When I was a kid, and I would sit down to sketch (well, LAY down, really– I almost always used to draw laying on the floor on my stomach), my mind would be so filled with images and thoughts that I would just draw whatever happened to come to mind the quickest– whichever idea/thought/image could elbow its way to the head of the line would be the first on the page. I never seemed to have enough time– or paper and pencil– to get what was jostling around in my head on the page. These days, it’s different. I don’t know what the exact reason is– but lately, when I sit down to sketch something out, I have to have a pretty concrete idea in my mind of what I want to draw before getting started. If I don’t have something in mind…. I can sit there and stare at the blank piece of paper for minutes– or even an hour– before something comes to me. Maybe that’s because as I’ve gotten older, my imagination has dulled (I don’t really think that’s the case)– or maybe it’s because I’ve been working on full scripts from other writers for so long that the part of my brain that comes up with its own ideas/imagery is like a muscle that hasn’t gotten any exercise in a very long time…. weak and flaccid. Before you think I’m feeling sorry for myself–don’t. I get paid to draw for a living. It doesn’t get any better than that.

I tell you that because today’s sketch ended up coming as quite a surprise to me. To set it up– I had seen a sketch someone did on one of the many art forums I frequent. It was of a woman sitting on a scooter. To be honest, it wasn’t the most well drawn sketch I’d ever seen, but it made me want to do something similar– to draw my own ‘babe on a motorscooter’. And so I turned around to my drawing table, pulled out a piece of paper, started sketching…. and what came out was not a WOMAN on a scooter/vespa. As I started drawing, the image of some strange creature that was like something out of MONSTERS, INC. popped into my head, and so instead of a long legged woman, the creature you see in the finish today formed. Even the colors (which are rather ham-handed, admittedly) suggested themselves to my mind as I was drawing. I have to say that it was a fun and wonderful experience that really took me back. I hope it won’t be the last time something unexpected like this happens.

This is Entry 214.

Mike