One day, while my daughter was happily distracted in her own marker drawings, I decided to risk pulling out a new sketchbook I had special ordered. It had dark paper, and was perfect for adding highlights to. I had only drawn a little in it, and was anxious to try it again, but knowing our daughter’s love of art supplies, it meant that if I wasn’t sly enough, I might have to share. (Note: I’m all about kid’s crafts, but when it comes to my own art projects, I don’t like to share.) Since she was engrossed in her own project, I thought I might be able to pull it off.
Ahhh, I should’ve known better. No longer had I drawn my first face (I love drawing from old black & white movie stills) had she swooped over to me with an intense look. “OOOH! Is that a NEW sketchbook? Can I draw in that too, mama?” I have to admit, the girl knows good art supplies when she sees them. I muttered something about how it was my special book, how she had her own supplies and blah blah blah, but the appeal of new art supplies was too much for her to resist. In a very serious tone, she looked at me and said, “If you can’t share, we might have to take it away if you can’t share.”
Oh no she didn’t! Girlfriend was using my own mommy-words at me! Impressed, I agreed to comply. “I was going to draw a body on this lady’s face,” I said. “Well, I will do it,” she said very focused, and grabbed the pen. I had resigned myself to let that one go. To let her have the page, and then let it go. I would just draw on my own later, I decided. I love my daughter’s artwork, truly I do! But this was MY sketchbook, my inner kid complained.
Not surprisingly, I LOVED what she drew. I had drawn a woman’s face, and she had turned her into a dinosaur-woman. It was beautiful, it was carefree, and for as much as I don’t like to share, I LOVED what she had created. Flipping through my sketchbook, I found another doodle of a face I had not yet finished. She drew a body on it, too, and I was enthralled. It was such a beautiful combination of my style and hers. And she LOVED being a part of it. She never hesitated in her intent. She wasn’t tentative. She was insistent and confident that she would of course improve any illustration I might have done. …And the thing is, she DID.
Soon, she began flipping through my sketchbook, looking for more heads. “Do you have any heads for me today?” she would ask me each morning. So I began making a point at night to draw some faces for her (which was my pleasure–faces are my favorite part, anyway). She would then pick up a pen with great focus, and begin to draw. Later, I would add color and highlights, texture and painting, to make a complete piece. Sometimes she filled in the solid areas with colored markers, but I would always finish with acrylics later on my own.
Sometimes I would give her suggestions, like “maybe she could have a dragon body!” but usually she would ignore theses suggestions if it didn’t fit in with what she already had in mind. But since I am a grownup and a little bit (okay a lot) of a perfectionist, I sometimes would have a specific idea in mind as I doodled my heads. Maybe she could make this into a bug! I’d think happily to myself as I sketched, imagining the possibilities of what it could look like. So later, when she’d doodle some crazy shape that seemed to go in some surrealistic direction, or put a large circle around the creature and filled the WHOLE THING in with marker, part of my brain would think, What is she DOING?!? She’s just scribbling it all up! But I should know that in most instances, kids’ imaginations way outweigh a grownup’s, and it always ALWAYS looked better that what I had imagined. ALWAYS.
For example, the filled-in marker of the one above, she told me, was a chrysalis, for the caterpillar to transform into a butterfly. Of COURSE it is. I never would have thought of that. And that’s why kids make awesome artists.
Later, I would show her what I had done with our drawings–the painting and coloring. She seemed to critique them pretty harshly. “That’s silly, mama.” or “you put WATER behind her?” But for the most part, she enjoyed them. I enjoyed them. I LOVE them.
And from it all, here are the lessons I learned: to try not to be so rigid. Yes, some things (like my new sketchbook) are sacred, but if you let go of those chains, new and wonderful things can happen. Those things you hold so dear cannot change and grow and expand unless you loosen your grip on them a little. In sharing my artwork and allowing our daughter to be an equal in our collaborations, I helped solidify her confidence, which is way more precious than any doodle I could have done. In her mind, her contributions were as valid as mine (and in truth, they really were). Most importantly, I learned that if you have a preconceived notion of how something should be, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE DISAPPOINTED. Instead, just go with it, just ACCEPT it, because usually something even more wonderful will come out of it.
SIDE NOTE: As an idea (mainly for myself) I decided to put just a few of our collaborative prints up for sale on a site called Society 6. I purchased one myself (the space beavers, called “Outer Face”) to see how they would turn out, and I’m pretty happy with it. We’ve done dozens and dozens of collaborative sketches, but I only put a few up as prints. I’m not sure what to do with the others. Maybe make a children’s book out of them? Make poems to go along? I’m not sure, but I love them with a very large portion of my heart, and they need a special place.
busy mockingbird 
These are WONDERFUL. I need to buy one!
