The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

Capturing Van Gogh — at Age 6

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It’s all about the energy!

(Pic #1) “The Starry Night” / colored pencil on paper / By Mickey Goldman, 2021.

(Pic #2) “The Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh,  / oil on canvas / 1889.

Nothing gives me greater joy than to see a child express herself creatively in an original way. So often young students are steered toward drawing a perfect replica of their subject. For some reason, early on they are encouraged to make sure the tree on their page looks exactly like the one they are looking at. But what emerges with this approach — is a duplicate — a copy — a basic photo reproduction of something that already exists.

(Pic #3) Artist Mickey Goldman, age 6

But guess what: the child who captures “the essence” of her subject — not the literal translation — is actually creating original art —  and more important; original thought. My niece Jamie’s daughter Mickey, who just turned 6, accomplished this while immersing herself in the work of Vincent Van Gogh. Her Mom says she’s a huge fan of the Dutch master, and likes to color in his high energy style. (You can see her spirited interpretation in Pic #1.) Without “copying” his strokes, she captures the feeling of the original with her own dynamic movements and marks.

I’ve heard from many executives I work with that they were told in 2nd or 3rd grade that their drawing looked nothing like their intention. One was even told by a teacher that he should give up art-making all together. Are you kidding me? The bottom line for me is: Let them play. Let them explore. Let them be themselves. This kind of freedom can only lead to fresh discoveries about the world around them, and enrich the lives of rest of us.

My Mystery Minimalist

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(Pic #1) Little Alexander’s minimalist contribution to our art workshop. For him, it was more about what not to paint.

For the last 30 years I’ve had the joy of running art workshops for hundreds of inner-city kids in South Central LA.  Each session offers a chance for every child to express his most creative instincts. There are no rules. No instruction. Just a few hours of unbridled artistic energy.

(Pic #2) Fearless self expression in paint, metallic powders, cotton balls, and buttons.

With that kind of freedom, we typically witness franetic applications of paint, glitter, confetti, stickers, beads and, well, pretty much anything that glue can keep on the page. (Pic #2) Layers upon layers of color, texture, and goo. It’s almost as if it’s their last day on earth, and if they don’t load up their artwork with 16 pounds of “stuff” there will be no trace they even passed through.

So when I spotted the pure red and black minimalist painting above, I freaked. Kids don’t do that. If there are jars of glitter and glue, they will be emptied. Paints are poured, poured again, and almost nothing is left on the table.

Minimalism is defined as a 1950s abstract art movement whose pieces “minimize distractions and focus on only what matters.” The boy who painted the minimalist piece on top apparently gets that. In fact, I think it takes a certain discipline and clarity of thought to eliminate objects from a painting instead of adding them.

My only regret is that I didn’t get to meet this young Ellsworth Kelly.  He apparently skipped out and left his work on the sidewalk. Another perfect artist move.