by Aaron Zenz
Kids are an amazing source of inspiration. They haven’t yet learned the conventions and “rules” that so often inhibit our own grown-up imaginations. My kiddos constantly astound me with the creativity that pours forth from their pencils.
My kids have a couple of blogs where I showcase their art and ideas. Two years ago I set up a challenge for professional illustrators to use a drawing from the kids’ blog to fuel a piece of “Fan Art.”
For example, this is a drawing my daughter Lily made:
And here’s my interpretation:
Here’s a drawing from my son Isaac:
And here’s my take:
I expected that perhaps a handful of people would join me in participating. Instead, over 70 pieces of amazing art poured in from people all over the world. You can see the full results of the celebration HERE.
It was so much fun, we just had to do all over again two years later. One of the illustrators who contributed both years is J.C. Phillipps of “Wink the Ninja” fame. This year she chose to recreate an image by my daughter Gracie:
And here’s J.C. Phillipps’ version:
But then, something else happened… Here’s what Mrs. Phillipps had to say:
“I decided to give the rabbit a girl. As I was making the girl, she started to speak to me. Turns out, her name is Esmerelda and she loves it when things go wrong. As I was putting this collage together, all these little story ideas started weaving their way into my mind and I now think I have a new idea to write up. Time can only tell where it all leads—but I think little Esmerelda and I are going to have a lot of fun together.”
Awesome! And that gets me to thinking of a particular picture book idea that I’ve had rattling around in my brain for years, sparked by one of the kid’s pictures. I’ve yet to work it up. Perhaps PiBoIdMo 2011 is just the time to do it!
So here’s your challenge for the day. Write up a story idea based on the random wonderfulness of a kid drawing. If you don’t have a kid close at hand, here are a few drawings for inspiration:
I have to say I love the post best of all as it speaks into my life. I have a new family of small step-children and this sort of activity has been a real connector for us. I love to do collage and drawing with the kids as well as in my studio in solitary. The kids are really inspirational and I tend to beg for drawings to hang in my studio. Like Julie Phillipps I have my eye on a couple of my kids drawing for stories too. It will be fun to do this more fun than “Just a Tad”
Some amazing artwork and interesting how it all works together to spark creativity.
I love this idea! I have tons of artwork from my children that I’ll go take a look at today. I enjoyed hearing about your illustration challenge! My kids and I also own your Hiccupotamus book. Thanks for sharing these ideas and your own kids’ drawings.
First off, those kids of yours have TALENT! I love all their art. So much fun. What a great idea to look deeper into children’s art. I work in the 3yr old class at a preschool and they are so imaginative. What stories they tell!!! Thanks for the inspiration, Aaron! (Lily, Gracie & Isaac, you ROCK!)
what a fun post! thank you for the ideas and your kids for sharing their artwork!
Aaron, what a great way to inspire others as well as your own children! Thank you for sharing yourself (and your children) with us!
Your kids’ artwork is amazing. They definitely got your creative genes. Thanks so much for the inspiration. I’ve already got 2 PiBoIdMo ideas from your post.
I especially enjoyed seeing the other artists’ rendition of your children’s artwork. I’m now a FAN of you and your family!
BTW: If I win your sketch, I’d love to get the piglet drawings. That’s what I call my two young boys.
All I can say is it looks like the old saying is true, the gift of artist skills run in families!
I love this idea. Loads of my ideas are stolen directly from my children. They’re amazing. My seven year old’s reading over my shoulder and she’s asked if she can draw me a picture for me to be inspired by. Yes, please…
Thanks again -great post.
What a fun twist on the idea of getting story ideas from kids! One of my books was inspired by something funny my daughter said to me when she was little — but I never thought about using childrens’ drawings to do the same thing. It’s also a wonderful way to remind us adult writers to (try to) view the world from a child’s POV.
Wow, amazing art of your kids ! I loved the story of Esmeralda. Me too, I steal ideas from my 3 year old’s drawings. I let her explain her drawings to me and boom, new inspiration
Thank you for sharing !!