Meet The Family

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.