The Creativity Thief

This is my 4th semester grad project from my illustration program. Read my artist statement below!

For a young child, creativity runs wild and free. The colours are bright, and the ideas are endless. This piece was inspired by a drawing I created at three years old. Tall flowers with thick stems stand on spikey grass, under a scribbled blue sky, each one topped with a flying butterfly. I took this expression of my childhood creativity and reimagined it into a world that children created themselves. However, as children grow, self doubt and a lack of encouragement from adults tends to direct most away from making art. Between eight and ten years old, many kids give up creating art forever. I decided to personify this feeling of self doubt and lack of confidence into a monster character, similar to the imaginary friends and creatures kids create themselves. With a large pink eraser in hand, this monster sets out to erase their entire world, removing creativity from their lives forever. As someone who specializes in children’s illustration, I felt that it was important to connect with children viewers on a personal level, stylizing each piece to look like pages out of a children’s storybook.