Artist For Hire
April 9, 2012
You know proud mama's - they love to share the amazing things their children are up to. I'm certainly no different.
A few months ago Laurent was given a commission by one of our blogging friends Brian Green. Laurent was thrilled with the project and I was so proud of how diligently he worked on it.
Practice sketches and color blending. Internet research to try and figure out exactly how to give black marker a "gloss". I helped with some of the research but in no way could assist with the artwork - that was all Laurent's doing.
This weekend Brian revealed the commission on his blog. That's Laurent's artwork as the new header for Brian's blog.
Having an artist in residence has many advantages but I still do pay Laurent a small commission for the artwork he does for my blog (my subscribe and follow buttons at the top were done by Laurent).
I can't write about Laurent's art without a little homeschooling speak.
One of my favorite homeschooling books is not about homeschooling at all but a book about success. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell deconstructs why and how people become successful. One of the things that really grabbed me in this book is the amount of time successful people put into their "craft", whatever that may be.
Now, I'll tell you that "worldly" success (ie: fame & fortune) is not one of our homeschool goals. But we do want our children to be successful at what they love to do. In Laurent's case that is drawing (and some other stuff but drawing is a dominant theme in his life).
Gladwell's book encouraged me that as a homeschooler I can give my children those 10,000 hours to become really good at something, if they so choose. I love this freedom in our lives. And I love that Laurent can grow his skill for hours every day at such a young age.
This reminds me also of the podcast I listened to recently with Jamie & Tsh at Simple Mom podcasts. I feel very much the same as Jamie does, that we give our children as much time as possible to develop their stengths because that is where they are really going to shine. Their true talents are not going to grow while spending an inordinate effort to bring their weaknesses up to the mediocre level. Rather, our children will really bloom when we encourage and allow time for them to develop their strengths.
This is one of the major reasons we homeschool. To give our children time. To grow into who they want to be.
Laurent (with Damien's help) wrote up this bio to accompany his artwork.
Laurent is an 11 year old homeschooled artist, and wishes to remain one (an artist that is) for many years to come. His favorite things to draw are wildlife and nature subjects, and his favorite medium is pen and markers. Laurent loves the outdoors, nature, and animals. He is a hiker, a lightweight backpacker, and a backcountry skier. His dream is to find a career that incorporates being both a naturalist and an artist. For now, he earns some pocket money by selling cards on his blog, and doing the odd commission as opportunities arise.
