Scooby Doo('nt) Where Are You?

Having the lanky physique of a coat rack has come in handy many a time (see: sneaking through tightly packed crowds at concerts; see also: holding your entire groups coats when trying to leave a party).  Perks aside, gumby-esque body types don’t have a long history of flattering celebrity look-alikes.  Add in a mop-top style haircut and feeble attempts at chin stubble, and it’s a given that people endearingly attempt to compare me with renowned screw-up (and go-to example that dogs can be smarter than humans) Shaggy from Scooby Doo.  If I was so lucky to be blessed with the golden voice of music chart enthusiast Casey Kasem (original voice actor), but alas I’m stuck with a voice even Matthew Lillard would scoff at.

Instead of making the daring choice and starting this web site with a Van Gogh inspired self portrait, I attempted to start with the next best idea - drawing a sketch of my cartoon twin Shaggy and his pal Scooby Doo.  Never would anyone mistake Shaggy with being a good-looking man, but once you see my attempt at drawing him, you may reconsider how attractive the real cartoon is. 

I have a query pending with Sootheby’s auction house to see if the blank sheet of paper is worth more than my drawing, but the safe bet is on the blank sheet.  Let me reiterate that this is my honest attempt at drawing these characters.  Sadly, I spent near an hour on each of these attempting to perfect them for publication.  

"Anatomically Incorrect Shaggy"

I know what you are thinking.  And no, that is not Ellen Degeneres' face after being run over by a truck.  Let me stress again that this was my best attempt.  I threw away a piece of paper in which I failed three times at just drawing an oval to start his head.  

The Good:

-You know it's Shaggy because of my intro to this post.

The Bad:

-The amount of time I spent on this drawing.

The Ugly:

-His hair is clearly a wig made by a first-time wig maker with no clue how hair looks or sits onto heads.

-Shaggy is rocking an extremely deep V-neck.  It's encroaching on sub-nipple levels.

-His forearm looks broken.  It has more twists and turns than a corn maze designed by M. Night.

-4 out of 5 doctors agree it is a miracle his single-strand-of-yarn-like neck can support his oblong head.  Also, check out the expert shading work on that neck...sexy.

-I won't even comment on his left arm and fingers because "I honestly forgot how to draw what fingers look like, so I scribbled a mess." (this is my favorite Renoir quote)

-The angle of that bulbous right wrist has no precedent in anatomy or life.

Recommended songs to listen to while drawing Norville "Shaggy" Rogers: "It Wasn't Me" - Shaggy, "Angel" - Shaggy, "Break My Body" - Pixies 

Scooby Doo('nt)

Honestly, I'm going to go easy on myself for this one.  I don't think this is too terrible.  Maybe that speaks to my lack of authority as an art critic.  Don't get me wrong, I am not an insane person, I don't expect the folks over at Scooby Inc. to give me a  job as the new Scooby artist, but this might place second or third in a second grade art class competition.  And that's really my whole goal with this project.  Sure his face makes him look dumber than the Lou Reed-Metallica album, and I blatantly don't know how to draw a dog ear, but I'd say I'm proud of this one.

Recommended Songs for Scooby: "Hair of the Dog" - Nazareth, "These Days" - Dr. Dog, "Mad Dog" - Black Lips, "We Did It" - Dora the Explorer