Simon's Sketchbook Sundays

In shameless imitation of Mighty Ward Jenkins' "Ava Thursdays".

I have two sons, both are wonderful artists and creative in many ways. My older son, Duncan, draws for profit - like his old man... good marks in his case, moolah in mine. But my younger son, Simon, draws for pleasure. And draws and DRAWS. He's filled more sketchbooks in his eleven years than I have in my forty one!

And the thing is, he's a brilliant character designer. I often have to come up with wacky characters in the course of my day and I wish I had half the imagination Simon has. His creations blow my mind! I guess a lifetime of exposure to cartoons, video games, books, comics and movies hasn't hurt.

I'm proud to say my guys have been watching Tex Avery and Chuck Jones cartoons since they were wee tykes - and not those awful hacked and slashed, censored, fifth generation retreads that have all the "offensive" violence removed. These kids have been exposed to every shotgun blast to the duckbill and anvil drop to the noggin that their dad experienced as an impressionable youth.

We all get our inspiration conciously or unconsiously from something that came before. But I believe Si has a special spark, and I'll be sharing a glimpse into his sketchbooks ( with his permission, of course ) with you every Sunday. Enjoy!