From the Beginning, Part 2: The Adolescent Years

Drawing was something I continued to enjoy into my teen years, when hobbies were not cool to have. I don't know about you, but when I was a teenager, the only acceptable hobby was "hanging out" (maybe that's always the case). You couldn't look too eager. You didn't learn for the love of learning. You didn't go to the bowling alley to BOWL, for crying out loud. You didn't go to the rink to skate. That's what the cool kids said, anyway.

Luckily, I wasn't one of the cool kids. I found drawing to be a fun pastime, as well as my trademark.

In English class, we were allowed to do cartoons as an option for our creative writing folders. Here is a doozy that I drew in grade eight, where looking dorky in your class picture is beyond embarrassing. I was exaggerating, although only somewhat. Can you guess the time period? Mall bangs! Earlobe-stretching earrings! Pointy white shoes! Steve Urkel reference! Ack!  Please don't judge me.

Good grief. I DID get a 10/10 on it, at least...


I also kept a cartoon journal of sorts based on my family. Ours was (and is) a family that joked around a lot together, and it was fun to depict the daily goings-on to tease one another. They weren't my best work, because the aim was to tell a story, not to show off my drawing skills. I didn't even consider how much fun it would be to look back at how we all were then.

Here is an actual conversation about the future that took place between my sister and me; I was just shy of 14, and she was five.

I don't know why she was so mad; she still had Garth and Bart as options (again, guess the time period!). She's now in her mid-twenties-- no kids yet. I wonder if she's changed her choices? Little Garth will love this cartoon one day.

I also contributed whenever possible at school. I was the resident cartoonist for our high school newspaper as well as our yearbook. Here is a rendering of the Beatles that I was rather proud of:

I found the early-to-mid '90s were a rather grouchy time to be a teenager (Kurt Cobain, grunge, Doc Martens and lots of plaid...), at least in my experience. It was cool to be cynical, and this comes through in some of my cartoons.

Dramatic much? Oh boy, I can't wait until my son is a teenager.

Once I hit university, things got fun again and I lightened the heck up. Stay tuned.