So, I hear you draw a mean Ralph Wiggum

Posted on December 7, 2011 by missalix

Last Saturday started off as any other weekend does, I met up with some friends at one of my favorite brunch spots for eggs, bacon and bloody marys. I had no other real plans for that afternoon, but a few friends were heading to the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, which wasn’t too far from where we were. I don’t really keep up with any types of comics, but I figured there’d at least be some cool artwork (which there was!) and other things to look at aside from comics. There were also some artists who would draw your portrait for $2-$5 which I took advantage of

As we were standing to the side waiting for a friend to find us from the second floor, Colin said to me, “Hey, isn’t that Matt Groening?”

“What? How do you even know what he looks like?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s him!”

I did a Google photo search for Matt Groening, and the guy really did look like him! I was still unphased at this point, but after walking around some more Colin told me that some other people had stopped him and asked if he’d draw them characters. This is when I started getting excited.

Whenever I see someone “famous” (I use quotes because sometimes I still get this way over people who are not actually famous, but just well known to me) I always want to talk to them, but then I don’t really have anything to say, aside from the mundane “____ is great!” or “You were great in/at ____.” Great. Rarely do I have anything of actual value to say to this person who has heard such praise times before. I try to actually have a conversation with them if I can, especially if it has nothing to do with what they do. But before I can even get as far as talking to this person, I always feel like I’m bothering them by stopping to talk to them, or the worst, by asking to take a photo with them (if they’re legit famous – pics or it didn’t happen! ;) and sometimes I miss those golden opportunities.

So as Matt (Mr. Groening?) was walking around looking at the tables, I was pretty much just hoping he’d notice me standing there with a pen in one hand and my Moleskine planner open in another. Twice and no dice. Colin had to save me by initiating conversation with him. I broke the ice by saying,

“So, I hear you draw a mean Ralph Wiggum!”

“Ralph Wiggum isn’t very mean, he’s actually quite optimistic! You know, the people at Fox didn’t seem to realize this. He and Chief Wiggum are two of the dumbest characters on the show, but he can still look at anything and see the good in it. Actually some of my family has the last name Wiggum, so I have to be careful!”

And while he was telling us this, he drew me a mean Ralph Wiggum! Isn’t that neat!? That totally made my week, haha. There’s no way I’d have ever recognized him, so I really have Colin to thank for that. I recently bought some new 4×6″ frames that are the perfect size to put the page from my planner in, and it’s hanging up on the thin wall separating the living room from the kitchen! Definitely a nice conversation piece to add in our dining room!

During the festival we also got our caricatures drawn on a little piece of paper for $2, here are Colin and I:

I think they’re pretty accurate!