Back in elementary school when you were in art class, you had no perception of how to realistically draw a cat, a dog, or even yourself. The pictures you drew of your family, what did they look like? Usually your mom and dad were like giants on the page, towering over the little house you drew floating in the sky, just above the blue grass and your dog, Rex, who had five legs and was purple. We didn’t care back then, back in the “good ‘ol days” when nothing had to be perfect and art was something that was carefree and didn’t have to be held to a certain standard.

As time goes on, people tend to lose that it would seem. Growing older, art becomes less of something that you did during your spare time for fun and hung on your fridge at home, to something left for museums and those with an “artistic eye”. The talented, you could say. You’re shown the right way to draw and the right kind of art. I’m sorry but…really? Is there really a right way? My favorite kind of art is that made from kids, it’s whimsical, fun, colorful, and not meticulously thought out.

What happened?!? What happened that as we grew older, art became something that isn’t fun anymore to most people. Why does art have to fit the standards?

I remember reading once that everyone at a young age is artistic in their own way; we all kind of drew the same really, lol. As we grow older, the joy in coloring and drawing began to diminish as either our interests drew us elsewhere or we just felt incapable of being as great of an artist as Van Gogh. Those who stuck with drawing throughout this time are those you probably see who have a great artistic eye or “talented” because their artistic abilities have been able to grow. Those people haven’t lost touch with that youthful love for creating with whatever media they choose to work with.

That’s what I want people to think about the next time they feel like they aren’t an artist or aren’t a “doodler”. To tap into what it was like to do it as a child and how carefree it was.

Be playful and just draw.