When I was a child, we didn’t have videogames available at home. If we wanted to play videogames, we had to go to the arcades. And there weren’t many of them anyway.

So, what’s a kid got to do if he doesn’t like sports? Well, sit down in the park and make cool drawings.

You might not think so much of it today, but in those times, knowing how to make cool drawings was something that really made you popular in school. Everybody knew you for that and you always had requests. It was up to you to do them or not, of course, as it was very unlikely that someone would pay you for them.

I guess it would be strange to picture right now, but it was the equivalent of a Picasso Fonzi, I’d say. Only, instead of snapping your fingers and make the jukebox play music, you’d take out one of your cool drawings and make others laugh or be impressed.

Now, what were considered really cool drawings would change from person to person and even from grade to grade. For example, in my grade there was a guy who used to make drawings with demons. But these demons were different, they would use sweatshirts or jeans or Bermuda shorts, and they would do normal activities, like study or play soccer. We considered them cool drawings because they were funny and original. Imagine a teacher being afraid of a demon presenting an exam or a demon walking his dog at the park. In addition, they were very well done; with tons of details and following drawing techniques.

I like to think that I did cool drawings as well. They weren’t nearly as good as the cool drawings of demons, but they were amusing and my friends loved them. I did them in the form of comic panels and they told stories about me and my friends as well as jokes or pranks on our teachers. They were mostly stickmen, so they wouldn’t make anyone laugh unless he or she knew the people in them. With the years, I polished my style a bit, but it was always too simple, so I had to rely on the story or in jokes to make cool drawings.

In fact, I think the most important thing in cool drawings is the idea behind it, and how it makes you connect with something. I think that’s the reason why I like my favorite cartoons, like Dilbert, The Far Side, and The Simpsons.