Practice Makes Fun

When I was child, nothing was sweeter than getting that 64-pack of Crayola crayons with built in sharpener. No matter how hard I tried to keep them pristine, each waxy cylinder with its unique moniker eventually become little nubs of color.

As a child, I would spend hours coloring and creating my own children's books. I would sneak sheets of computer paper away from my father's printer, fold them in half, and staple the pages into a book. I would plot the design of each page and often used animals as my source of inspiration. My favorite was the one about a flea community living on the back of a dog, inspired by a Looney Tunes cartoon. You know the one I am talking about, right?

Eventually, I was introduced to the world of color pencils and markers. That's when I began to "publish" a comic strip that was similar to the story line of Archie but had the drama of All of My Children. I'm talking love triangles, betrayal, and black mail. Pretty sophisticated for an eleven year old, I guess, but my loyal readers (a couple of girls in my class) seemed to love it.

But then the Sharpie came into my life. Ah, the Sharpie. It's indelible mark made its presence known on all too many high school projects. And it's only gotten better with time.

My faith in the tool has even had me to forsake the lowly pencil as I rarely sketch with it anymore. When I draw with the Sharpie, I am deliberate in my decision making process as an artist. Each detail is bold and wants to be seen.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I treated myself to a four-pack of two tip Sharpies. These sketches may not be perfect, but practice certainly makes for fun.