The Artwork of Bill Watterson. The comic book artwork of Bill Watterson William Boyd "Bill" Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is an American cartoonist.

The Artwork of Bill Watterson

The comic book artwork of Bill WattersonWilliam Boyd "Bill" Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is an American cartoonist and the author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, which was syndicated from 1985 to 1995.

• Bill Watterson, who drew his first cartoon at age eight, spent much time in childhood alone, drawing and cartooning.

• This continued through his school years, during which time he discovered comic strips like Pogo, Krazy Kat, and Charles Schulz' Peanuts which subsequently inspired and influenced his desire to become a professional cartoonist.[2] 

•  On one occasion, when he was in fourth grade, he wrote a letter to Charles Schulz; who—to Watterson's surprise—responded, making a big impression on him at the time. His parents encouraged him in his artistic pursuits

•  Watterson found avenues for his cartooning talents throughout primary and secondary school, creating high school-themed super hero comics with his friends and contributing cartoons and art to the school newspaper and yearbook.

• From 1976 to 1980, Watterson attended Kenyon College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Although he had already decided upon a career in cartooning, he felt his studies would help him move into editorial cartooning.

• Later, when Watterson was creating names for the characters in his comic strip, he decided upon Calvin (after the Protestant reformer John Calvin) and Hobbes (after the social philosopher Thomas Hobbes), allegedly as a "tip of the hat" to the political science department at Kenyon.

So he created Calvin and Hobbes - a comic strip about a boy and his ‘tiger’, their adventures, and mostly his imagination!

• The Calvin and Hobbes comic strips features Calvin talking to his ‘talking stuffed tiger’ Hobbes. When one or both of Calvin’s parents or friends are featured in the comic strip frames, the ‘stuffed tiger’ looks really ‘stuffed’. When it’s just Calvin (the little boy), and Hobbes (the tiger); Hobbes comes to life, is ‘real’ and talks.

• In this way, the artist used the imagination of a small child (maybe you had an imaginary friend or pretended to have one when you were very small?). Did you see things differently then? Do you remember? In this way, the artist becomes a storyteller and reminds all of us of when we were very small through simple cartoons.

A lot of the themes in Watterson’s comic strips are based on Calvin’s view of the world (a unique child), and his parents. Can you see anything funny about how Calvin thinks? Do you think this way at times?

He also shows us how children can be very true friends, and how they see a different view of the world than we do as we grow older. Do you remember?

He especially seemed to like to ‘play’ with his Dad and Mom– Can You relate to “playing’ your parents or another relative in a funny way?

What would your mom or dad or another relative think about this?

Do you often think you are ‘slaves’ because your parents or relatives make you do chores? Or ‘unfair’ because they make you eat your vegetables? Calvin did!

Watterson put everyday things into funny situations- from YOUR perspective!

Do you daydream sometimes? If so, how would you put it into a cartoon?

What do you think artists that use cartoons try to do? They are trying to tell a story. If you could tell one, what would you do?

Read the following cartoons and think about how you would tell a story!

If you read the strip below, you can see how Calvin thinks. Grown ups and children alike can understand this. In this way, Bill Watterson made comic strips that could be enjoyed by people of all ages

Do we laugh at the comic strips of Calvin and Hobbes? YES.

But what else do you think Bill Watterson (the artist), might have been trying to say?

What kind of stories do you think the artist was trying to tell about childhood and adulthood?

What do you think Calvin was trying to say to his parents or the world in general? Was he creative?

Read this one. Why is this so funny? Notice the colors, the word bubbles, the actions, the faces! Cartoons and comics have to be ‘extra’ dramatic in order for us to want to read and look at them!

Could you create your own cartoon?

I think so!

What would you say?

As you can see, in this cartoon they use two panels then a larger photo. You could draw cartoons in this way too- to show a story!

If you had a story to tell with characters to draw, what would YOU do?

What can YOU USE in order to create a cartoon and what would you say?

HINT: Starts with an “I” and everyone has one- you just need to use it !

Goodbye from Calvin and Hobbes and Bill Watterson- Time for activities and discussion!