“Hey, crazy art lady. My kid is a budding artist. How can I help them?”

I get this question a lot.

Both the budding artist part and the crazy art lady part.

But I’m also an artist, and to me making Art is just normal - like breathing.  I’ve always been so right-brained, the left is squeezed to nearly oblivion.

No wonder people think I’m crazy.

Anyway, if you’re asking this question, I’d like to give you my best tips on how to encourage a budding artist, and add more"A' for arts into your STEAM.

Here goes.

1. Encourage them. Tell them they’re great and you’re proud of them for pushing through and learning.  Hang their art on the fridge. Take pictures of it.

   
   

2. Give your  child unlimited art supplies. Paper. Pencils. Erasers. Markers. Colored Pencils. Paintbrushes. Paints. Look at it as an investment in their education - because it is.

   
   

   

   
   
   
   

3. Let them take classes to teach them how to actually draw. Public schools don’t actually teach children who are gifted in the arts much.

   
   

   I have a friend who’s a public school art teacher and he regularly tells stories of kids trying to unalive each other through various strange methods. Keeping kids from doing that is all these poor teachers can do at this point.

   
   

   Outschool is a great way to give art and STEAM lessons cheaply and remotely.

   Buying art technique and STEAM books are also helpful.

   
   

   The best resource I’ve found on how to draw is the book “drawing on the right side of the brain”. It’s a bit adult but you can read it and learn along with your child.

   
   

   Also Christopher Hart's drawing books are excellent resources. And I’m not getting paid a cent to say this.

   
   

4. Save all of your child’s best art in a waterproof tub. Keep it someplace safe and take pictures of the pieces just in case. They will thank you when they’re grown.

   
   
   
   

   

   
   

5. Teaching your child not to be a perfectionist will help them so much. One thing I have noticed as I have taught ART to children, including my own son, is that most of them are perfectionists. 

   
   

   Remind your children that They aren’t adults yet and they have not gotten to the point yet that they want to be.

   
   

   And that's OK.

   Learning to be an artist is a journey.

   
   

   When artists are young and just starting they often beat themselves up a lot. Encourage them that it’s a journey and it takes time to learn but that it’s worth it. You can also view together, it’s a quote by Ira Glass about how we have to push through this https://youtu.be/dIebTUXt4Tg?si=DhZSnfj9lMlG-gMy

Here’s the quote:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap.

For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.

A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.

We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this.

And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work.

Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.

And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met.

It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

-Ira Glass

(Note: He says writing but it’s true with other arts as well.)

7. Understand that there’s no such thing as “talent”. It’s all about dedication and hard work. Just like ANYTHING.

   Take For instance playing an instrument. You may start out wanting to play but you can’t right away. You have to take lessons and practice a LOT.

   
   

   Most artists are at least in part self taught because no one would freaking teach us. So we taught ourselves.

   
   

   Vincent Van Gogh is a great example of this. Take a look at this before and after - both are Vincent Van Gogh. The second one is after years of constant practice.

   
   

   If he could do it, so can your kid.

   

8. Brag about your child’s art in front of other people. But try not to put pressure on them to perform. There's a fine line.

9. When you go somewhere where they will have to wait around, such as a restaurant or a doctor's office, instead of giving them a tablet or a phone, give them a few 3x5 cards and a pencil. I keep them in my purse at all times. This encourages creativity and gives them a chance to practice. If they don’t know what to draw, Tell them to draw something in the room. Drawing real objects and trying to copy them is the best way to learn to draw.

   
   

10. If you have a way to get your child’s art published, help them do so. My parents did our church bulletin every week back before computers could do it for you. They did it the old-school way. And they published my very first cartoon in it for a luau. It looked something like this:

Taylor Swift's parents got her singing and guitar lessons and helped her publish her

first album. That's music, not art, but the principle is the same. You never know - your kid

could be the next Picasso - or Freida Kahlo. Or Tay Tay.

11. Encourage them to use many different mediums (kinds of art supplies). Buy them art supplies as gifts. Blank sketchbooks are always appreciated. Every Christmas my kids get a fresh big box of art supplies and a sketchbook. Often the chain art and crafts supply stores like Michael’s have sales and you can get them cheaper.

    
    

12. Don’t get too upset at messes. Just make them clean them up. If they’re little, help them. My son Matty just spray-painted the garage floor a bit when working on a project. And we rent. Well, now he has to find paint to match the floor and pay for it and fix it.

