An Owl and a Snowman

I haven't had a chance to do any new collaborations with L's art lately. But here's two doodles that need no coloring from me. L did this distinguished if somewhat weak-kneed owl

And H rendered this interpretive take on Frosty the Snowman. There must have been some magic in that old cross hatch technique.

A castle, some teasing, and 2 abstractions

L drew this castle just yesterday. Three princesses in their towers like the boy at the gate but they are afraid the soldier will lock him up in a cage. Their smiles apparently belie their grave concern.
(you can click on the images to view them larger)

In an earlier piece L depicted a moment most children are sadly familiar with; someone else making fun of you. I forget the reason for the mean girl's taunting jeers. Perhaps it has something to do with the jacket that the other girl has tossed aside. And what exactly is the mean girl saying? One can only imagine.

H in the meantime is not much concerned with doing the sort of drawings her sister does. She continues to eschew figurative work in her search for a more open ended form of expression. Lately she's been exploring grid-like patterns that resemble a fertile cross between early Mondrian and Cy Twombly. To see a very different approach check out the previous post.

2 year old abstractions

I'll have more narrative work from L soon (I promise). But her sister is really taking off in a different direction. At this stage L was starting to master her early figures. H doesn't have that skill yet, but she has a way of using color that is on a par with anything her 5 year old sister can do. I know she'll move onto pictures of things and people soon (according to her these already are) but for now I think they're wonderful little abstractions.

oil pastels

color markers

color markers

Aquabats!

Has anyone else ever seen "Aquabats"? They're a band. They're superheroes. They have a show.
Anyway this drawing is done from the perspective of an evil robot. That's right, you are the evil robot. Those are your evil robot hands reaching out toward three of the Aquabat team members (there are actually five altogether).  But you will not defeat the Aquabats. They each have little bags of little tiny hearts that they will throw at you and those little tiny hearts will turn you from evil into good.

The Really Mean Princess

Some of this may require a bit of explication. First of all, the numbers on the left are not really part of the drawing, just some maths L happened to be practicing, which you have to read right to left and you'll find that all her sums are correct. Anyway, what's going on here is that the really mean princess has stolen the pretty pink dress from the girl on the right and dressed her in rags, which explains the absolutely huge tears falling from her eyes. That pink blob above them is the stolen dress which is being carried off by birds wearing witch hats. I'm not sure who the white bunny in the window is, although it may be Buster from the Arthur books who, some time ago, was one of L's favorite imaginary friends, and quite the mischief maker. But here he seems very sympathetic, holding up a heart for our poor beleaguered heroine. The long shape around the window is a list of some sort although I don't know what it is supposed to say.

Sad Birthday

L drew this back in June as her fifth birthday approached reflecting the possibly universal fear that no one would show up for her party. Fortunately even this worst case scenario still included lots of presents.

as always, click on the image to view larger.

A picture of the moon for the moon

L drew this after arriving home the other day with a bright crescent moon hanging in the sky over the house. While it may not be one of L's most sophisticated drawings I like this for two reasons.
1. We've never actually discussed the way the moon changes. So this is apparently from observation (although the lips may not be).
2. Her younger sister took the drawing outside and down to the end of the driveway, held it up so that the moon could see it and said, "Moon! L- draw this for you. It's you. goodnight moon."

Small portraits of friends and family

 L cut out a bunch of rectangularish pieces of paper and drew this series of portraits, which are quite charming, and occasionally, if you know the subjects, dead on.
(the coloring is mine)

Her friend A----

Her cousin B-----

Her aunt B---

Her grandmother "B-----". Those are wrinkles in case you were wondering.

Her uncle D----

Her other grandmother "Lulu"

Her friend Z----

And her sister H has just started doing some actual figures of her own at 2 and a half. Here's one in three colors, the colors in this case by the actual artist.

Her little sister draws too

I can't leave H's work out of this blog. H has to do whatever L is doing. Which is, more often than not, drawing. She's two and a half and just now starting to form rudimentary figures. These are both from a few months ago (while the top piece may look like a figure it is actually abstract. But still... really interesting abstraction).

High Seas Adventure #2

This one is slightly more complicated than "The Princess, the Pirate and the Mermaid".
I'm not entirely sure I understand the full narrative even after consulting with the artist. A pirate is clearly dispatching another poor princess into the sea after stealing her crown. Another girl has been hurt and is being rescued by mermaids. The odd shape below her is apparently her suitcase which she is too injured to hold onto. She may have been bitten by the shark which is now about to eat a goldfish. In the giant wave looming over them there is a magical flying eel, but what the eel is doing to the mermaids hair is not clear. In the water below, in front of the hapless goldfish there is a penguin with a tent upon its back. It may be hard to see, but inside the tent (a circus tent I'm told) there is a tiny bowl with a  baby goldfish in it. Is the big goldfish that's about to be eaten its mother? Is the baby goldfish in trouble? Is the penguin a no good carnie abducting the small fish, or is he rescuing it from the evil shark? There are many questions. I tried to ask L some of these but she was busy drawing.

(as always, you can view the image larger simply by clicking on it)

The Sea Spider Floats Away

L drew this book while we were staying in a cabin by a river. Mom folded a few sheets off paper together for her. The layout and drawing are entirely her own. Mom took dictation for the words on the original drawings. I colorized them on the computer according to her directions.
(you can click on each image to see it larger)

It's quite sad. I must say the father does not seem to be a very sympathetic figure.

A few Older Pieces

"Girl in a Box" from March 2012

"Marching Girl" on chalkboard - March 2012

"L with Friend, and Baby H"  - June 2011

Picasso-like

After L drew this picture I got out an art book to show her a Picasso painting. I explained that as he got older he tried to draw more and more like a kid. She liked it a lot.

The Pirate, The Princess and the Mermaid

by L. - 4 years 11months

I colorized this one with some instruction from my 4 year old daughter (almost 5). A pirate has stolen the crown of the princess and thrown her overboard into the ocean, but a mermaid will save her! My daughter liked how I colored the grid over the fish although it makes some people think it must be a blanket. It is actually a net.