I have books of cartoons that I drew over the years as a kid and as a teenager. I'll put some more up at some point...if I can bring myself to do it. I wouldn't mind sharing the crappy art with you...it's just that some of the gags are really embarrassing. (Actually, I think the way the little girl in the middle of the top panel is drawn...bending over and covering her eyes...is not bad)
I've been approached at different times by very enthusiastic parents about teaching cartooning to their kid. (I don't do this...maybe some time I'll do some workshops but at the moment, I don't have the time or the inclination) What has struck me most of the time, is how UNENTHUSIASTIC the kids are.
I've seen the kids grimace at their parents and shirk away while they ask me about teaching or if I know anyone who teaches. I've been at community festivals where I would draw with kids and some of them cry in despair because they can't draw the way that I draw. (And I don't try to make them draw like me...but they try to mimic my style and can't do it and get very frustrated because they feel they're "not good enough".)
It drives me crazy...the pressure that's exerted on kids to IMPROVE! and LEARN! for a past time that they enjoy.
I'm not dissing workshops and classroom lessons. I think they're great to give kids an opportunity to try new things. And if your kid WANTS to take a workshop, then I'd say FIND ONE FOR THEM TO ATTEND!
But, my biggest advice to the very enthusiastic parents of kids who like to draw cartoons (or any kind of drawing) is this:
Buy them wads and wads of paper and pencils and pens and Sharpies and whatever else is their drawing tool of choice....AND LEAVE THEM ALONE.
Let them draw whatever they want. Weird perspective, inaccurate body dimensions, scratchy nothingness, uneven lettering...whatever and however they doodle, it's not wrong or something to be "improved upon". Let them have fun. Let them be immersed in their own world. Let them be minimalist or realistic or crazy-detailed or mimic other cartoonists.
And if you are so very enthusiatic that you can not bring yourself to let your child JUST DRAW in whatever way they want because you feel they MUST IMPROVE, allow me to offer this insight:
No matter what direction or lesson your child receives, there is only one way your kid will really develop their talent. And that's to draw. So if they're having fun doodling, stand back and let them go...they're way ahead of the crowd.
Sandra, I hope you don't mind my using last week's Between Friends strip in my blog to make a point.
http://navy-blue-jeans.blogspot.in/2012/07/absent-mindedness.html
Posted by: Jean | July 29, 2012 at 12:16 PM
Ah, I totally understand!!! I find myself being quite the grumpy old codger in that respect (and I'm not even 35 yet!) - making my friends take down or at least untag photos of me, trying to "curate my online presence" as it seems to be called now.
And trying to teach the oblivious young teenage girls from my church that they really aren't doing themselves any favours by posting bikini shots of themselves when they have 1600 Facebook "friends" but only know 200 of them in person. It only takes one friend of a friend of a sicko... But they're 15, and invincible, of course...
(sigh) Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now! Anyway, it was a great series of strips and captued the zeitgeist perfectly.
Posted by: StriderGirl | July 23, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Strider Girl...thanks! It wasn't based on anyone in particular...just an overall ennui with the growing trend to take photos of every little thing and throw it all up on Facebook. I just find I'm getting tired of being at parties, events and never knowing when someone is going to take a photo of you chewing your food and social-media the heck out of it.
Posted by: sandra | July 17, 2012 at 09:08 PM
Hey Sandra, I'm very curious about last week's storyline, where Kim runs into an old friend who's now an obsessive blogger. It was a fun storyline! Was it, by any chance, based on someone you've met?
Posted by: StriderGirl | July 16, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Vad spännande att läsa detta inlägg! I år kommer verkligen att vara en mycket minnesvärd födelsedag. Congrats on your * vackra * hem och önskar dig många, många år har det fyllt med glädje och kärlek. :-)
Posted by: sac à main prada | June 29, 2012 at 05:13 AM
LOL...the butcher paper story came from Kim Warp. My paper came from my uncle who worked at a local paper mill...he'd bring me leftover stacks of colored bristol board-weight paper.
Posted by: sandra | June 24, 2012 at 08:32 AM
Stirs a memory of someone recalling a childhood when they were given big sheets of butcher paper on the kitchen table ... was that you?
Posted by: Mike Peterson | June 23, 2012 at 11:06 PM
I'll put up some more next week. :)
Posted by: sandra | June 23, 2012 at 11:53 AM
I loved it...the sixth grade cartoons...please please please put up some more!!
Posted by: Sharvani | June 23, 2012 at 11:44 AM
That's good advice! And I'd say it can also apply to any field of interest your kid's into. :)
Posted by: StriderGirl | June 22, 2012 at 05:51 PM