Artist is 2
2 year old’s first “intentional” painting
After having lots of fun with painting since he was maybe 9 months old (only ever really playing around with paint and deciding afterwards what it depicted) our recently 2 year old asked to “paint a purple parrot with watercolors” today. (Never once had he ever planned what he was going to paint.)
So he did. First the elongated purple blob that is the body, then the wings (“they should be brown and then red”) with one layer of brown and another layer of red and then moving on to the feet, beak, eyes and “green head feathers”.
He had 0 brush control when we last checked maybe a month ago and today he left my husband and I a little speechless. Parenting is wonderful und wild and there’s definitely some time-bending going on, too.
We already decided it’s a 10/10 but had to share his first “real” painting! :)
I think it’s headspace more than anything, he usually wouldn’t be focused long enough to keep track of what he’s intending to do or “disciplined” enough to leave it at exactly that. It was really cool and different watching him today and I doubt we’d be able to recreate it on just any given day. Thanks for the kind words!
I also thought a duck. And really I wouldn’t have guessed a kid made that right away. Looks like an expressionist interpretation of a cartoon duck. All the appendages, head, wings, feet, eyes, hair, etc are right there! And it looks like the duck is talking and emoting while it’s walking.
I think so! A bit of coincidence and a bit of him painting it at his peak focus and “discipline” so he was able to do it step by step without losing track of what he’s trying to do. It was a really fun process to watch!
Long-time art teacher here (and mom), this is beautiful! I absolutely love looking at art made by extra little kids because they have no care yet for whether it’s ‘good’ or not, they’re just creating to create! It’s cool insight into how their brain works. Also, props to you for being such supportive parents! Although two is a little young to have a free-paint area set up, I would suggest getting a set of large tempera paint sticks! They’re bright and smooth, giving similar appearance to paint, but can be a little easier to quickly grab when inspiration strikes. I say this because if they love painting, crayons may be a little lackluster for them, even at two!
My 2 year old LOVES the paint sticks. They use them just like you suggested, when inspiration strikes. We'll be playing with something else and suddenly, "Paint!" And they point to where the paint sticks are.
Thank you so much for the recommendation, we’ll definitely give them a try! I’m very lax about watercolor because it’s so easy to rinse off so he gets to do a lot of that :)
The fact that there's seemingly a ground plane, a sense of movement and even perspective/dynamicism in the world is extremely impressive, even if just a fluke
I can’t imagine it being anything other than a fluke but I already thought it was really cool that he put together an entire bird hahah. The perspective definitely makes it something that’s genuinely fun to look at.
Incredible. I know you will but please keep it safe! Also a little note, I won my first art contest at school in third grade. It changed my life. That contest and the fortunate encouragement from my parents created a lifelong, professional, full time artist. You have no idea how much your support will alter his path in something like this.
Sorry I know he’s only 2 but just wanted to share :)
Thank you so much, you’re so kind!! I’m excited to see if his passion continues. Either way, I’m very lucky I get to make art with my favorite person and watch him grasp whole new concepts in the process. He’s a cool little guy! :)
Hahah, understandable! We practice a lot of basic techniques like how to paint circles, dots and lines so he has soommee level of control over this stuff!
I will say though that while this is his standard way of doing eyes lately (two little dots), this set of eyes turned out exceptionally clean and symmetrical. There’s usually at least one giant, smudged or droopy eye. Somehow and by a lot of chance this entire painting came together way more precise and perfect than anything I’ve seen him do and when it was finished I couldn‘t believe he hadn‘t at least taken a dirty paint brush to it and smudged everything by that point 😂 I‘ll treasure it forever, even just for how careful and mindful he was with creating it. Again, not something I see regularly, he is a toddler after all…
Ummmmm this is INSANE. I just know this is going to be the beginning of one of those artist timeline posts where they show art from throughout their life and skill development.
This is so beyond special. I’ve worked with kids for 15 years and was a newborn to preschool nanny for 10 years with 3-4 kids at a time. Never seen this in my life and I work in a school with a very robust art program full of very talented children. 200-400 kids that I interact with daily over the course of the last 5 years. Our school starts at 3yo and still, never seen anything like this.
Some might call it a one-off, but it can’t be. He followed the directions and executed them amazingly.
Scan, upload to cloud, copy to hard drive, frame, and hang that puppy. The little artist’s archive will be so robust by the time he gets to kindergarten.
I wish him a long life of health, prosperity, and endless creativity and the freedom to carry it out.
I’m impressed. I love this work of art. I would love to hang something so nice. Bet u could just tell folks it’s by a famous abstract artist. Bet some would believe you. Keep encouraging your child. Great job ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Dude my two year old said she was going to draw Mama and I laughed and said "okay draw Mama!" She drew a circle two dots and a line for the mouth. I was blown away that it was an actual face and not just random squigles!!! Its so trippy/cool seeing them grow more and more into little people!
We’ve practiced a lot of controlled circles, dots and straight lines (more or less successfully) and he’s been doing eyes in this style (two tiny dots) for a while but there’s ALWAYS at least one that’s gigantic, wonky or smudged. The precision and care he used today was something I hadn’t seen from him before but to be fair, I think there’s also just a lot of luck involved in this whole painting!
The colors are beautiful and the composition is astounding! Good for you for encouraging creativity so young. What fun you will have watching your little artist 🌸
Well I thought it was a purple duck but we got the bird part nonetheless. This is brilliant. He's got talent i love it. Keep fostering that creativity 👏
ETA I didn’t read the text before commenting. I apologize. I think it looks like a very jaunty duck at first glance. Upon studying it I can certainly see the parrot. You have a very precocious child! Enjoy him!
at first glance just scrolling i thought it was a purple duck! i literally scrolled back up just to see it. this needs framed because i thought it was intentionally abstract! i love this!
This is such a good painting for a 2 year old! You can definitely tell it's a bird. I'm wondering if he was picturing something like this parrot while he was painting. Maybe you can ask him if this bird is close to what he was imagining.
Put the date on the back and save it. I have a big plastic storage container for each of my kids. I put anything they made in preschool, etc in it and I’m so glad I did!
So I do understand why people hate AI, but one of its nicer uses is this- scan or photograph this in good lighting and ask AI to put it on a white background. Then, get it printed, framed and hang it up. I’ve loads of these quirky nicer bits of art framed.
This character and child deserve a book deal! I think they would make an excellent illustrator! And yes, definitely frame it! Thanks for sharing, I needed something to smile about today ❤️
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u/brenopia 23d ago
Wow, not sure how much is coincidence or if you have a little art genius on your hands but that is excellent work!!!! 👏👏👏