I'm a bit of an amateur cartoonist. No real training, just
observation and a love of cartoons and comics such as peanuts and Calvin & Hobbs.
So for fun I've been drawing cartoons of the family. This family cartoon
was drawn as a Christmas present for my parents. Their house has more than
enough family pictures on the walls so this put a different spin on it.
I particularly
like the two youngest boys in this picture. They've got a great relationship
and it’s hard to imagine the one without the other. Joseph, the oldest of the
two, watches out for Michael and you can see this in the illustration.
So, as you can see
I have six children, all of whom have their own individual personalities. My
oldest son, Hyrum, is fairly sensible. He has a new 'thing' from time to time
that he'll get enthusiastic about and get stuck into. My Oldest daughter,
Rachel, is great and just like her brother is sensible and well behaved, as is
her younger sister Abigail. The difference with Abi is she is very organised and very tidy. The night-time routine can be
lengthy, as she puts away everything she's been using in just the right places
and order.
Now, after reading
about my older three children you may be thinking that this is a rather
nice situation to be in. As you can see, however, there are three more children
and when you throw them into the mix things can get a little wild, to say the
least.
So, let me introduce you to my youngest daughter and fourth child –
Faith, or ‘Faithy’ as we like to call her (we decided her name needed more
syllables, as it sounded better). Faithy is a very intelligent girl, with a
wicked sense of humour and more than capable of beating you in an argument if
you’re slightly tired and not paying attention. We call her my wife’s ‘mini-me’
because she’s to look at she is indeed a mini version of her. Faith is
extremely positive, fun loving and has one of those smiles that is contagious.
To be fair she probably got away with more than the others because of that
smile and her sense of humour. She also has a lovely singing voice, which she
chooses to employ often and at the most inopportune times.
When it comes to being neat and tidy, she is the polar-opposite of
Abi. Wherever she goes she leaves a trail of wrappers, glasses, dirty clothes,
toys or anything else she’s played with. Her section of the shared bedroom is
never very tidy for long. When my wife questioned her about it she responded
with her big smile, “I’m just Faithy. This is what I’m like”. Lorraine couldn’t
help but laugh. Faithy is also a terrible torment, constantly winding her
brothers and sisters up. If she’s ever bored you need to be on your guard J.
Then there are
Joseph and Michael who I’ve introduced you too already. These two really need
to be described together because that’s how they spend most of their time. Both
are lovely boys full of energy, laughter, mischief and adventure. Wherever they
go they’re like a whirlwind, disturbing everything in their path. Their various
super hero costumes are often worn while re-enacting some battle seen from the
Avengers or Harry Potter movies. This usually involves me yelling over the movie
soundtrack (usually hummed by Joseph) and sound effects (usually produced by
Michael) “STOP CLIMBING ON THE FURNITURE!”. Just a note on Joseph’s soundtrack reproductions
– this boy has a soundtrack for his life running through his head constantly,
and more often than not he’ll be caught up in his world, humming or whining out
a tune, much to the annoyance of everybody else.
We as parents are unremarkable really, probably much like
yourselves, just trying our best under the pressures of everyday life. So, there you have it, my family. Throw them
together in a house that’s not a great size and you’re provided with lots of
inspiration for cartoons.
As I produce them I'll post them. Some will be in colour and some
in black and white. I hope you enjoy them.
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