Daffy Duck Stomping on a Genie

"What should we do for the snack sack today?"

"Let me see," he said. He browsed the screenshots on his iPad and picked another snapshot from the cartoon, "Ali Baba Bunny."

"I'll do it, but I wish you could tell that it's a genie." I searched through the other screenshots but there were none with the genie's face visible.

"Look. See. There's the lamp," he said in rebuttal.

"I know, but when I draw it, it won't be as obvious." He didn't seem to care. "I'll do it if you want," I told him. So for the 6th time, I drew a still from, "Ali Baba Bunny." Here, Daffy is upset by the appearance of the genie. He stuffs him back into the magic lamp, fearing the genie wants to steal his found treasure. It was pretty easy to draw and I always enjoy drawing Daffy. He's such a character.

"What do you think?" I asked Victor when I finished.

"Yeah, that's good, but the Daffy is messed up a little bit."

He was right. I'd messed up on the mouth just a little bit. He's always so observant!

Daffy Duck Hugging a Pearl

"What are we gonna do today? It's got to be easy because I don't have a lot of time."

He browsed through his collection of Looney Tunes screenshots again. "Got it!" he shouted.

This one looked easy enough and I always enjoy drawing Daffy. It's yet another snapshot from the cartoon, "Ali Baba Bunny." Here, Daffy has been miniaturized by a genie after having desecrated the spirit of the magic lamp. He follows Bugs's rabbit hole to Pismo Beach and grabs hold of this pearl. This is the fourth still we've done from that cartoon. We've done Bugs and Daffy in a cave full of treasure, Daffy popping out of Bug Bunny's head, and Daffy Duck Swimming in Treasure.

It didn't take me too long to finish. Victor looked over at it and asked, "What's he holding?"

"A pearl."

"We've never found a pearl."

"No, huh." We've never been anywhere near a real clam shell, I thought.

"Dad, would you want to be shrunk and find a pearl?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I wouldn't want to be shrunk."

He considered the thought, but made no comment. I suspect he'd be just fine being shrunk, especially if he could hug a pearl and yell, "It's mine! It's mine! All mine!"

Daffy Duck Swimming in Treasure

"What should we do today?"

"This one," he said, pointing to another Looney Tunes screenshot on his iPad.

I was excited to do it the moment I saw it. It's another snapshot from the cartoon, "Ali Baba Bunny." This is the third still from that same cartoon. We did Bugs and Daffy in a cave full of treasure a couple of days ago, then Daffy popping out of Bug Bunny's head yesterday.

I drew Daffy quickly, then I got to work on the coins. I had visions of filling the entire snack sack with coins. I knew it would take a long time, but I underestimated just how long. The minutes slipped by and progress was slow.

As soon as he'd finished breakfast, I asked, "Do you want to help me?" hoping he'd say, "Yes." I continued, "You could do that side and I can do this side."

"Sure," he said.

I reached for another Sharpie and handed it to him. "But don't press too hard," I reminded him. "See how I do it?" I drew a few coins to demonstrate. "I don't hardly press down at all."

He drew a few of his own coins. "It's hard not to press down," he admitted.

"No it's not. Just try," I said, trying to encourage him. I swished out several more coins. He did the same.

A minute hadn't passed before he said, "I'm tired." He said this after having drawn about 20 coins. I didn't expect much from him so this wasn't a surprise; but, I was hoping to get more production out of him. "You're too good," he said. The compliment was meant to deflect any attempt to convince him to continue. He put down the Sharpie and went to go mess around.

I worked fast and furiously to add as many coins as time would allow. I worked well past our normal leaving time, but ultimately had to call it quits. I may not have reached my goal to cover the entire sack, but there are a lot of coins here and it does look pretty cool.

He agreed. "It looks awesome!" he shouted when he saw it.

Daffy Popping Out of Bug Bunny's Head

"What's for the snack today?" I asked. I expected this to be another day for a Looney Tunes still. It was.

He scanned the screenshots on his iPad and picked. "This one. It's Daffy popping out of Bugs Bunny's head."

With a description like that, I knew it'd be a fun one. It's another screenshot from the cartoon, "Ali Baba Bunny." We did Bugs and Daffy in a cave full of treasure from the same cartoon a couple of days ago.

We stayed pretty independent today. We sat mostly in silence as he ate his breakfast and I worked on the snack sack. He finished eating, then brushed his teeth. He passed by several times but didn't take notice of my progress.

He didn't see it until we were headed out the door. I left it on the bench by his backpack so he'd see it before we left. He laughed hard out loud. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! I like it. It's funny!"

I agreed. Actually, the entire cartoon is funny. I can see why he likes it so much.

Bugs and Daffy in a Cave Full of Treasure

This morning, Victor woke up before I did. He came to find me in my bed and jumped on top of me. We chatted about this and that for several minutes before we decided to get up. Often when he's on restriction, like he still is today, he's extra sweet. Partly it's because he's on his best behavior, but partly I think it's because he has fewer external distractions. Without the TV, the iPad, or the computer, he puts his entire attention on Mom and Dad. I like it.

