Nostalgia

My parents have been visiting this week.  The first night my mom had a gift for me, as usual…she’s a gift giver that one.   Underneath the neatly wrapped present, was a raggedy, old spiral-bound sketch book.  My eyes widened and my outstretched arm passed over the actual gift, to a notebook of paper I remembered immediately.  It was like being hit with a memory stick as the recognition of each drawing came back to me forcefully.  I remembered that first drawing.  I remembered what I was doing and what I was trying to create…my own character, a villain specifically.  

Growing up I was obsessed with Disney and wanted to be a Disney animator more than anything in the world.  I studied and dreamed Disney.  If there was a school assignment with any creative leverage I would find a way to bring Disney, and specifically animation, into the project.  In 7th grade we were studying Japan and everyone had to do a project and presentation on the culture or history of Japan.  I did my project on Disneyland Tokyo.  The entirety of the project consisted of me drawing Mickey, Minney, Goofy and Donald in Japanese regalia for my backdrop and making Mickey Mouse sugar cookies to give away at my booth.  That was IT.  I think I got an A.  

 By the time I got to college I was mostly over my Disney/animation phase and moving on to fine art.  But seeing these old sketches really brought back memories.  Not just of the drawings themselves, but of a young me who would practice, practice, practice until I got it right.  Sure I had some talent, but more importantly I had determination, passion and of course much more free time.

    

My mom told me my little brother held onto it for years and used it as his inspiration for drawing as a kid, but now he thought it should go back to it’s rightful owner.  My little brother graduated from a great art school in Georgia and is a fantastic cartoonist/artist in his own right.  See his work here.   

As I prepare for this next Art-a-thon I unabashedly admit that I’m rather inspired as well.  I’m not sure that’s allowed…being inspired by your own childhood artwork, but again it’s not really about the drawings themselves.  It’s knowing how fearlessly I drew.  I didn’t worry about mistakes or failure or what-if-it-looks-dumb.  It’s remembering my room plastered in posters along side my best pencil sketches on loose leaf notebook paper.  I drew because I loved it and I drew with little to no self consciousness.   

And truthfully, I am rather impressed with the fact that I did these drawings in 8th grade.  Some of them are really spot on.  Sweet of my little brother to want to give it back and sweet that he kept it safe all those years.  While not the properly wrapped gift my mom intended, it was a great gift.

This all sounded so much cheesier than I intended, but I really don’t have time for a re-do….so there it is.