Jamba Juice

Jamba Juice

"What should we do today?"

"Jamba Juice." 

"Okay."

He picked Jamba Juice because I had just bought a tall plastic Jamba Juice branded straw cup. It was on the kitchen table. I ran a search and he picked this marketing shot with multiple cups. I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"You have to do it sideways."

"Okay," I sighed, taking a deep breath. I tried extra hard to maintain focus throughout while drawing this one and I think that's why it came out okay.

When he saw it, all he said was, "Can you add some color?" 

"No," I said flatly. This one was hard enough!

Maybe a little cloud with lightning and a cave...

Maybe a little cloud with lightning and a cave...

"What's for the snack sack today?"

"Maybe a little cloud with lighting and a cave."

"Um, a little cloud with lighting and a cave?"

"Yeah! A cloud that covers the sky with some lightning and a cave," he said as he used his hands to pantomime the scene in the air.

I wasn't sure how to do this one, but after being criticized for my work on yesterday's penguin, I wasn't about to back down from the challenge. I decided to merge a few reference drawings together to make the scene he asked for.

He came over again today to watch my progress. "Is that the cave?" he asked pointing to the dark spot in the middle. It looks kind of like the cave from Jake and the Never Land Pirates," he observed. "Now the lighting, right?

"Not yet." I was still working the cave.

"I do lightning good!" he said proudly.

"You want to do the lightning?" I asked, fully expecting him to take the Sharpie out of my hand.

"No," he said very firmly, a serious look in his eyes. I'm not sure why he had that reaction. Perhaps he was worried that I might criticize him the way he had criticized me?

Okay!, I thought and kept working.

This one was interesting because it was a combination of things. It's kind of cool and I liked it. So did he. 

"Ooh, nice! He-he," he said chuckling when he saw the finished drawing. Then he noticed the surprise. "Daddy, look!" he exclaimed pointing to his name with a smile. "Nice!"

A Penguin

A Penguin

"A penguin."

I had a feeling that we've done a penguin before. I know we did some rocks with penguins on it. But maybe we haven't done just a penguin, I thought.

I ran a search and handed him my iPhone. I was relieved when he picked this simple drawing even though sometimes the simple ones are harder, as I was reminded with the polar bears from a couple of days ago.

"Isn't he cute?" he asked.

"He is," I agreed. Victor really likes penguins.

His TV show ended right when I got started so he came around to my side of the table to watch me draw.

"Um, that doesn't really look like it," he said plainly. He repeated himself, "That doesn't really look like it, does it?" He paused, then added, "You made it fatter."

I thought I was doing pretty good actually. Oh well. He sat and watched the rest of it come to life. When I was about half way done, he said, "I'm definitely bringing this one home. He's so cute!" Then he proceeded to criticize me for the rest of the time. He picked it apart telling me what didn't look right and which lines were too long or too short. I did my best to ignore him. I'm still feeling my way back into the groove of drawing every day after the summer break. I'm actually pretty pleased with this one. I avoided chicken scratching and felt good about working freely with the fat tip of the Sharpie. It definitely looks like a penguin and looks pretty close to the drawing I'd say.

"I want to take a picture!" he exclaimed after I had taken one. He's never asked to do that before so I handed him my iPhone and let him snap one of his own.

A really big glass of Coca-Cola

A really big glass of Coca-Cola

"What should we do today?"

"Coca-Cola!"

"A can? A bottle? A glass?"

"A really big glass," he said. "Coca-Cola is sooo good, isn't it? Have you ever tried it?" he asked. 

"Of course!"

"It's sooo good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's good."

"Coca-Cola isn't very fizzy, right?"

"Um, yeah it is."

"It isn't very fizzy, right?" he asked again ignoring my response.

"It is." He ignored me and went back to eating his breakfast without another word. I'm not sure where he tried Coke. We certainly didn't give it to him and won't any time in the near future. Clearly he got his hands on some and clearly he liked it!

How about a bear...

How about a bear...

"What’s for the snack sack today?"

"The Disneyland Castle!" he exclaimed immediately, same as he did yesterday.