As soon as we got downstairs, he went to his iPad to find another Looney Tunes screenshot for today's snack sack. "Can you do this one?" he asked me.

"Um, you won't be able to tell what it is. I'm not even sure what it is," I told him. It looked like something from outer space. He didn't explain it. I still have no idea what it was, what cartoon it was from, why he'd saved it in a screenshot, or why he wanted me to draw it on a snack sack.

He browsed some more and showed me a picture of Elmer Fudd shooting himself in the face. The screenshot consisted of his body, a puff of smoke in place of his head, and his arm holding a revolver. "How about this?" he asked.

"That's not appropriate for school," I told him.

"Why not? It's just a cartoon."

"That's not appropriate for school and you know that," I repeated. I haven't shared with him any of the tragic stories about school violence, but he generally understands that violence and weapons are no laughing matter at school.

"Okay," he said and went back to browsing. He picked a snapshot of a cartoon car, with a silly screaming face on it, falling from the sky. Much of the car was not in frame so I told him I didn't want to do it. He thought he could find a better still, one with the entire car in it, but he couldn't find any in his set. In fact, many of the screenshots he's captured have incomplete views of the characters. He finally picked this snapshot of Bugs and Daffy in, "Ali Baba Bunny." He asked me, "Can you do this?"

"Sure."

"You can do it!? Yay!" he shouted with genuine enthusiasm and, I believe, some relief.

This one took a long time. It wasn't easy drawing all that treasure, but I was committed to filling it all in. Meanwhile, he'd finished his breakfast and brushed his teeth.

"Where's the snack sack?" he asked from around the corner. "Ooo!" he said as soon as he saw it. "It's awesome!"

When he came home that afternoon, I found the sack all crumpled up in his backpack. "Did you show this one to your friends?" I asked him.

"Yeah! They said, 'Wow! He is good!'"

Taz Grabbing Daffy Duck

"What should we do today?"

"The one, the only..." He paused for dramatic effect. "One more Tasmanian Devil." We did a Taz way back near the beginning of the first year.

I did a search and handed him my iPhone. "Look at this one," he told me. He read the sign, "Mother!" He laughed, "Ha!"

I laughed too.

He kept browsing and showed me a picture of a real Tasmanian devil. "It looks cute," he said.

"I'm not sure I agree," I told him.

He kept browsing.

"I can do that one if you want," I said. I was pretty sure he hadn't asked me to already because he expected me to say, "no," since it had Daffy in it too.

"Oh good! But one thing, can you do the teeth a little, like, sharper?"

The teeth were more rounded in the original. "Sure. I can do that," I said.

I really like how this drawing of Daffy Duck came out. Daffy is my favorite of all the Looney Tunes characters.

Bugs and Daffy

"What'll it be today?"

"I don't have anything. I've used up everything."

"No way, so many things to choose from."

"I don't even know."

He's been watching a lot of Looney Tunes lately, so I suggested, "What about something Bugs Bunny related?"

"Oh yeah! Bugs Bunny!" I handed him my iPhone and he scanned the options for a long while. "This one!"

"Oh, that's hard because I'd have to draw Bugs and Daffy."

"Please!"

"I'll try. I'll start with Bugs and we'll see."

I liked the idea of drawing two of my all time favorite cartoon characters. He finished his breakfast and went to go play. I really struggled with the marker bleeding on the paper today. I wanted smooth stokes but if I paused for even a moment, the line would get fat. Bugs didn't come out looking right, but I couldn't start over. Luckily, when I added a small stoke for his arm, it fixed Bugs's face making him look much more like himself. I really like how Daffy came out.

"Do you have time to do Daffy Duck he called out from the other room?"

"Yeah. I'm all done. Come check it out."

He studied the drawing. He smiled and gave out a small laugh taking in the scene. "How do you spell Bugs?" he asked.

That was his way of asking for the Sharpie. He studied my face as he leaned toward the drawer to grab one of his own. He could tell that I wasn't thrilled about him adding to the drawing. I always have mixed feelings, especially if I'm happy with my work.

I have an internal struggle since the art work is mine and I feel proud of it sometimes when it comes out well. However, the sacks are for him. They are his after all. And I definitely want to encourage him to draw, so I stepped aside wondering what he would add.

"I'm going to make this a thunder cloud," he said deep in concentration, "and add lightning." He added his lightning. "This is going to be weird," he said as he continued to add stuff.

I found myself saying, "Sometimes less is more," before I could even try to stop myself.

"I know. I just added a little detail."

"Okay, but too much detail and then it doesn't look like anything anymore. Less is more."

"Okay," he said as he continued to add more stuff.

I watched him silently as he worked. His characters are cute.

After several more minutes he declared he was finished, "Done!"