Last week's Google Doodle celebrated the 85th
birthday and life of one of Canada's most beloved children's entertainers,
Ernie Coombs - better known by generations north of the 49th parallel
as "Mr. Dressup".
Seeing Google's tribute got me thinking about my earliest
artistic influences. No question, Mr. Dressup was one of the first.
From 1967 to 1996, Mr. Dressup was a fixture on Canadian television. The show was broadcast every weekday. Low-budget sets, forgettable songs (theme song excluded) and annoying hand
puppets (Finnegan excepted) were a staple. To say the show was quaint would be putting it kindly, yet somehow
the congenial Mr. Coombs was able to furnish the show with an air of
dignity that made it a perennial favourite for nearly three decades.
As Mr. Dressup, Ernie Coombs was a brilliant
communicator - not just as a television personality, but as someone who
completely understood and respected his audience. Kids know when they're being given the business, but with Mr. Dressup, it was always real. We knew it and we loved him for it.
For me personally, the stories, songs, dress-up games and
hand puppets were all pretty meh, but when it came time for Mr. Dressup to draw,
I was mesmerized! Armed with little more
than a marker and a drawing easel, Mr. Dressup could make concepts
and ideas come alive! His cartoony style was simple, but affecting. So many
artists need to sketch out an idea first before applying a finishing line
(myself included), but not Mr. Dressup - No siree. He would get it right, first
time - every time. His line-work and self-assurance with a pen was legendary. The very picture of efficiency.
In the wake of each show, I would sit down with a bunch of pens and a
seemingly endless supply of Jumbo drawing pads (graciously provided by my
mother in a futile attempt to discourage me from ruining her collection of
paperback novels - to say nothing of the walls, fridge door, etc.), furiously attempting, as
best my five year old hands could manage, to replicate the magic I had just witnessed.
I don't have any of those early attempts at art to reflect on, but I'm fairly certain I can trace my earliest interests in drawing back to Mr. Dressup.
For that, I thank you Mr. Coombs and wish you a (slightly belated) Happy 85th Birthday!
