I’ve been drawing comics since 2000. My comic strips have loyal readers and have been published in a book, my editorial comics have generated buzz and been mentioned by elected officials and I’ve had my work published in a number of publications. However, the highlight of my drawing career has only happened recently, when I started drawing for my son, E.
We’ve spent a lot of time recently bonding over the Doodle Pro, a magnetic drawing board. Think Etch a Sketch but with an easier-to-use pen tool.
One of my favorite routines is when E climbs into my lap or lays on the floor next to me as I draw things and ask him to tell me what they are.
“Moww” he says for cat, “ba ba” for bottle, and so on.
All of these things bring a giant smile to his face, which is the coolest feeling in the world.
Soon, I started drawing his favorite TV and movie characters.
“Cars?” E says and I draw either Lightning McQueen or Tow Mater, which elicits a huge smile or laugh.
One time, I drew Elmo driving Lightning McQueen with Tow Mater besdie them. E LOVED it! All his favorite things together! Soon, he began requesting that Elmo always be in every picture with the Cars characters.
As much as he loves the drawings, he loves the Doodle Pro’s sliding eraser even more!
What took me five minutes to draw, he erases in one second with a quick swipe.
Then, he hands me the Doodle Pro and asks me to draw Elmo and Cars again! We repeat this process about a dozen more times.
Usually, he’ll take the pen from me before I can finish. He scribbles and dashes (something he picked up after watching me make cross hatches) over my drawings, adding finishing touches, if you will.
Then he’ll point to the drawing and proudly exclaim, “Cars!” as if he drew it.
Time for some old school drawing
On Wednesday, I decided take some pen to paper and draw another of his favorite characters, Curious George. I figured he would probably appreciate a more permanent drawing.
It was a pretty good George, if I do say so myself.
I handed him the drawing, he looked at it and said, “George!”
Big smile on both our faces.
I told him to go show mommy and he shuffled into her office and held up the paper.
“George,” he said, “daddy (indicating that I gave it to him)!”
It was one of the happier father-son moments I’ve had. I was able to use my drawing skill to make my son happy. E walked out of the room, holding his drawing, while my wife and I talked about something. I imagined him holding tightly to his new drawing, like a prized possession, perhaps putting it with his book collection.
As I was talking to my wife, I heard the unmistakable sound of a trash can lid slam shut.
Hmm, what did he throw away?
I went into the kitchen and saw that he was empty handed. I walked over to the trash can, stepped on the button to flip the lid open and there, on top of the trash, a crumpled up Curious George.
And while I know he didn’t know any better and it wasn’t a personal rejection of my drawing, it stung worse than any critique I’ve ever received.
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Ouch. Man, this post had an ending worse than Old Yeller. So what happened next, did you leave the drawing in the trash can or did you fish it out?
Writer Dads last blog post..An Ode to My Daughter
Aw!
He’s been taught well, though, that paper goes into the trash.
GreenJellos last blog post..Speaking of the 80′s….
It was souch a touching story and then wham! Tough ending. It is really cool though how your drawing can bring you two together.
Otter Thomass last blog post..The Joys of Fatherhood
Loved this post, but the hard ending was tough to take….but rest assured he will ask you to draw George at least 100 times more…like cars and Elmo!
Some spiritual guru will tell you it is a lesson you must learn….maybe so, but why so soon? Maybe it just is…and he loves popping open that garbage can too, I bet!
Patricias last blog post..Announcing a Writing Contest – With a Financial Incentive!
Writer Dad – LOL. Old Yeller ending. I fished the drawing out. It’s sitting on our dining room table.
GreenJello – Yeah, he is waaaaay to eager to throw things in the trash. I should probably go on Maury for a paternity test just to make sure he really is my son given his early indications of tidiness.
Otter Thomas – Thank you. Yeah, it’s great that he likes my drawing because I don’t have too many other handy talents which impress. “Hey kids, who wants to watch daddy write!?” “YAAAAY!!!!” At least my dad could build things, which is of course impressive to sons.
Patricia – He DOES like throwing things away! I’m pretty sure he threw my medical insurance card away. We have to check the trash a lot around here. He once also threw some pictures of my wife as a child away. Not cool.
No matter what the child will do, at the end of the day you are still his hero. Good for you to retrieve the drawing and put it on the table. Best bite of bittersweet chocolate I had all day.
Cindy
P.S. Love Blogger Dad’s space lift. Brilliant work!
cindys last blog post..90 Days
I was caught up in the whole nostalgia thing there. We had a Magnadoodle (that’s what they’re called this side of the pond) as kids and it was great.
Then I read the line “…I heard the unmistakable sound of a trash can lid slam shut.”
Ouch! I knew what was coming. Sorry mate that must really have stung!
My brother had a knack for taking things apart even if they weren’t really designed to. He always said it was to figure out how the thing worked but I doubt it was any consolidation to my parents, even if they did believe him!
Marc – WelshScribes last blog post..5 Words Guaranteed To Lead To Freelance Writing Success
OUCH! They really don’t get it at that age. Just like the magic eraser swipe on the (what did you call it?) Doodle Pro (Magnadoodle here too) to him it feels like just another disposable. It’s time to put the pencil and paper in his hands and make sure you show him the habit of fridge magnets.
Then he’ll get the idea, pretty picture goes on the fridge.
That’s the way it works in our house anyway. No matter who drew the picture (even if it’s just a scribble from my 4yo) it goes on the fridge in a place of pride. They don’t need to know that magic mommy fairy clears the fridge every few days and puts all but the very best pictures in the recycle bin. They just need to know, that at least for now, every picture deserves a place to be seen.
Rebecca Laffar-Smiths last blog post..Sit. Write. – The No-Distractions BIC Technique
Wow! That brought back some great memories with my son and I. Like Marc, we had a Magnadoodle and a plethora of other sketch, drawing, crayola-esque type toys.
On our first trip to Disney World when my son was 10, he didn’t know we were going. He thought we were flying to see Grandma instead. As we were getting close to our destination, we played a game similar to what your game with E, only this game was to guess where were “really” going – I would draw an image and my son would try to guess. I was drawing ‘clues’ like a palm tree, roller coaster, castle, etc. He was doing very well and then when I drew Mickey, he exploded with excitement that he finally knew!
As we were departing our seats into the aisle of the plane, he jolted ahead of me and left the drawings on his seat. I had to slow him down and ask, “Aren’t you going to take your drawings?” With a matter-of-fact voice and look on his face he says, “No Dad! I’m going to get pictures of the ‘real’ things.” At first, it hurt my feelings that my drawings weren’t “real” enough, then I realized he was just overwhelmingly excited. I mean, a 10-year old hurting MY feelings? Nah.
Don’t get too down on yourself. I could publish a book with all the toons and sketches that got thrown away. Reading the end of your story my first thought was E would just want you to draw him another one. I think they enjoy watching the process more than the end product.
Sorry for the long comment, but found you through Twitter and just by chance, the first post I read brought back some great memories.
Thanks!
Kevins last blog post..Hear what I’m sayin’
Ouch! Maybe George was just dumpster diving.
Thanks for a good Sunday laugh.
Jamess last blog post..Time Machine
Well, that sucks.
Musings last blog post..What turns you on?