Remember when you saw your first “Draw Me” ad? Maybe it was in the back of a comic book. Or on a matchbook cover. Or in TV Guide.
You old-timers know what I’m talking about..the ones that promised you an exciting career in cartooning if your rendition of the supplied art was deemed worthy of a scholarship to the prestigious Art Instruction Schools. There was Cubby the bear, a pirate, a cowboy…and, of course, Tippy the Turtle. My main memory of those ads was that, even as a kid, I knew there was no real creativity involved in just copying someone else’s art.
Don’t get me wrong. As a child, I did my fair share of copying other people’s work, and even (gasp!) tracing it on occasion. But I was working on my technique, not my creativity, in those instances, and I knew it. I think that differentiation is lost on a LOT of people.
Anyway, before I get too soap-boxy, I present for your viewing pleasure my take on Tippy. Hope you enjoy it. And if you can draw it exactly as it looks…well….you have too much time on your hands.
And you need therapy.
Tags: art, artist, artists, audience participation, blog, cartoon, cartoons, comic books, comics, creativity, doodle, doodles, doodling, drawing, facial expression, fun, funny, humor, humorous, illustration, illustrator, inspiration, jaggedsmile, sketchbook, sketches, technique, tippy the turtle, turtle cartoon
Jaggedsmile 
May 21, 2010 at 12:50 pm |
[…] “WAIT. HIS NAME WASN’T TRIPPY?” I’d tell you why I ran across that but I’ve sworn off self-linking for the rest of today. It has something to do with making fun of the way Reason Magazine judged it’s “Draw Mohammed” contest. […]
May 21, 2010 at 1:27 pm |
To get an idea of the age of those ads, look through the Popular Science archives online from the early 1900s.
May 21, 2010 at 2:02 pm |
My main memory of those ads was that, even as a kid, I knew there was no real creativity involved in just copying someone else’s art.
Here’s a guy who took their courses before becoming an instructor there. You may have heard of him. Do you know whose art he was copying? Because I don’t…
May 21, 2010 at 2:09 pm |
Heather,
I never said the students, or even the faculty for that matter, had no creativity. It is the criteria by which the school supposedly judges its applicants that I view as valuing technique over creativity.
I’m sure there are also some great chefs out there who got their start at Taco Bell, but that doesn’t improve my view of fast food, only my appreciation of the person who is able to rise above limited, humble beginnings.