Sort of an Everyman

April 15, 2024 1:35 AM

20 Minutes of Charles Schulz Drawing Peanuts [via Kottke.org]
posted by chavenet (11 comments total)

This was incredible to watch. It seemed to me he was delighted to do the work he did, full of the joy of creation.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:27 AM on April 15 [1 favorite]

I love Peanuts and have a tattoo of Charlie Brown on my left arm, but the other thing I love about this post is the nostalgia shivers I got from that CBS Special Presentation logo animation.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:35 AM on April 15 [7 favorites]

In the 60s-80s, my Dad taught in the art department at Santa Rosa Junior College. He told a story of having Schulz's wife in one of his drawing classes (I would assume Jean). As I recall the story, she was capable, but not exceptional and on one assignment he gave her a middling assessment. She protested, but he stuck to his critique. Some time later she turned in another assignment, to which he also gave a middling assessment. Who should show up at his office to protest this? Charles Schulz. Apparently he drew that assignment for her as a gotcha. Well, Dad didn't get got and the grade remained. We always got a good laugh out of that one.
posted by Captaintripps at 6:36 AM on April 15 [7 favorites]

Too bad this YouTuber doesn’t credit the original sources.
posted by Ideefixe at 7:29 AM on April 15 [2 favorites]

It's amazing how quickly you can tell who he's drawing from the very first strokes. This line bends just so, it's Linus, that one goes round like this, that's Snoopy, you can tell if it's going to be Schroeder or Lucy or Charlie Brown in the first few moments. And so many different expressions captured with tiny changes to just one or two elements.

Obviously you're going to get good at economy of line if you spend literal decades drawing the same stuff, and with Peanuts you can even see him arriving there through the early years of strips, but it's wonderful to watch nonetheless.
posted by tomsk at 7:45 AM on April 15 [3 favorites]

Masters of American Comics This blockbuster show filled the Hammer, LACMA and MOCA. My very favorites were Bill Watterson's work, but Schulz's drawings were so impressive at actual size for the economy of line and confidence.
posted by effluvia at 8:02 AM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Dad didn't get got and the grade remained.

This just goes to show you that SRJC is no joke. (I have two kids in SRJC classes at the PSTC right now, and believe that assessment.)

In any case, I know little-to-nothing about drawing, and am fantastically unqualified to say much about technique, but have always enjoyed Peanuts for the underlying writing. In particular, the duality between Snoopy's world—the fantasies, the near-mansion like interior of his home, his relationship with Woodstock—and the human world; and the fairly minimal way those two places intersect.
posted by majick at 8:03 AM on April 15 [2 favorites]

Good timing on this post. I was at the Charles Shultz Museum last week during Spring Break. While I am still not a Peanuts fan, the museum is really well done. They showed parts of this video in his studio.

And, while I am on the subject, The Charlie Brown Christmas Album is part of my canon of the season! Recommended listening for all!
posted by dfm500 at 10:11 AM on April 15 [3 favorites]

This reminds of how terror-filled Peanuts comic strips were, riffing on the anxieties of being a child. This is amply demonstrated in 3eanuts.com where they run the first three panels before the punchline. I guess this is why I strongly related to them as a child.
Examples, 1, 2, 3, 4.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:34 AM on April 15 [6 favorites]

This just goes to show you that SRJC is no joke. (I have two kids in SRJC classes at the PSTC right now, and believe that assessment.)

I'm really glad to hear that. This would've been in the mid-70s and as I grew up and learned more about education, I was always floored that a community college had such a deep bench of talent. I've heard the English department was a really strong one, too.

Anyway, not to derail from Schulz. This was always a good-natured story and I have enjoyed Peanuts quite a bit over the years.
posted by Captaintripps at 11:16 AM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Huge Peanuts fan here. (four Snoopy tattoos around one ankle). I have every strip thanks to Fantagraphics and their 25 volume set. I've read Mr. Schultz's biography (actually wish I didn't, to be honest). I've always appreciated the man behind the strip (bringing in Franklin no matter what some outraged people said). I've always identified with Charlie Brown, too. This was so much fun to see, as how easily the characters sprang to life. Thank you for this!
posted by annieb at 4:45 PM on April 15 [3 favorites]