Pages

Sunday, November 06, 2005

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!

4 comments:

Todd DeWolf said...

Oooh-love the sketch book idea. Maybe I'll join in and post my 3 year olds colourful take on her world as well. I totally agree on the toons-the originals are far better. Cool idea! Cheers!

Doug said...

Cool sketchbooks! My two kids doodled a lot too. Now they are in college... time flies! One is a wonderful oil painter and the other is an excellent digital artist... both better than I will ever be!

Enjoy them kids... and post more of their sketches!

Ward Jenkins said...

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, they always say, right? Well, i'm flattered and I'm very curious to see what Simon is up to on a weekly basis. I LOVE kid's drawings. Something about their work being so pure.

Very cool stuff already, Simon!

Si-Guy said...

Thanks Father 'O' Mine!