

Culture

Art

Mr Doodle's house — why this British artist scrawled over his entire £1.35 million mansion

Sam Cox spent two years turning his lifelong dream into reality

David Tusing

October 04, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

British artist Sam Cox, more popularly known as Mr Doodle, has achieved his childhood dream of living in a house covered by doodle art.

Cox, 28, unveiled his two-year project, having covered his 12-room home in Kent, England, with his signature hand-drawn doodles. It took 900 litres of white emulsion paint, 401 cans of black spray paint, 286 bottles of black drawing paint and 2,296 pen nibs to complete.

"When I was a kid I wanted to live in a property completely covered in characters of my own creation. A DoodleLand filled with happy creatures that bring me joy when I see them. For me, that’s what I create art for, to make myself happy and to hopefully make others happy along the way," Cox said on Instagram.

Scroll through the gallery above for more pictures of Mr Doodle's Doodle House

He showed off his creation with a stop-motion film, which was created with 1,857 photographs taken over a two-year period from September 2020.

"The whole house is real, everything is doodled, the doodles were all hand doodled for the animation, it’s not CGI," he said.

Cox is already hugely popular on the internet, with his videos attracting millions on views. His Instagram account has more than 2.7 million followers.

He's not done shabbily in the art world either, and is the fifth bestselling artist currently, according to online resource artnet.com. His works have amassed nearly $4.7 million in sales, the website says.

Last year, he made headlines when a bidder agreed to pay close to $1 million for a green-and-black Mr Doodle canvas titled Spring (2019) at Tokyo Chuo Auction Company.

Cox, who paid £1.35 million ($1.53 million) for the Kent home that's now dubbed Doodle House, told The Sunday Times that the couple who sold him the home begged him not to doodle on it.

"They told me whatever you do, please don't doodle. I didn't listen," he said.

He lives in the Doodle House with his wife Alena and their dog, and now wants to doodle more houses in his neighbourhood and make a doodle town.

"The completion of the house is just the beginning of my childhood dream to doodle the entire planet and to encourage the art world to recognise doodles as an art form," he told Kent Online. "I am so excited that my doodles now have a permanent home in the UK."

Artist imagines Dubai set to the alien world of Pandora in 'Avatar' — in pictures

  • Museum of the Future with Burj Khalifa in the background, imagined in the fictional world of Pandora in 'Avatar', by digital artist Jyo John Mulloor. All photos: Jyo John Mulloor
    Museum of the Future with Burj Khalifa in the background, imagined in the fictional world of Pandora in 'Avatar', by digital artist Jyo John Mulloor. All photos: Jyo John Mulloor
  • The Dubai Metro amid the lush vegetation of Pandora.
    The Dubai Metro amid the lush vegetation of Pandora.
  • Burj Khalifa stands tall alongside giant vegetation in Pandora.
    Burj Khalifa stands tall alongside giant vegetation in Pandora.
  • The Dubai Frame amid the vegetation of Pandora.
    The Dubai Frame amid the vegetation of Pandora.
  • Ain Dubai in the distance, imagined in the world portrayed in the film as a place rich in minerals.
    Ain Dubai in the distance, imagined in the world portrayed in the film as a place rich in minerals.
  • Burj Al Arab amid the fictional moon setting.
    Burj Al Arab amid the fictional moon setting.
  • The Na'vi people, inhabitants of Pandora, fly across the Dubai skyline.
    The Na'vi people, inhabitants of Pandora, fly across the Dubai skyline.
  • Address Beach Resort in JBR, transported to the fictional world of Pandora.
    Address Beach Resort in JBR, transported to the fictional world of Pandora.

'

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Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke

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Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO

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Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Water waste

In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.

Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.

A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.

The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.

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Updated: October 04, 2022, 10:49 AM
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