Mr. Dressup Inspired Me to Draw

Last week's Google Doodle celebrated the 85^th birthday and life of one of Canada's most beloved children's entertainers, Ernie Coombs - better known by generations north of the 49^th 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 85^th Birthday!