Monday, October 7, 2019

The Grass Isn't Always Greener

This child's drawing, obviously for the Halloween season, was stuck in with the Witch die cut I posted yesterday. It's hard to say if it was made as a school art project, or just fun at home, but I love it.



Making heavy use of the white crayon (which really only had purpose on black construction paper like this), it depicts a crescent moon, ghosts, a skeleton, a classic black cat from behind (the way I always drew them), a witch on broom and a classic grinning Jack O' Lantern. A house stands in the background, acting as either host to or shelter from the ghouls at large.  There are bats (or possibly UFOs) circling the house.


 That ghost may be wearing shades.


I would never criticize a child's drawing, but seeing the bright green grass in a Fall scene reminds me of an incident with one of my own childhood art projects.

It was 5th grade and we had an art assignment to draw a winter scene.  Being fairly artistic, I was proud of my scene with a boy building a snowman next to his house with a tree in the yard.  I put green leaves on the tree.  After we had turned our projects in and the teacher had looked through them, my teacher held mine up.  I was certain there was going to be praise coming my way.  She said, "Now here's an example of someone who did a very nice picture, but then ruined it by drawing green leaves on a tree in the middle of winter."  I was crushed and embarrassed. It was a small room and everyone knew whose picture it was.  When she hung the pictures up, she cut the tree off of my drawing.  I'm not saying that incident changed my life in any significant way, but I think it says something that I still remember it 42 years later.

So here's to you, little boy or girl who drew this: Good job and Happy Halloween.

8 comments:

  1. That's a teacher who has no concept of coloring outside the lines. A mediocre human at best.

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  2. she CUT YOUR TREE OFF your drawing?? omg. i'd have that teacher fired.

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  3. Singling out the moon and ghost in the last pic makes it look like Pac-Man :D

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    Replies
    1. Dex, you have the eye. I didn't notice that, but now I can't not see it.

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  4. Maybe they were watching Carpenter's Halloween and took the green grass as standard Halloween time scenery. :)

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  5. another thought: the grass stays green (and the leaves don't change, either) for halloween in southern california. look at the trick or treat scenes in E.T. -- how did you teacher know you weren't originally from SoCal, huh?

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    Replies
    1. Excellent observation. Take that, Ms. Garafalo!

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