Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for October 28, 2020

Exactly what did Mrs. Wormwood expect from a 6 year old boy?

Miss Wormwood: Have fun and be creative!

Calvin: has fun and is creative with his art

Miss Wormwood: Wait, that’s illegal.

Got to admit the blending of the prehistoric with the futuristic was pretty visionary. Should be worth SOMETHING.

Wow! Can’t even pass a drawing assignment.

It left Earth 75 million years before the asteroid hit so its descendants should still be alive.

Without doubt it is more understandable than a lot of contemporary art.

Mrs. Wormwood obviously never saw The Last Starfighter or even the original series of Star Trek. Nothing wrong with having a reptilian spacefarer.

It’s the earliest known drawing of Stegosaurus Rocket Man!

And what, exactly, is not serious about a stegosaurus in a rocket ship?!

Hey, my kid coulda drawed that!

I’m not fond of elementary school teachers who don’t let little kids use their imaginations. If the assignment was to draw something specific that’s one thing, but based on her feedback that doesn’t seem like the case.

I’m guessing it’s Spaceman Spiff’s much much older brother.

Next time draw a heart attack. “There Ms. Wormwood, how’s that for serious.”

Calvin, don’t worry….great art isn’t appreciated until years later!

Calvin saves his SERIOUS art for his snowmen.

I thought Calvin’s drawing was representational. Didn’t the aliens bring the dinosaurs here in space craft?

And Calvin went on to write a Dr Who adventure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaurs_on_a_Spaceship

I think this is such a creative idea! – the juxtapositioning of the prehistoric vs the futuristic. As a former teacher, I would give this drawing an A+.

So that’s where Steven Moffat got the idea from…

I think it’s cool.

Okay, I’m in Calvins corner on this. Who friggin expects “serious” art from a little kid? Just give them a crayon and some paper and let them make pretty colors. If they learn to keep it on the paper great, if not, well that’s okay too. Life is lived in many colors and most of them aren’t always serious.

For his next art project, he tapes a banana to a wall.

“I am a figment of you’re imagination, so of course I understand it.”

Keep all the weird dreamers. They become our next great artists in every field.

It could be that Calvin’s use of elements from different time frames confused Miss Wormwood.

Hmmm, I think we just learned that the family name is Washburne. Wouldn’t surprise me if the ship is named Serenity;-)

Paint what you know.

It was probably supposed to be a math assignment.

Art is subjective, Calvin. Lighten up.

When my wife was in grade school, she was asked to write an essay on where she would travel and what she would like to see, if she could go anywhere she wanted. She said she would witness the building of the Taj Mahal. The teacher gave her an “F”, saying it was not possible. She countered, saying that possibility was not one of the criteria. The teacher refused to budge. When my wife’s dad heard about it, he went straight to the teacher and read her the riot act. The teacher changed the grade.

Personally, considering how young she was at the time, I thought her theme was quite imaginative.

Sounds better than 99% of the …stuff… foistered on us all in the guise of “art.”

Dang – I was close. I was going to guess a stegosaurus riding a missile…

I mean come on, how can the mona lisa compare to this?

When I was a kid in art class, I made a drawing similar to that. The art teacher held it up in front of the class and said, “Don’t ever use our materials for something like this!”. I was crushed.

Why did the assignment need to be serious? No wonder Calvin hates school, he has a teacher like Mrs Wormwood that crushes all creative expression

She was wrong. He drew what he saw in his mind’s eye…..

I know the reason why Miss Wormwood is so upset, but I’m going to wait for the strip that explains it.

‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’, ridiculous. Or is it?? “Rory’s Dad will save us.”

I think we are only getting part of the story – the assignment was probably, “please draw your family”. :-)

calvin i think she means something else….

Art has to be serious?

If you close one eye and look just right…….

Mrs. Wormwood now works for Twitter.

Mr. Kelly sez you have to think like a dinosaur.

Van Gogh is rolling over in his grave. With his one ear.

My mother discouraged my youngest brother’s budding artistic skills when he drew his own cartoons based on “Pogo”. She told him it was plagiarism. As far as I know, he never drew again. So unthinkingly cruel.

“Not Serious” is a completely invalid criticism for a work of art…

Reminds me of my encounter in eighth grade with a teacher who had a limited intellect. The assignment was to provide a solution about how a country like China with an escalating population could control its growth.

My main solution which I offered as the best and most feasible one was that their autocratic government would have to declare a limitation on family size. Each household could have one or with a possible exception two children.

It was returned to me with a low grade. She actually took the time to write about the impossibility of the answer and what I did not understand about family, marriage and biology (probably because it was a time that teachers had to be careful using words like sex or sexual drive).

Years later when China mandated a one child policy I Fantasized about tracking her down and calling her to tell her what she could do with her grade book. I relented because she contributed to other fantasies that 13 year olds might have.

She was one of those unmarried young teachers who liked to wear a light weight dress or skirt with a chiffon type of material. It was obvious that she did not wear a slip. She would usually position herself during a lecture in front of the large window or a backlight. Always wondered if it was intentional or not. The girls never said anything to any of the guys I knew but the 13 year old guys had some comments for each other about it.

You just KNOW that this very thing happened to Mr. Watterson in first grade! The world is glad you disputed the opinion, sir.

Hmmm, I wonder if Mom will put in on the fridge.

I can’t really judge this without knowing what the subject of the assignment was meant to be

This reminds me of a recent child thinking that he can alter the path of a hurricane with a sharpie on a map. No one takes him seriously either, especially other nations.

Hobbes can see good with the heart!!

What was Calvin supposed to be drawing in the first place?

His imagination just shines through. Miss Wormwood should be pleased.

xxx

That’s no good at all, his tail spikes would poke holes in his space suit.

“Wormwood was right! You forgot Steggy’s goggles!”

Pity Geniuses are mostly not recognised by the school teachers.

Seems like that kind of drawing could be quite serious to a little boy.

You wouldn’t even know what my art is