Who knew that a child’s meaningless doodles could have so much potential? Toronto-based artist Ruth Oosterman takes creativity to a whole new level by converting her two-year-old daughter Eve’s scribbles into beautiful paintings.
Ruth is so artistic that she is able to transform Eve’s random lines into recognizable shapes. A random curve becomes an elephant’s ear, and crooked lines become the gnarled branches of a tree. Nothing seems to escape her eye – she can spot the outline of a woman’s face or the hooked nose of a bird where most people would just see haphazard scratches.
It all started by accident when Eve discovered her mother’s ink pen and loved using it. “That was part of the reason I used watercolor on that very first drawing because I knew the beautiful effect it would have on the paper. The ink pen marks immediately become a type of paint once you touch it with a wet paintbrush. It makes it easier to blend into the colors I add and also adds a dark intensity that I wouldn’t be able to create otherwise.”
Since then, the mother-daughter duo have worked together on several stunning pieces. The process begins with Eve using a black ink pen to make her original ‘sketches’ on white cardstock. Later, Ruth takes over with her watercolors, quickly turning the doodles into a ‘grownup’ painting.
“I find as we leave childhood, we begin to over analyze the things we do and lose that precious aspect of letting go,” Ruth wrote on her blog. “Because of this I have chosen to speed paint the pictures she provides. All of the pieces are completed within 30 to 60 minutes, the reason for this is I don’t want to give myself any wiggle room to over analyze or second guess.”
Ruth said that Eve often finds her modifications quite funny. “She likes being able to choose which drawing I get and stands by helping me choose what colors to use. Once she sees the video time lapse we create of our process, she makes me put it on repeat, over and over and over.”
According to Ruth, children can help bring out dormant creativity in adults. “As we get older, we tend to create this box that everything is supposed to fit neatly into. As a child, there is no box. It is just endless freedom to explore any and every possible avenue of creativity and adventure,” she said. “I feel so blessed that my daughter can remind me once again what it is like to paint like a child by letting me see through her eyes.”
To read more about Ruth and Eve’s collaborations and watch their time lapse videos, you could visit Ruth’s blog, The Mischievous Mommy. The prints are available for sale on Etsy, priced between $28.25 and $39.55. All proceeds go to Eve’s college fund.
via Bored Panda
