Branching Out

This week I tested the component of including others in my occupation. Drawing can definitely be enjoyed as a co-occupation if desired. That flexibility is a large contributing factor of my ability to consistently participate in this activity. I can regularly engage on my own whenever my schedule allows, or I can easily involve others to participate with me. Working collaboratively or in tangent with others can add aspects of physicality, emotionality, and intentionality to the art process. This incorporation of others results in creative inspiration added by seeing the unique perspectives of each individual participating. Benefits can also include physical support, increased enjoyment, enhancing emotional belonging, mutual goal-directed engagement, and a fresh understanding of the roles that others hold. With this in mind, I invited my son (6 yrs) to “do art” with me this week. I even told him that he had free range to pick the subject we would draw together. I had expected him to choose something typically interesting for a little boy (i.e. racecars, favorite foods, video games etc) but when the time came for the final decision, I was unprepared for his choice. He explained that we would be drawing a “rainforest swamp” haha. This seemed like it would be slightly too complex for me to accomplish, to my personal standards, within the allotted time frame of the activity. So, after much negotiation, we agreed that while my son would do the entire rainforest-swamp landscape with all the trimmings, I would stay a bit simpler with an environmentally applicable tree or two. The time we spent together working on our projects was very sweet and I enjoyed seeing his unique perspective on the subject interpretation. Once we finished, he declared himself the winner (I didn’t know there was a contest haha) and made sure that the photo I took of his drawing was exactly how he deemed it to look the best. Now, without further ado, here are our final masterpieces! Which do you think should win the prize? (Bonus points for each animal you can find and correctly identify in his drawing haha)