“Kid books…grown up books…that’s just marketing. Books are books!”
- I can’t begin to tell you how much I love that bit. It took something I’ve been thinking for a while now and have tried to explain many times in a garbled mess, and distilled it perfectly. From this great two pager in the New Yorker by Maurice Sendak and Art Spiegelman, In the Dumps.
Maurice Sendak, creator of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE passed away this week. There’s not many names you can mention that played a bigger role in nearly every kids life. That book has been in my house in some for or another since before I can remember. My son 2 copies now and will own many more thru his lifetime.
I thought a lot about that book this morning. I’ve said “That book isn’t as good as I always thought it was.” And after some time today, I’ve been wrong in saying that. The strength of that book is how vastly different it is being read thru the eyes of your 7 year old self than the 34 year old man I am now. I grumble at how quickly it moves and doesn’t actually show you that much in the way of imaginary worlds, or even WILD THINGS really.
But then I remember how big my mind was at 7. Those gaps are important, those spaces are crucial. They allowed me to imagine on my own where the wild things WERE instead of being told and shown every corner. Imagination is a powerful thing. That book shows the beginnings of it and allows you to fill it all in.
So today’s piece is a quick thank you to Maurice. I hope to revisit this subject over time in a more official manner but today we’ll just give a sketch.
In honor of the man who touched so many children’s lives, this and the rest of the weeks Daily Sketch proceeds will be donated to ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL. Thank you in advance for helping out.
9x12 bristol, pen, brush. For sale in MY STORE
Did a quick lunchtime sketch today. Trying to get back in the habit of drawing since I unfortunately have done virtually none the past couple weeks.
Anyway, here is Speedy from Tiny Titans (my son’s current addiction). Used a brush pen in my work sketchbook for the line art. Then took a picture with my Android tablet and colored it real quick in Photoshop. The whole thing was only 10-15 minutes start to finish (and it shows).
Otters Who Look Like Benedict Cumberbatch: A Visual Examination.
All otters are from The Daily Otter, for all your ottery Tumblr needs!
Via Red Scharlach Points At Interesting Things
Drew Owly at lunch and then threw in some quick color in Photoshop. Nothin’ fancy, jut playing around with a fun character.