"Um, I think I've already done that," I said not really sure if I had. I meant to run through the archive yesterday but didn’t. "Besides, that will take all morning," I complained. "Besides, we've already done so many castles." The complaints flowed freely this morning.

"Okay, okay," he relented. He thought for a moment and then said, "How about a bear?"

"Okay," I said, "but it can't be too detailed." Curiously, we have never done a bear. I'm pretty sure he thought of a bear because we watched Open Season 2 yesterday for family movie time. One of the main characters, Boog, is a giant grizzly bear. I didn't do a search for Boog; instead, I searched for "bear drawing" and handed him my iPhone.

"Oh, this is so cute! Don't you think this is so cute?"

I walked around to his side of the table to look. "Yes it is," I agreed.

"I want that one."

"Okay."

Simple ones are never as easy as I think they'll be. I was tricky to get the proportions right, but in the end he loved it. "Oh, that is so cute!" he rejoiced.

How about two lightsabers making an X...

How about two lightsabers making an X...

He woke up early today and ate quickly. He hurried into the bathroom and after a few minutes yelled out, "The snack sack! Just draw a Hot Wheels!" he exclaimed. 

"That's a good idea!" I shouted back. But then I ran a search looked at the pics. None of the options looked like a toy and none were drawings. 

He messed around in the bathroom while I made his lunch. I had to keep reminding him to brush his teeth and get ready. With all the time wasted, I no longer had time to draw a complex race car. 

I asked him for a different idea. 

He quickly suggested, "How about a lightsaber?" Then he added, "How about two lightsabers making an X. That's easy right?!"

"Yeah, it does sound easy," I had to admit. It was so easy, in fact, that I decided to add color, something I've never done before. I knew it just wouldn't look right if the lightsabers weren't classic green vs. red. It took me almost no time at all to draw them.

"Ooo, lightsabers! Ooo, you used markers this time!" It's a simple one, but he was super excited about it.

A Cement Truck

A Cement Truck

"What do you want me to do today?" I asked, then remembered, "You had an idea yesterday."

"The Disneyland Castle!"

"I'm not sure I have enough time for that."

"You do."

"Uh," changing focus I asked, "What did you think of yesterday? That wasn't it." It wasn't and I couldn't remember.

"I don't remember." Neither did he.

I took a look at options for the Disneyland Castle and, no, I definitely didn't have time to draw it. I also wondered if I had already drawn it. I couldn't remember that either.

He always tells me what to draw but, I had to pick something myself today. I really didn't have much time and he went upstairs right when I needed to get started. I searched for a few different things and landed on this cement truck. It's actually a scene of a cement truck at a construction site pouring cement on the ground.

It was going well until I realized that I didn't have enough room or time for the whole picture. I should have drawn it with the sack on its side. The coolest part of the original reference, the cement being poured onto the ground, didn't even make it in. I completely ran out of time today and just finished up what I could quickly. When he saw it as we rushed out the door, he said, "Ooo. Ooo. Pretty good."

1st Grade

1st Grade

"Yay! You're finally doing snack sacks!" Victor said with a vigorous enthusiasm. That put a smile on my face. It was a warm welcome to the new school year, a year I wasn't even sure would include our little bit of creativity in the mornings.

Although over the summer I considered switching things up and doing something else creative other than drawing each morning, he made it clear that he wanted me to continue adding to our collection. He absolutely loves that I draw on his snack sack each and every morning and was so excited for the first day of school to come.

I wasn't sure what to draw today but knew that I wanted to celebrate his transition into the 1st grade. I didn't ask what he wanted me to draw, which is rare, and started with a flag. He looked over the table to see what I was drawing. 

"Do you want to add something?" I asked as I finished up the flag.

"Yeah! But I'm not sure what."

"Anything."

"Draw a person skateboarding."

"Hmm, okay," I said looking up a silhouetted skateboarder to reference. Victor came over to my side of the table and added in the road. He went to brush his teeth and I got up to get his stuff together for school. As I was putting on my shoes I remembered that we had forgotten to write his name so I quickly added it.

When he saw it, he said, "Yes! He-he, the 'Victor' is skateboarding too. Nice!"

It's going to be a fun year, I thought.