SPUNKIES

One of Mariel's favorite cartoons has been one called "OKEY DOKEY DONKEY." This is a late fifties Paramount cartoon that features a donkey named Spunky. I think Spunky came into being as half of the Hunky & Spunky team in Max Fleischer's "Color Classics" series.

'Mariel doesn't care about that stuff. She just enjoys the cartoon.

One day, when we had the construction paper, glue stick, google eyes and craft jewels out, I cut out a horse. It was kind of an amalgam of Pokey and My Little Pony.

Mariel decided it was Spunky.

OK, so I made a donkey instead of a horse.

She had fun gluing on an eye and some jewels.

As four year olds will do, she asked me to make another one.

And another one.

And another one.

And... you get the idea.

She had a big envelope full of these things.

Every so often she'll ask to "make some more the Spunkies!"

(Actually, she isn't "asking!")

Yep, the herd just keeps a-growin' and a-growin'...

Kris 'n' Victor

This is a rough series of sketches to try to map out an idea I've been playing with.

I was thinking of coming up with some li'l boy and girl comic characters. Their names are Kris & Victor. Their Mommy and Daddy are Mr. and Mrs. Church. My thought is to illustrate simple Sunday School lessons.

Why do we pray? What do the Ten Commandments mean? Stuff like that.

My long layoff from seriously trying to cartoon has really hurt my sense of construction and posing. I have still not mastered how to draw hands!

If I can get off the dime with this concept, I think this would be a rewarding (and fun) project. My life-long problem with cartooning has been that, while I like to draw, I don't know what to do with it!

(Note: The characters' names are a play on the name of the church we attend: Christus Victor Lutheran Church. Get it? Kris & Victor Church! Um...)

Oh, yeah! I mentioned "Spunkies" in the previous post. I'll explain later.