I have been a fan of the Peanuts comic strip since the 1970's. I bought the comic books by saving the leftovers from my school allowance and read them over and over. Sadly, those comic books disappeared as the family moved residences and I lost track of them. The internet, however, has enabled me to see the gang any time I wanted to. My favorite happens to be Snoopy.
Now, I used to be a fairly decent artist, drawing with pen and pencil. My artistry, unfortunately, is limited to copying photographs or other drawings. I also avoid coloring my drawings because adding color ruined the drawing. I'm still a kid who can't keep the colors inside the lines. So, all my drawings were either black and white or gray-scale and one of my favorite drawing topics is, of course, Snoopy.
Most of my Snoopy drawings were personal, handmade greeting cards, sent to my friends, which means, I don't have them anymore.
I made other drawings but one of my favorites was made back in the summer of 1977. I had to take summer classes for Chemistry and our teacher required us to draw a periodic table in a folder and we had to bring that folder to school everyday.
Most of my classmates bought ready-made tables and pasted them on the folder and drew a title and owner's name on them. I, on the other hand, painstakingly drew the table, lettering in the name of the elements, their symbols, and other information.
Getting inspired from the effort of drawing the periodic table, I began drawing Snoopys all over the folder and there was a theme to it. The folder was a very important, secret document that had to be protected. So, I drew a Snoopy in his trenchcoat garb with a speech bubble that said, "Here's the world-famous secret agent guarding this secret document."
Another drawing was of Snoopy on his doghouse and his World War I Flying Ace persona also with a speech bubble that said, "Here's the World War I Flying Ace patrolling the skies to keep this secret document safe."
The last was Snoopy in his familiar lying-down-on-his-doghouse pose, eyes closed, and his speech bubble said, "Here's the fierce dog guarding this very important document."
The folder got a lot of interest among my classmates and at the end of summer classes, one of the girls in my class asked if she could have it. I said, yes, and that's why I don't have it anymore.
As I got older and began working, I drew less and less until I stopped completely. And, since my family changed residence several times over the years, I lost track of my other drawings until only one remained.
It's a drawing of a flight of P-51 Mustangs that I copied from a World War II history book. I can't remember when I drew this but it might have been in the early 1980's. About six years ago, I bought a frame, mounted the drawing in it and hung it up on the wall. I thought, "At least I saved one of them."
About three years ago, I received this pen from my sister.
In the note that accompanied it, she wrote:
I looked at the pen in awe. I was holding an actual pen used by Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.
I immediately thought of putting it in a frame but, for one reason or another, didn't get around to it until a little over a week ago (Oct 26, 2022). The pen had been sitting inside my closet for the past three years and I saw it while looking for something else. I thought, "It's time to put you in a frame."
I got an illustration board and, for the first time in decades, drew a picture. It was Snoopy (who else?) viewed from the side, with a little smile as he walked. I found an old un-used frame and put the drawing in it and placed the pen on the drawing. Perfect.
It looked great! There was just one problem though. The frame didn't have a glass cover. Without a cover, the picture and the pen would become dirty over time. The frame also didn't have a provision for a glass cover and, even if it did, the frame wasn't deep enough. The pen actually protrudes above the lip of the frame. Even though I loved the frame as it was, I couldn't use it.
The wife suggested that we have it professionally mounted. There's a business not too far away that would mount the picture and pen in a custom-made frame. So, my wife took the picture and pen and gave it to them for mounting. As of this writing, I'm still waiting for it. It should be ready in about two weeks. I'll update this blog entry when I get it.
So, at least I still have the touch. Since I'm retired, I have more time to draw but it's not really part of my interests right now. Still, if an inspiration should come, why not?
Update: Nov. 9, 2022
The newly framed Snoopy with Charles Schulz's pen just arrived! The workmanship of the framing is great! The pen is fastened to the picture using a transparent nylon string that is difficult to see unless you look very closely. I like it very much.
This is now a very much cherished heirloom. (",)
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