I’m also am artist with a little daughter artist. And while I generally help HER draw, “Mommy I want you draw with me!” I had only CONSIDERED collaborating with her. (Not yet. She’s 2. And I use acrylics). But heck yes. You’ve inspired me to DEFINITELY do that!
It is incredibly FREEING to draw with a little one. I’ve found it’s made me a better artist. And now I’m super excited about doing MORE with her.
Actually, I just got her some semi-nice watercolours for Christmas. Maybe we can start sooner than I thought.
Thank you for sharing. I really truly love these. And just the whole wonder fullness of doing them together!! I love it. It’s beautiful. I’ll see if I can send you a link once me and my teeny artist have found our groove/hum/direction/dance.
Thanks so much! Yes, we definitely couldn’t have done this when she was younger. I let her use my acrylics ONLY in yukky clothes and with a big dropcloth around–I plan a mess! You should give it a try! (although watercolors ARE a great alternative!) And I agree–VERY freeing to draw with a little one. So much fun.
[…] I loved this post at The Busy Mockingbird about the creative explosion that took place when an artist collaborated with her young […]
Ask your daughter what to do with them! She obviously has an incredible mind and I’ll bet she’d come up with some great ideas. I personally love the poetry idea, as I am a poet. One never knows where inspiration will come from, but the pictures spark my creativity!
Thankyou! She thinks they should tell a story, too!
Can you email me at savyrach@hotmail.com. I’d love to buy one.
Thankyou for asking! I’m not sure if you mean the originals? We plan on keeping them for our daughter, but prints are available on society6.com/micaangela. Thanks!
Are any of these for sale? Please reply. If not, treasure them. They are beautiful.
Thanks for asking! For now, we plan on keeping the originals for our daughter. I’m sure she’ll appreciate them even more when she’s older! We still have the prints available at Society6.com/micaangela. THanks!
[…] konstnärsmamman som skapar vackra bilder tillsammans med sin fyra år gamla dotter. I inlägget Collaborating with a 4-year Old skriver mamman om hur samarbetet började. Det är en fin berättelse om hur mamman upptäcker […]
[…] Please read Hendricks’ original post, fittingly titled Collaborating with a 4-year Old. […]
These are amazing. Are you planning sell any or to reproduce prints and sell them?
Pls let me know via your blog.
Thank you so much! Prints are available on Society6.com/micaangela, and other children’s options are on Redbubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/busymockingbird?ref=account-nav-dropdown
I love these! I just bought a house and would LOVE to feature on of these in my house. I really love the couple in space. Do you do commissions? Would I be able to send you a picture of me and my boyfriend for reference? That would be amazing.
We don’t–sorry! People have asked, but I don’t want to put the pressure of custom work on her. It’s something we do for fun, I don’t want it to feel like work for her! But the prints are online!
Blissful amazing descriptions of the human condition that capture the ethereal voice of the future of surrealism!! Coffee table book PLEASE!!!
Thank you! I hope to–I’ve had a few publisher nibbles, but no bites!
Hi, by any chance are you selling any of these incredible pieces? My wife and I would love to purchase one. Looking forward to hearing back from you.
Thankyou! We’ve decided to keep the originals for our daughter, but the prints are available on Society6.com/micaangela. Thanks!
[…] I loved this. I’ve been playing in my head how I could incorporate my kids art into my own. Here’s a lady that does it with wonderful results. Not quite willingly… […]
Oh my goodness. I love these SO much – all of them! Please please please offer this collection of drawings in a book. I would love to purchase a copy for myself and some copies for gifts. Keep up the great work – both of you. 🙂
Have you considered doing album covers for musicians?
I haven’t! My freelance work usually goes through my agency, but I don’t accept many collaboration jobs–I don’t want it to feel like work for her…
Awesome, I am an artist and opened my studio after realizing what you are describing. I let a group of hairstylist spraypaint the back wall of the salon and then embellished their thoughts with airbrush. Beautiful experience for all, now I do the wall version in my studio. The art is amazing. I call it my creative playground! Keep it up! If your ever in Orlando come see us!
Sounds like a wonderful “playground” and a super fun idea!
I would like to buy some prints! LOVE this work!
Thankyou so much! The prints are available at Society6.com/micaangela
would you mind if i did a little piece oh this story, and also-reposted some of the photos? with links to your blog, of course!
