You wouldn't believe what my mom found in an old bin in the closet today. This is the very first (or possibly second) drawing of Ronnie Raccoon & Co. I ever did. I drew it with markers on tissue paper when I was 8. It's a 20-year old drawing. Yeah, he's been with me for that long.

I think it's not the very first drawing of Ronnie(which I remember misplacing and never finding), but it's definitely the first time I drew the entire cast. I remember coming up with all the characters on the spot; the hero Ronnie Raccoon, Slip the penguin, Tomcat (now Satch), Floria Fluff the squirrel (Now Flora), Rebbecca Raccoon (no relation, Now Rebbecca Valentine); and Spike the porcupine--Ronnie's nemesis. I made this as a promotional poster for my imaginary Saturday Morning cartoon series; which was the primary influence of my early childhood, these characters in particular were influenced by Tiny Toons for the most part.

Seeing it has made me reflect on how far I've come as an artist ever since I decided I wanted to be a cartoonist when I grew up. Also I noticed my handwriting hasn't changed much since then either. Here's what the text says (with spelling mistakes intact):

"THE ADVENTURES OF RONNIE RACCOON"
COMING SOON FROM SMITH TV. BROUGHT TO YOU
BY WET N' SOGGY CRACKERS.
PREMERES ON SEPTEMBER 25, DON'T MISS IT!"

If you hit 'download' you can see all the detail of the picture. I cropped it so you can't see the edges of the paper but it's pretty beat up and browned in the last two decades. I also has holes since I kept it pinned to my wall as a kid, you can also see water damage because it got caught in the rain once. I also remember that I would always draw my exclamation points as two triangles as a kid, too. I should go back to doing that.