I used to like to draw. I drew a lot. I have several sketchbooks filled with half-finished drawings and some completed ones. My mother tells me a story from when I was in nursery school where the class made autumn trees using our hands as a guide. Apparently, the teacher said I took my time, and mine actually looked like a tree. In my classes at high school, I still liked to draw, but some of the extraordinarily talented people around me had far more drawing ability than I did.
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"So Long Cold, Hello Daytona" by David Mann |
I have no idea what happened to that toy box. They moved away shortly afterwards. Additionally, they didn’t have me color any of the drawings. His kids would get to color the toy box as part of the fun and games with it. I think I got paid $20 for my efforts. To me, that was a lot of money to do something I loved to do.
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Craig's version |
One of my favorite David Mann works was “So Long Cold, Hello Daytona.” In this painting, a man and a woman are riding a motorcycle. The woman is wearing a winter hat and has her hands raised, sitting on the back of the bike. Behind the motorcycle, the scenery is of a northern winter. In front of the bike, the sea and palm trees await them. I loved that drawing. At one point, after I finished my version, my parents were considering having me draw and paint that on the side of their motorcycle trailer or the garage.

I don’t draw much anymore. I would rather write. On the days that I do decide to do a little artwork, it’s fairly obvious that those skills, while never vanishing completely, need regular exercise to stay in shape. I’m not nearly as good as I used to be. One of my daughters can draw really well. She’s very artistic. I hope she continues to hone her skills. The time needed to get back into that habit is probably more than I can spend right now. I’d like to, but writing seems to be more of my thing now.
I’m friends on Facebook with the father who hired me to draw on the toy box. I think I might send a message to him to see if he remembers what happened to it. It’s been over thirty years, so I’m sure it’s long gone. But I bet his kids had a great time decorating my work with their palette of colors and ideas. Probably long before they outgrew it, they totally covered over those drawings. I wish now that I had taken a picture of it when I finished.
Maybe someday I’ll get back to artwork. For now, I’m happy with writing. I have a lot of plans for my writing. One of my biggest writing projects is finally almost done, and that’s a huge relief. I have plans for other books, too. So it appears that drawing and painting will really just be something I used to do. It’s interesting how our hobbies change over time and with different events in life. Thirty years ago, I would have told you I wanted to be a cartoonist. Today, while I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up, I am confident it will include writing.
Craig Bacon thinks maybe he should learn Egyptian hieroglyphics. That way he can combine writing AND drawing.