A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble

Summary
The Tibble Twins set out on a new business venture — selling their preschool art masterpieces to earn plenty of money to buy the coveted Krummy Kritters Kreepy Kastle. As their business takes off, so does their own appreciation for their art.

Plot
In the introduction, an adult Muffy works in an art gallery and shows a couple a painting which the Tibbles created by having a paint fight over a blank canvas.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble

The Tibble twins see a toy called Krummy Kritters Kreepy Kastle in a store and want it, but their grandma will not allow it. The twins argue that they have been good and promptly get into a fight. Mrs. Tibble says that she will buy the toy if the twins contribute 10 dollars.

The Tibbles search the sandbox on the playground for coins. Emily offers them a self-made painting for 25 cents which she intends to give to charity. The Tibbles find the idea ridiculous, but when they see Emily selling her painting to Ms. Morgan, they decide to get some paint.

The Tibbles make an abstract painting, sprinkle glitter on it and call it “Stars in Mud”. They manage to sell it to Mr. Ratburn by crying when he does not want to pay for it. They sell similar paintings to Mrs. MacGrady and Mr. Crosswire using the same method.

Eventually, they are only 25 cents short of 10 dollars, but have run out of glitter. While Tommy tries using raisins, Timmy paints a boat.

The Tibbles try to sell the boat painting to Thora Read. When she tells them politely that it is not her “cup of tea”, Tommy tries crying and arguing, but Timmy genuinely wants to know what is wrong with his painting.

The Tibbles decide to sell lemonade. While Tommy squashes lemons, Timmy paints a sign which Tommy “ruins” by adding a price. They fight and, during the tiff, they find a quarter.

They buy the Kreepy Kastle, but it does not work. Mrs. Tibble discovers that it needs some unusual batteries. Timmy offers to buy them with money he intends to make by selling more paintings.

Since the Tibbles used up all their paint, they offer D.W. a tin of popcorn in exchange for being allowed to paint in her room with her paints. They paint a house, which they, D.W. and Emily find beautiful. They offer it to Thora, who likes it too, but the Tibbles change their mind about selling it. Instead, they sell the Kreepy Kastle to Binky and plan to buy more art supplies. Then they quarrel about what to paint next.

Characters

 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Muffy Crosswire ( as an adult only)
 * Buster Baxter (as an adult only)
 * Francine Frensky ( as an adult only)
 * Mrs. Tibble
 * Emily
 * Thora Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Ed Crosswire
 * Binky Barnes
 * Ms. Morgan(cameo)
 * Mrs. MacDonald(cameo)
 * Emily's mother(cameo)
 * Marie-Helene(mentioned)

Trivia

 * This is the last time the "An Octopus Pokes D.W." title card is used (in both the U.S and international versions).
 * The Main image picture is in 16:9 widescreen this is very rare for s1-15 to have that.

Episode connections

 * Tommy mentions Timmy stealing his cupcake. This could be a reference to "My Fair Tommy".
 * At the toy store, Mrs. Tibble is seen holding the same model combine kit that Buster shows Arthur at the end of Ungifted.
 * One of the the The Tibbles call each other bossy boots at the end, similar to D.W. being like that in D.W., Bossy Boots.

Errors

 * In the scene where the Tibbles try to give a painting to Grandma Thora, Tommy's pants are blue, but in the next shot, his pants are purple again.
 * When Tommy mentions Emily's nanny, Emily's mother is shown instead.

Cultural references

 * The episode's title is a parody of James Joyce's novel,.