Representative Image of large-scale paintings and sculptures exploring emotions through whimsical characters (AI-generated image)
Ambassadors of Feeling centred on 10 characters representing different qualities and experiences: Direction, Care, Humanity, Rebellion, Positivity, Peace, Imagination, Unpredictability, Impact and Awareness. The show featured more than 22 newly created works, including large-scale acrylic paintings and sculpture, according to the exhibition’s press materials. Drake and Ellen Winner, published in Cognition and Emotion in 2013, researchers examined how children used drawing to regulate their emotions. In the second study, which involved 123 children, researchers also compared drawing as a distraction with copying another person’s drawing. Drake, published in Frontiers in Psychology in February 2021, investigated how drawing could improve mood by distracting children from negative feelings. Across three studies involving children aged 6 to 12, the research examined the relationship between drawing, absorption and enjoyment.
The characters gave Whale a framework for exploring feelings through visual forms. Rather than treating emotion only as an abstract concept, the exhibition translated it into a cast of recognisable figures, each associated with a particular theme. The collection invited viewers to consider how these qualities appear in their own lives. Research has examined whether drawing can influence children’s moods, although these studies did not investigate Whale or his artwork specifically. In a study by Jennifer E. The researchers found that children’s moods improved more when they drew something unrelated to a negative experience than when they used drawing to express that experience. The findings suggested that the benefits depended in part on children actively creating their own drawings. A later study by Jennifer E. Drawing as a distraction produced greater absorption and enjoyment than drawing focused on expressing negative feelings.
At 9, Joe Whale attracted attention for drawing on the walls of a restaurant in Shrewsbury, England. At 16, he returned to Britain from Australia for Ambassadors of Feeling, his first major London solo exhibition, which opened at Truman Brewery on October 23, 2026. The young artist, known as the Doodle Boy, went on to work with international brands and create large-scale illustrations. The exhibition featured a collection of characters representing different feelings and human experiences through paintings and sculpture. It marked another stage in Whale’s development, moving from the spontaneous doodles that first brought him attention towards a more structured exploration of emotion, technology and growing up.
How Joe Whale went from a restaurant wall to an international art career
Whale first drew widespread attention when his doodles appeared on the walls of Number Four, a restaurant in Shrewsbury. His distinctive illustrations helped establish his public identity as the artist known as the Doodle Boy, and his work subsequently attracted collaborations with brands including Nike, Disney and Marks & Spencer. His projects have extended beyond commercial collaborations. Whale created an eight-foot-by-five-foot canvas doodle of Charles Darwin at Shrewsbury Library for Darwin200, a two-year global voyage aboard the tall ship Oosterschelde retracing the route of Darwin’s HMS Beagle.