I have been drawing cartoons for a lot of years and I am still trying to get my mind around the illusions, that cartoonists and other graphic artists use, to make their drawings LIVE and appear real.
To that end, I spend a lot of time dissecting the work of others:
Yeah, I know, it seems to be just a trifle anal retentive but it makes me happy and since it has been a long time, since my last Blog Post and even longer since I last posted about drawing cartoons, this was long overdue.
Way, way back, when I was still in single digits and living in Nakuru, Kenya, I knew a kid named Peter Adams. Peter was a year or so older than me but our fathers were both British and working for the EAP&T and he allowed me to associate with him.
Peter had an older brother, Paul, who was attending a local boarding school and when I eventually met him, he amazed me by drawing me a comic strip, in a small note book. It was a life changing moment and I never forgot it.
Here I am, almost 55 years later and it still gives me a thrill, remembering my younger self, watching Paul draw that little story. It was a War Story, with german soldiers, battleships exploding and other scenes of mayhem... very much in the style of British military comics of the day. I have often wondered, if all he did was parrot something that he had read earlier on but even so, it was very cool, watching him do it, as performance art.
Wherever you are today, Paul Adams, I want you to know that I never forgot that afternoon and I wish I hadn't lost that hand drawn comic, all those years ago and several countries ago.
