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 
I see these and want to write stories for children. The man with the tree next to him, with the bird body, I immediately decided his name is Mr. Frumpkin and he does not like bugs, but they certainly do like him an awful lot. Also, though your “lady bug” is a chrysalis, I saw it and said, “this is Eleanora lady bug, and she is very, very smug.” I am sure you could write little stories for these, but if you want a starter line or would like a random mom who has never published a book to write a children’s story, I so would love to help.
Amazingly creative! If you decide to take poetry submissions to go along with your artwork, PLEASE let me know where I can contribute for consideration. Many thanks & please tell your little one her art RocKs!
[…] Mica Angela Hendricks shared some of the (reluctant) collaborative sketches she did with her daughter… and the results are incredible. […]
These would be so lovely cards!
[…] The Monster Engine Child’s Own Studio The Busy Mockingbird […]
So beautiful! I love the simplicity and beauty that radiates off each piece! love it!
Love it! Great job!
I agree Anastasie !!!!!
Wow! These are so beautiful! What a wonderful way to embrace your inner (and not so inner) child!
I hope to see a book of these!
I LOVE these…your daughter is a genius (you’re pretty good too!)
Brilliant!!
I would totally buy the artbook.
this remind me of the tiny art director.
Love Love 😀
[…] Weil ich es so genial finde, so herzig, und tatsächlich ziemlich cool. Mica Angela Hendricks von the busy mockingbird ist Illustratorin und Grafikerin. Ihre vierjährige Tochter (die übrigens zu ihrem letzten […]
fantastic collaboration !
Reblogged this on anna + ece and commented:
This is just great ! (◠△◠✿)
Hi Mica,
I work a press agency in the UK. We send stories to the UK newspapers as well as international publications. I think your artwork collaborations would make a great story and I was wondering if you would be interested in working with us? My email address is dale@catersnews.com if you would like to get in touch.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Dale
Fantastic – I love these – so different – thanks for sharing them
[…] I am loving this month – Chickpeas new magazine, spiced roast chickpeas (seriously guys), this artist’s project, Love Aesthetic nails, almonds, avocado on toast with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, w-u-n-d-e-r, […]
I love it. Isn’t it interesting how ‘stuck in the box’ we are? I think a coffee table book of illustrations or of poems to go along with them would be awesome. Keep co-creating!
Those are brilliant.
It looks fantastic, I love it.
I love the drawings! All very Alice in Wonderland…lovely that you and your daughter can share this experience. Blessings…
this is super awesome!
I’ve not read all of the comments, but was very excited by the notion of you making a chyldrin’s book out of them, or even adult graphic novel(las?). Putting stories to them would be grand (I especially wanna read the hopscotch one!). Perhaps it could be collaborative story-time with yer daughter that co-generates the narratives? Well done on practicing what ye preach, sharing & all… & look at where it got you! Many Blessings. Many Thanx.
xo- AD
I love this!!!!! Priceless! My three year old just scribbles over anything I draw right now. Maybe when she is four 🙂
These are amazing. They could be used in a story with adult humor.
Truly fantastic! Both illustrations and story.
Wow, these are amazing!
Lady! You are doing an awesome awesomes! And blowing up the interwebs 🙂 I love it when good arty and crafty people get good exposure and praise. Also, you’ve totally inspired me for the future with my now 21 month old little girl Scout. I’m a long time storytelling embroiderer (who’s *gasp* not on Etsy) and seeing your work just leaves me mouth agape and inspired. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thankyou so much!!! Being an artist and a mama is difficult, but it gets better. Thank you again!
When I first read this story on a local news site my first thought was, these would make excellent illustrations for a children’s story. I hope you and your daughter have considered putting a story together as unique and artistic as these drawings where this could happen.
Thank you for sharing these lovely images and this lovely story. We all should interact with our children in similar ways.
These drawings are amazing, I love the idea of everything, even a young child’s work being shown as amazing artwork
Reblogged this on resourcefulthoughts and commented:
beautiful and heart-warming collab 🙂
[…] mag het hoofd, jij de onderkant en dan maak ik het weer af.’ Kunstenares Mica Angela Hendricks werkt samen met haar 4-jarige dochter. Het resultaat is […]
These are FANTASTIC!!!
[…] Ayrıca bir blog sitesi hazırlayan anne ve kız yaptıkları bu çalışmaları kendi bloglarında […]
These are wonderful!!
I would love to commission you two to do a portrait of our two dogs, Trixie and Sodapop. One is a pug, the other is a pug/boston terrier mix. At your convenience, could you please let me know if this is possible and how much for your beautiful art? Thanks for your time and consideration, Jasmine Lindley
They are wonderful Maiysha! I love the Bette Davis snail creature! I think a book is a wonderful idea! Perhaps you could collaborate on a story, or poems!
[…] more about this project or buy some of the mother-daughter duo’s […]
I love all of it.
Reblogged this on Ode to Writing.
[…] Angela Hendricks é ilustradora e artista gráfica. Ela fez uma série de ilustrações em colaboração com sua filha de 4 anos. […]
Brava to both of you!
These are GREAT. I can see it being a children’s book with a short story or poem about each picture. I would buy something like that. LOVE IT.
Do you sell these? I’d love one or a print of one or two 🙂
Thankyou! Prints are one sale at Society6.com/micaangela
[…] det HÄR är något av det bästa jag har sett på länge! En mamma som gör konst tillsammans med sin […]
Several of these prints have bookcover written all over them. Fabulous! What a brilliant idea.
Would LOVE a book of poems or even just short little stories! Even better if you collaborated to write them as well! I would buy it in a heartbeat 🙂
I was a youth worker for 3 and a half years and whenever I had my artbook out the younger kids wanted to doodle in it. depending which book it was I sometimes let them. I still have their pictures.
Then one day when we were all painting I started doing a picture of Pandora’s box being left open and all the badness coming out and four or five different kids attempted to copy it while we were sitting there. I wish I still had the pictures but they took them home. Some of them were amazing and when I told them the story behind the picture their’s only got better.
So proud of them all.
I LOVE THESE. I hope you put them all together, even if it’s just in a coffee table book or a children’s book. Every time I look at them I see a different story and I want to write them all.
They should be the covers of blank sketchbooks.