How To Draw Cartoons - Syd Hoff

From a very young age, I've been into comics strips, animated cartoons, and comic books.  I would spend hours in the school library reading Peanuts books by Charles M. Schultz (more on him later).  And Saturday morning was not Saturday morning without the Superfriends.  I want to say it was around first grade that I saw a book at one our school book fairs that I had to have.  It was Syd Hoff's "How To Draw Cartoons", a how-to book for kids.  I remember that my mother didn't really want me to have it.  I think she would have rather had me get something I could read, to improve my reading skills.  I must have pleaded my case effectively, because after a couple missed opportunities, I finally went home from a school book fair with this book.

I think from the moment I learned how to use a pencil, I began to draw, but when I took ownership of this book, I turned my attention from drawing cityscapes to drawing cartoons.  I spent hours with pencil, paper, and my new how-to book.  Now, instead of reading Charles M. Schultz, I studied his work.  At times, I imitated him.  I imitated Syd Hoff and his style too. I know I probably wasn't a very good cartoonist back then, and I don't really know that I'm that great now, but I would have to say, if there was one book that changed my life, it would be Syd Hoff's How-To book.  It helped me discover a lifetime of pleasure and relaxation as a cartoonist.  I suppose the drive was always there, and it probably would have come out somehow, but I guess Syd gets the credit for being the one who showed me how to get started.

Recently, I was going thru my collection of how-to books, art books, and other toon-related things, and realized that I lost this book long ago.  Thanks to Google and eBay, was able to locate it a copy of it for just a couple dollars.  So history repeated itself... I had to have it.  It's now on its way to me.  I can't wait to get it and leaf thru it again.  It'll be fun to see the images again that started me down my journey as a cartoonist.