A Budding Artist
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (127905)
Gainesville, Florida
February 8, 2026 11:32am CST
As some of you know, I recently went on a 5-day camping trip in the backwoods of Florida. Yes, we actually have large forests, it's not all just beaches and palm trees! Anyway, most years it is just my son and I, but this year four of his cousins joined us on the trip. One of them, a 15-year old, is a budding artist. He brought his sketchpad with him and throughout each day, as we were sitting around the campfire in the mornings cooking and warming ourselves, he would pull out his sketchpad and start drawing. The attached photo shows his handiwork. Not bad for a teenager, wouldn't you say?
The tents weren't really as close together as the drawing shows, he just squeezed them together so they would fit onto the paper he was doing his sketchwork on. And he shows us all lined up together standing in front of the fire. Most of the time, we were spread out in a circle around the fire, but I like the way he presented the group in his drawing. I'm the one farthest to the left, and next to me is my son, and then all the cousins.
And I didn't know this, but I think it's funny (and relevant) that he wants to work for Disney as an Imagineer. Many of you know how big of a Disney fan I am, but I guess it also runs in the family. lol
Do you have anyone in your family or circle of friends who is an artist, or a budding artist?
14 people like this
13 responses
@DaddyEvil (170602)
• United States
9 Feb
Pretty draws well when she takes a mind to do it. I have a picture of a rose she drew and colored in with colored pencils framed and hanging in the living room.
I tried to take a picture of it but it didn't turn out well.
Photo is mine.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (170602)
• United States
9 Feb
@moffittjc Thanks.
Around 9 or 10 years old.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Feb
@DaddyEvil That's really cool that you framed it and have kept it all these years. I have saved every piece of artwork both of my kids have ever done. I have everything in a big storage tote, and every once in a while we pull it out and look through everything. It's fun looking back on some of the things they did when they were younger.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb
Wow, what a great drawing! How old was she when she did this?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb
@AmbiePam That’s where knowing the right people can somehow get your foot in the door.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb
I’m sure it’s every artists dream to work for Disney. But I’m sure it’s really tough for a budding artist to get their foot in the door at Disney.
2 people like this
@kareng (80229)
• United States
9 Feb
He is a great artist! I hope he keeps it up!
My first cousin that I grew up with was a very talented artist. However, he took the easy money route when he was like 15 and started painting signs for local businesses. He opened a sign shop after graduation and always had plenty of business. I always wished he would do more paintings of scenery and such. But he never did. He ended up going into law enforcement, did a detail on a movie filming (The Toy) and then took off to Hollywood.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80229)
• United States
9 Feb
@moffittjc He just retired in January. He had parts in several big movies, Fast & Furious in 2001--he was the guy that got oil poured all over him, The Day After Tomorrow, The Rookie, and more. After the actors strike, he went on to be personal assistant to some of the well known actors like Richard Gere, Dennis Quaid, and others he was a personal driver for them.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Feb
@kareng Wow, that's really cool!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb
What a career path he has taken! Is he active in Hollywood right now, and if so, what is he doing.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (39749)
• Toccoa, Georgia
8 Feb
That's a very good sketch. My late Uncle's ex wife was an artist. She mainly sketched and painted animals. Before they divorced, she gave my Mom for Christmas presents three or four of her paintings in nice frames. My Mom still has them to this day.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb
That’s awesome that your mom was gifted framed copies, and that she kept them. I’m going to ask if he can make a copy or print of his drawing and sell it to me so I can frame it and hang it up.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (496620)
• Italy
9 Feb
@moffittjc - She was really good, her paternal grandfather was a painter.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb
wow, that is really cool to know, especially since I am such a big Disney fan.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Feb
@LadyDuck It's very interesting that something like artistic talent can be "inherited" from family members.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb
The youngest one is 8 years old. He was such a big help around camp, never complained once about being cold or having to gather firewood. He was just so happy to be camping out in the woods.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 Feb
@JudyEv I love their sense of wonder and curiosity, especially since today’s generation of children rarely get outside and connect with nature. It good to see when a child is enthusiastic about it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (375621)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb
@moffittjc Don't you just love kids like that? 
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (131814)
• Marion, Ohio
8 Feb
He is very good. I have a friend who probably could be.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb
My daughter is pretty good at drawing, but not to the level her cousin sketches. I’ve seen a lot of his other work, and he is exceptionally talented.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (95743)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
8 Feb
I have no family now, I loved drawing and creating as a child and at one point tried to copy the Disney cartoon, However, that was a long time ago, That guy sure has talent,
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (95743)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
9 Feb
@moffittjc I got a cabinet full of adult coloring books and art paper and it just sits there since the internet and writing caught my attention. One day I will take a look of all I got and start getting artistic, I mean there is even an artist's wooden case that turns into an easel. For now just call me Duffus Picasso 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Feb
@RasmaSandra Well, if you ever lose power for an extended period of time, you can always pull out all those adult coloring books and keep yourself occupied until the power comes back on!
1 person likes this
@DianneN (252271)
• United States
8 Feb
Wow! I let myself get lost in the picture before I even read your post! It is very, very good with his own style and perspective. David Bronstadt from HGTV got his start at Disney.
My father was an artist. He designed our house and drew tons of pictures including a mural on a large kitchen wall. But he ran his own business. Art was a hobby.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb
I did the same thing as you when he first sent me a picture of his sketch. I just stared at it and got lost in it. It was like I was right back there in the woods!
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (21821)
• United States
10 Feb
He is great artist. No none of my family can draw. I did know a guy in high school who was from India and he could draw really well.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Feb
I have no artistic talent at all, but it seems just about everyone else in my family does. Somehow, that "art" gene didn't get passed down in my DNA! lol
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (50439)
• Staten Island, New York
9 Feb
Pretty nice drawing. I certainly wouldn’t be able to do so. My mom can draw and my dad did as well. Maybe because they were engineers back in Belarus that they are good at it.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb
My dad was a great sketch artist, and when my brother and I were little he would always create drawings for us. My aunt (his sister) also had great aertistic talent and made a living creating and selling framed paintings she did.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (217402)
• United States
9 Feb
He is quite the artist. There is no one in my family with any artistic ability that I know of. I have minus 30 artistic ability.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb
I am right there with you, I have zero talent when it comes to art. I love art, I just am not good at it.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (24523)
•
9 Feb
I sure can relate to the drawing Jeff
I knew a girl who drew the tent about up.
Me and Yvonne were camping and a strange girl just sat sketching the tent and bike about 50 yards from us
It was strange
I fired up a spliff and she came over and asked for a toke
Yvonne is very artistic.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127905)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb
Didn’t you write about that girl on myLot? I seem to recall you mentioning this before. Strange that she just randomly started drawing your camp setup.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (24523)
•
9 Feb
@moffittjc
Maybe I did wrote about her,
Can't recall
Have written about another girl when we were camping though
That was fun
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