hello, my name is Simon...

and I like to do drawrings... Remember that Saturday Night Live spoof? Cheeky monkey. Anyway, I've been able to finally use my vast training in art education as I watch the drawing development of my son. I must say, art-wise, the first three years were a real wash. In other ways as well. He was a cute little bugger, but I much prefer the older, I-can-tell-you-what-I-want and occasionally-pretend-to-help version of my son.

So, at this point he is at the pre-schematic stage of scribbling, making global figures (read: lots of closed shapes, rounded a bit, that stand for anything from batman to "lil fissies"--fishies). He just started to be very interested in drawing about two weeks ago, from a ho-hum reaction to always wanting his markers and paper taped down, ready to go.

His usual method is to start with a giant shape on the paper, then make smaller and smaller shapes until the paper surface is full. Sometimes they are just shapes, and other times they become totally unrecognizable "guys," "batman," and "big sarks." Once in a while, though, the figure will sprout a face, lots of teeth, and maybe some appendages as well. These are the most exciting, and I wait anxiously for him to finish. Not for time constraints, but sometimes he will decide to color in his great drawing so that it is no more than a soggy blob of marker, with an eyeball or two more soggy than the rest.

Here are his latest, most brilliant drawings from the half-ream of paper he has gone through:
A made this during our trip to the Baltimore Museum of Art. They have a box of drawing activities for kids to use as they wander the museum, and it's quite nice. It's called "Bad Eyes on a Lion."
A lot of A's best drawings have been outside, with chalk. This one is of a dinosaur (6 feet tall?), which started out just as a long line that went around the potting soil bags, then turned into a dinosaur when A added sharp teeth (a common theme, actually. He's a boy, you know.) , angry eyebrows, claws, and some eyes.
This one is an alligator, with lots of spiky things on its body. He spent about 15-20 minutes on the drawing, which is quite a long time for a little guy. Usually you add 2 to their age, and that's how many minutes they can focus their concentration on something.
This photo shows one of the hundreds of lineups A makes of his favorite toys. Most of them are under an inch tall, which poses lots of problems if the toys make any field trips with us. If I had a nickel for every time A has cried, "Where's my Snoopy?" I could probably hire a nanny. Snoopy is the favorite of the favorites, and started his life as an eraser on the end of a novelty Christmas pencil. Yes, he's that small. And he's got a hole in his bottom, an added plus for my hole-obsessed son and an unfortunate place for everything from coffee beans to playdoh lumps. Poor Snoopy has been through the mill. So imagine my joy when A decided to draw his best little friend:
Now if you asked him, he would say it was a monster, not Snoopy, but it started out as Snoopy and is a very good likeness, I say. He "traced" around the Snoopy, then added all the parts and lots of toes. I got a little teary-eyed.