[yes, I know it’s been done before, I just felt like I should ask 🙂 ]
That would be fine! Just please be sure to link back to the original post–people seem to get nasty when they don’t know the original story!
of course! thank you so much 🙂
[…] Yep, the darling daughter threw some oft-used "mommy words" back in her face. But from those words sprang a beautiful collaboration. Mom draws the heads. The young pup draws the […]
[…] muhteşem çalışmalarını görmek isterseniz bloguna buradan […]
Not sure, but I do believe those paintings are gonna become a huge success in the near future. I just got really attracted by the Mr. Beever painting and would totally buy the original, but… I do agree that these should be kept for your daughter. Congratulation.
Reblogged this on Mind Your Brain and commented:
This is a great example of how children can help change our perspectives and change the world as the result.
Absolutely amazing! I love every single one and I can’t wait to see more! Are they for sale? What are approx prices and sizes?
Thanks!!!!
Do you do commissioned pieces? I am completely in love with these!
Are you selling any of these!?
Prints are on sale at Society6.com/micaangela, and animal prints are at http://www.redbubble.com/people/busymockingbird?ref=account-nav-dropdown
I love the chrysalis in red. So powerful! Any way to get a print of that one? Amazingly creative. Wish you could just send one of your heads to my sons and could see what they would do with it,
Thank you–that’s one of my favorites, too! Prints are available at society6.com/micaangela!
If you’d like, there was a contest on the blog awhile back, where I made a head drawing available for download, if you’d like to let the kids play wiht it! https://busymockingbird.com/2013/09/30/what-a-contest/
[…] τα δικά μου project, δεν μου αρέσει να τα μοιράζομαι!», είπε χαρακτηριστικά. Μια μέρα, όμως, δεν μπόρεσε να το […]
[…] Mica Angela Hendricks […]
[…] Take a look at some of the magnificent illustrations that resulted from this mother-daughter collaboration and read more about what Mica learned from letting go of her artistic reins in her original post. […]
Reblogged this on Gali's Public Diary and commented:
wonderfully created 🙂
I think they should definitely be made into a story book told from her perspective. Use the money for a charity or even her future art degree. I dug out a drawing that my daughter did and framed it when she was 8. She is 24 and it still hangs on my walls
Thank you so much! Yes, we are definitely working on story ideas, and saving some of the print sales for her in the future. Thanks!
Can u buy these anywhere?
Yes, I believe both Society6.com/micaangela and RedBubble (http://www.redbubble.com/people/busymockingbird) ship internationally.
I would love it if you would two would consider doing one of me and my husband! I adore this and would love to have one to call my own.
Isn’t she wonderful?
I just wanted to say that you and your daughter make the most spectacular, magical team ever. I am an absolute doodler and I have to say that you have inspired me to finish some of them:) Thank you. Izabela
[…] Collaborating with a 4-year Old. […]
These are amazing. Some are positively Dali~esque! I love them. Will keep my eye out for a book!
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[…] Mica Angela Hendricks εργάζεται ως εικονογράφος. Στις ζωγραφιές που […]
I love them! They remind me of Monty Python. LOL
[…] graphic artist and mom Mica Angela Hendricks decided to collaborate with her four-year-old daughter one day and let her enhance her artwork by drawing the bodies for the faces that Hendricks […]
Please, please make a calendar. I want to look at all of these. Or 12, at least.
I’d also love to hear your daughter tell a bedtime story or tell a joke to accompany some of your pieces. Kids have the best of both.
Keep it up- you’re inspiring. And the world definitely needs more awesome artsy kids.
[…] http://busymockingbird.com […]
[…] Um destes dias aconteceu um momento mágico, um encontro de génios ou uma simples partilha de papel (mas muito disputada!). […]
Loved the blog and loved the strange artistic combination of you and your daughter. Absolutely fantastic. I have heard numerious times about how imaginative children can be but this is a perfect illustration and kudos to you for giving her a chance..
[…] https://busymockingbird.com/2013/08/27/collaborating-with-a-4-year-old/ […]
[…] I first saw this on Facebook, my first response was “Wow!”, followed by “I’ve got to try […]
[…] few weeks ago this was floating around on the internet. It’s […]
wonderful!
Hello! Stumbled across your combined designs. They are awesome on so many levels. I do not have a child but what an amazing thing to share. Especially, years from now when she is able to look back at them. I stopped by your site…charge more for your works. The both of you deserve it.
[…] Tatsputin posted some drawings that are in way collaborations with his kids. There’s been a bit of this online lately, and I hope the trend […]
[…] Hendricks is currently selling some of the prints at Society6. To read Hendricks’ original blog post about these illustrations with her daughter, visit her blog. […]
[…] https://busymockingbird.com/2013/08/27/collaborating-with-a-4-year-old/ […]