Childhood Paintings – The Start of a Lifelong Journey at the Easel

In October, I published a handful of my childhood paintings (you can read that post here if you missed it). I was surprised how popular this was. There were over 130 comments last time I checked. In light of that, childhood paintings will be the theme of this month’s training report.

Dan Scott, Childhood Painting (1)
Dan Scott, Childhood Painting

Children and Enjoyment

Some time ago, I watched an interesting video by artist, Jeremy Mann. Click here to watch it (language warning). At one point he shares some simple but powerful advice:

“If you like something, keep doing that. If you don’t like something, stop doing it.”

Children are great at doing this. Adults, not so much.

As a child, you don't have any sense of time, urgency, money, power, and fame. You simply do what you enjoy doing. And if you don't enjoy something, you'll surely find a way to wiggle your way out of it.

Part of growing up means losing this freedom to pursue enjoyment at all costs. We adults cannot wiggle our way out of life's daily chores. Not for long anyway. But, that doesn't mean we should lose this pursuit of enjoyment altogether, particularly in relation to art.

If you enjoy landscape painting, do more of it.

If you enjoy figure drawing, do more of it.

If you enjoy learning about color, do more of it.

Follow this simple advice and you'll start a positive feedback loop for yourself. You'll do more of what you enjoy doing, you'll improve and people might start to notice, which makes you do more of that activity, and so on.

So, some questions for you to consider: What do you truly enjoy and are you spending enough time doing those things?

If you are unsure about what you truly enjoy, think back to your childhood. What did you enjoy doing as a child? You might find that these are the things you would enjoy doing, and be good at, today. I know that's the case for me. With my childhood paintings, I remember exploring ideas of color, emotion, and drawing before I had any idea of the theory behind it. Take this wave painting for example. This was my take on Impressionism before I knew it was a thing. I'm still exploring these ideas some 20 years later.

Dan Scott, Childhood Painting (2)
Dan Scott, Childhood Painting

“Every Child Is an Artist...”

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Pablo Picasso

Children have many advantages when it comes to painting:

  • They rely on pure instinct, rather than calculated thought (instinct tends to produce the best paintings.)
  • They think outside the box, free of conventional wisdom. If you are a self-taught artist, you share this benefit.
  • They are unbiased by judgment, money, or critical acclaim. They might just seek a "good job" from their parents or teachers.
  • They are masters of observation. My daughter, Elora, will sit in awe of the most simple patterns and shapes. Little does she know, she has mastered one of the most challenging aspects of art. The problem is, as she gets older, she will start to analyze the world with greater and greater scrutiny. Things will become things and her acute sense of observation will become lost. If she wants to become an artist, she will need to relearn how to see the world as she does today.

The only thing children are missing is the dexterity to wield a brush.

If you have children in the family, watch how they observe and interact with the world. We artists have much to learn from them.

Dan Scott, Childhood Painting (12)
Dan Scott, Childhood Painting

Parents and Teachers

Reflecting on my childhood paintings made me realize the absolute importance of great parents and teachers.

I was lucky. My parents always encouraged my interest in art and I had a few great teachers along the way. Without them, my interest in art would have meant nothing.

This is a common theme with many of the masters I write about. There was often a parent or teacher that helped foster their interest in art as a child.

Claude Monet comes to mind. At 17, he met Eùgene Boudin. Boudin saw potential in Monet’s caricatures and took him under his wing. See the below extract from one of Monet's letters. There are some wise words there for all artists (in bold).

"Boudin came over at once and started talking to me in his soft voice, saying nice things about my work: 'I like your sketches, they're very amusing, very neatly done. You're gifted, anybody can see that. But you're not going to stop there, I hope. This is all right for a start, but you'll soon have had your fill of caricature. You want to buckle down and study hard, learn to see and paint, go out and sketch, do some landscapes. What beauty there is in the sea and sky, in animals, people and trees, just as nature made them, just as they are, with a character of their own, with a life of their own in the light and air of nature.'"

Without Boudon, Monet might not have become the master of color and light that we know today. And what a shame that would be!

What's this mean for you? Well, I'm assuming you're no longer a child. But as an adult, you have the potential to radically impact the life of a child, for better or worse. Your simple gift of encouragement and acknowledgement could lead a child down a lifetime of joy and creativity. Who knows, they might even be the next Monet?

Claude Monet, Caricature of Léon Manchon, c.1855
Claude Monet, Caricature of Léon Manchon, c.1855

"I'm Not the Creative Type”

When I tell people that I paint, I'm often met with something along the lines of, "I wish a could do that, but I'm not the creative type".

This type of thinking often stems from childhood. As children, we can be pigeonholed into certain stereotypes based on our characteristics and interests. You might be deemed the athletic type, or the academic type, or the creative type, just to name a few of the main ones.

These stereotypes can stick with us for a lifetime and can have a powerful influence over what we do, don't do, and how we perceive ourselves. They can be crippling for some. For example, any aspiring artist who has been brought up to think they are not the creative type. Learning how to paint is hard enough, let alone with the idea you have some kind of inherent disadvantage.

Make sure you are not carrying any of this emotional baggage from your childhood. It might be subtle, but these ideas about yourself can be damaging. You don't need to be a certain "type" to become a great artist. All that's needed is time, practice, and study.

Everyone Starts the Same

Every artists starts as a beginner. Even the masters like John Singer Sargent and Joaquín Sorolla, though I'm sure they weren't beginners for long.

Looking back at an artist's early work reminds you of this. The problem is, we rarely get to see an artists early work. It is often lost, destroyed, or hidden from the public. Only the best work rises to the top.

This isn't good for an aspiring artist's self-esteem. It can feel like the top artists have some kind of innate ability that allows them to create beauty with every stroke of their brush. But I assure you, that's not the case. For every great painting there are many hidden away. And for every master, there was once a beginner.

One of the reasons I shared my childhood paintings is to show you my beginnings. Hopefully more artists will do the same. Though I doubt it, as it does make commercial sense to only reveal your best work to the world.

Childhood Works of the Masters

I did have a look around to locate childhood works of master artists. There isn't much. Out of the thousands of master artists, I could only track down a handful. They are shown below. Albrecht Dürer's and Angelica Kauffman's are particularly impressive.

Pablo Picasso's Picador, painted when he was 8:

Pablo Picasso, Picador, 1889
Pablo Picasso, Picador, 1889

Edward Hopper's Little Boy Looking at the Sea, painted around age 9:

Edward Hopper, Little Boy Looking at the Sea, 1891
Edward Hopper, Little Boy Looking at the Sea, 1891

Albrecht Dürer's Self-Portrait at the Age of Thirteen:

Albrecht Dürer, Self-portrait at the age of Thirteen, 1484
Albrecht Dürer, Self-portrait at the age of Thirteen, 1484

Angelica Kauffman's Self Portrait Aged Thirteen:

Angelica Kauffman, Self Portrait Aged Thirteen, 1753
Angelica Kauffman, Self Portrait Aged Thirteen, 1753

Georgia O’Keeffe's Untitled (Hand), drawn when she was around 15:

Georgia O’Keeffe, Untitled (Hand), c.1902
Georgia O’Keeffe, Untitled (Hand), c.1902

Cherish Your Early Work

Make sure you cherish your early work. It might not look like much to you now, but one day it might prove to be your most invaluable work. I know that's the case for me. The longer I paint, the more I treasure those first few paintings I did.

Happy painting!

Dan Scott