For the Kids

Just a little something I brewed up for the kids a few days before Christmas, when the anticipation was so palpable you could cut it with a knife.

Dear Santa, Part II

Now for a much more indirect, roundabout, pussy-footing, mumble-mouthed letter to Santa, this time from my daughter, who loves the intricate dance that is the English language. She takes after her father, you'll see.

Dear Santa, Part I

Yes, Santa gets letters. Even from dogs.

Even More Desk Scribbles

More proof that I just can't leave bits of paper lying around on my desk. Someone will come along and fill in all the blank spots.

Troll at the Bus Stop

NOTE: Yeah, I don't have a lot of Thanksgiving art. Not as much as I was expecting. So maybe a little bit more will come next week. But maybe not. Anyway, here's what goes on at the bus stop after you explain to your oldest child what internet memes are.

Dragon Tryptich

I have a dragon-loving daughter I was trying to amuse a few weeks ago, and came up with these. I'm not sure she was amused, but I was having fun. I'm particularly proud of the first one.

Thanksgiving Dump

November is here, and as I expect a flood of Thanksgiving-themed art to come down the pike, I thought it would be wise to dump what I've already got in the queue. So here goes.

Winter Camping

I see a lot of this in my future . . .

GO TEAM!

Go team. What else is there to say?

Run Silent. Run Deep

For the longest time, I've had this idea that I wanted to write a play about roommates fighting over something and making several attempts to jump, leap, or crash on their junk-covered couch, all the time complaining about the slob who lives with them and who always leaves the place a perpetual mess. They never get to sit on the couch or set it afire, covered in junk as it is. which is a good thing, since the slob is asleep under the rubble the whole time. This is the closest I've ever gotten to writing it down.

The Further Adventures of Sooper Deacon

At church today, once again I found time to doodle some Sooper Deacon stuff. Tried to get our oldest involved, but he was having none of it, since he had the iPad Mini and was reading The New Era. The things kids these days get up to.

Familiar Shapes, but the Towns . . .

Here we have alternate universes for Idaho and Michigan's lower peninsula. From, of course, the kids who loves to draw maps, like his father before him.

GO TO BED!

Remember: Kids never really go to bed.

Have A Comic, Dad.

More desktop scribbles. They're much more interesting than my notes on chores to do and supplies to buy to make the chores easier to do. Maybe our daughter's got the right idea. Doodling (and looking at the doodles) is a lot more fun than doing the chores.

Her comic here is subtle -- the stars fell down on the tent, that's why it's glowing. I love that image and idea.

Pop-Up Toaster

I'm kinda glad I don't have a pop-up desk.

Indian Signs

We're into American Indian lore right now, working our son through a few Cub Scout requirements. One of them was to use twelve Indian signs to write his own story. The bit above is his story. To entertain him, I said I'd read the story as I interpreted the signs.

My version:

The top man was in the village and saw a man with a horseshoe. Radioactive Man and Wolverine came in and slashed a guy, then ran away. A fat guy made a snowman, then tried to make s'mores by putting three marshmallows on sticks. He burned them. The fat guy saw the guy who got slashed and thought he was a beaver.

The real version:

The top man was in the village, when a man on a horse came in. He heard a bear eating birds. A boy saw over three days and three nights in the camp a boy who ate beavers.

Then, of course, our daughter got in the act. She interpreted her own story.

50-Miler

Last summer, my oldest son and I went on a 50-mile bicycle ride from Jackson, Wyoming, to Jenny Lake. I drew these two sketches -- recently rediscovered -- to commemorate the event.

Random Objects

Once again, someone commandeered a bit of scratch paper I had on my desk. I'm impressed with the diversity of objects drawn, from a banjo to what I think is a half-melon to random three-dimensional shapes. I'd be tempted to say this was my son, as he's the shape guy, but there are clues -- the crying eye -- that makes me suspect this came from my daughter. Maybe it's group work?

Island of the Blue Dolphins

So today we see some artwork from my daughter's Island of the Blue Dolphins project at school. Yes, still getting through a lot of school art. She poured her soul into this project, and this is only just a tiny bit of it.

Birthday Greetings

Today, a dump of birthday-related art, because the art is starting to back up a little bit. First, a card to me from the kids.

Then, a card to my daughter from an artist whose name is lost in the mists of negligence.

And finally, a card to me from my daughter, while in her cat phase. She's since moved on to dragons.

A Pun! A Pun!

No, there is no end to the punnage when you have three young kids in the house. Not sure who drew this one. But they all do ones similar.

Cupcake Dragon

Not even cardboard is safe in our house.

TR's Scribbles

How cool is this? Teddy Roosevelt drew pictures in the many letters he sent his kids. Including a rough copy of this photo:

Desk Scribbles

Again, the peril of leaving blank or not-so-blank paper on my desk. This time, I was attached by colored pencil.

Christmas Leftovers

It's fun to see that my kids doodle on their homework as much as their old man.

Sucking Lemons

Oh, the things you do when you've got a Cub Scout. We had to do secret messages. Finally got them done, though to get them to appear correctly, dad had to swear at the iron. Makes me wonder how Nic Cage had the patience.

What Do These Words Mean?

Vocabulary via drawings. Of course it'll show up here.

Leave No Trace

Sometimes, even the best poster-maker needs a little inspiration. Here, I help our 9-year-old out with an idea for a poster he had to make for Cub Scouts. I like his drawing better, since the idiot grin on the guy as the poop is slurped up is better than the idiot grin on my guy.

Of course, all of this begs the question: Does this guy mind that he has to finish walkies with dog poop in his hat? I posed the question to our son, and he didn't have a good answer. Neither do I.

The Adventures of Sooper Deacon

I have indeed been a slacking slacker, not having posted an update to this site in just over a month. But I make it up to you tonight, with the presentation of what could be a long-lived comic strip, Sooper Deacon. It's what our oldest and I drew at church today as I was trying to improve his mood. It worked until he figured out he had to stay after church for another meeting.