The Work of a Budding Cartoonist

I have mentioned before that all five of my boys were blessed at birth with a good deal of artistic talent.  If you caught "T-Rex Week" (June 20-26, 2011), you know this already.

Not all of them have continued to develop this talent into adulthood, however.  Son #4 is still drawing, though.  In fact, son #3 gave him this amazing gadget for his birthday: some kind of "tablet" that allows you to draw your pictures right onto a computer screen, and then shade and color them (without even having to open up a messy tube of paint!) so that they end up looking incredibly professional.  With this high-tech gizmo, son #4 might someday realize his dream of starting his own web cartoon--who knows?

Anyway, son #4 always exhibited an amazing talent for cartooning, and for coming up with these crazy creatures that look like they belong in a movie about alien invasions.  He made them up, using his fertile imagination and an impressive amount of skill with a pencil and paper.  In fact, I have kept many of these drawings, and I showcased one of them in a post called "Mythological Muscleman" on July 28, 2011.  I've been thinking that "String of Pearls" is overdue for a "Crazy Creatures Week," where I showcase some more of these incredible drawings, posting them from Monday through Friday for your viewing pleasure.  Look for that (coming soon, to a computer screen near you).

Son #5 has always looked up to his older brother, sharing son #4's love for playing video games, mimicking the voices of famous people (his brother can do Christopher Walken like nobody's business, but my baby's Arnold Schwarzenegger is spot-on), wearing silly t-shirts, and drawing "Far Side"-style cartoons, among many other things.  When my youngest was in grade school, he drew a whole series of his own cartoons, which I kept.  I think they are pretty sharp, especially considering he was just a little boy when he did them.  I thought I'd share a couple of them with you today.

You really won't get this second one unless you've seen "Jurassic Park"--the scene where Dr. Grant distracts the T-Rex with a flashlight.  Here my son has the T-Rex saying, "Look pal, I saw that movie and I'm not falling for it!"  Funny stuff.

It's Friday, so you're probably happy already.  Perhaps I should have saved these cartoons for Monday morning, when you could really use a laugh.  Oh well, I hope you enjoyed them anyway!