    No biggie. Artists make messes. Anticipate them. Give them a space to work. And try not to freak when they paint thier clothes, the carpet, or the kitchen tabletop.

    
    

    

    
    
    
    

13. Go to art museums with them. Ask them what pictures are their favorites and why.

    Don’t rush them through. Let them look closely at the art to see if they can figure out what media they are done with. Ask them questions about how the art makes them feel, and what piece is their favorite, and why.

    
    

14. Take them to libraries and show them books with great artists. Biographies for kids can be very helpful for them to know they’re not alone. Help them take out these books. Read aloud to them. Another great resource is the "Who Is?" books.

    
    

15. Let your children know that art is an ok profession with you.

    
    

    I didn’t know that. I thought it wouldn’t make any money. So I majored in teaching at first. Real smart right? I can't think of another profession that (supposedly) makes less money than art - except maybe teaching!

    
    

    It wasn't until later that my dad sat me down and told me I would be wasting my talent if I didn't major in art. I'm really glad he did that, or I might not be doing what I do today - which is working as a caricaturist at parties, weddings, and corporate events.

    
    

    I LOVE my job, I get to make people happy with my art, and I'm so grateful for a job I love that I dont have to work at a corporation to do. (Learn more about me and my work HERE on my about page)

    
    

    Thanks Dad.

    
    

    And if you're a parent and you believe that old lie that artists dont make a good living,

    Let me explain something to you.

    
    

    Please Take a moment and look around the room that you're in. Go ahead. No one is looking . I promise.

    
    

    Now, think about this.

    
    

    Everything in that room was designed by an Artist.

    
    

    Every piece of technology, every stick of furniture. The architecture. The book covers. The TV shows playing in the background. Everything.

    
    

    If you're outside, even the trees and flowers were designed by the greatest designer of them All.

    
    

    Someone had a job to design all of those things.

    
    

    Someone got paid good money to design all of those things.

    
    

    There are PLENTY of art jobs. But it DOES take hard work. Just like ANYTHING. Tell your child this. Because everyone believes the lie that you cant make money at it. WHich is patently untrue.

    
    

16. Encourage your school-aged child to draw what they see. That is the best way to learn to draw - put things in front of you and work drawing them. I say school-aged because littles aren't ready for this yet, and that's OK.

    
    
    
    

17. Realize that a lot of times kids who are artists and musicians and arts-oriented are also very sensitive people. We can get very down on ourselves and our artwork.

    
    

    Sometimes, we also have disabilities such as social anxiety, ADHD or dyscalculia (kind of like dyslexia but with math).

    If you've never heard of those, look them up. Find out if your kid may have one (I had all of them, and all were undiagnosed). Getting a child help who struggles in these areas can help them tremendously.

Personally, I homeschool my 3 very artistic and neurodivergent kids. I chose to do this

because of the high amount of trauma I underwent in public school, and I saw the same

thing happening to my kids.

It was a tough decision but one I don't regret. Now, Ten years later, my kids are starting to graduate and get jobs and I couldn't be more proud of how they're turning out.

17. Parenting a child with artistic ability is hard. It’s so easy to inadvertently cause trauma. Try to give them grace - and teach them to give grace to others.

18. Finally -  I believe one of the main problems in our society is that art imitates life, and life imitates art.

    
    

    And because so much of our art has gone dark (think violent dark and gritty movies, news, which is just entertainment - I was TOLD this by a TV producer at PBS!) and social media - because of all this darkness, life has begun imitating it. 

    
    

    So encourage your child to be positive and to make positive art in order to make a positive difference in the world. 🌎

19. Remember - we are the music makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams. Artists make a huge difference and impact on society. We are the storytellers. We are the ones who shape culture. So if the culture is bad we can do our part to fix it.

    
    

    This is how I change the world - One funny drawing at a time. Encourage your child that they can do the same thing.

So That’s all from the crazy art lady folks.

I hope it helped you!

I hope it helps your child.

—————

Hi, my name is Kathy Buskett. I am a working caricature artist with 26 years of experience drawing caricatures at all kinds of events all over the USA. I have drawn at weddings & corporate events for some of the largest brands on the planet

If you would like me to draw caricatures at an event. You can contact me at Kathy buskett@gmail.com

If you’d like to look at some of my artwork, you can check it out at my website 

If you are local to the Gulf Coast, I draw caricatures at live events; weddings, corporate events, and private parties. I also do travel for events, so go ahead and check with me and see about my availability before your date is gone

Kathy buskett@gmail.com. www.caricaturesbykathy.com

Thanks and have a blessed day