The Mischievous Mommy

A Collaboration with my Toddler

by Eve and Ruth Oosterman

A Collaboration with my Toddler

by Eve and Ruth Oosterman

Eve is a very very busy toddler. She is one of those kids that just runs around non stop without ever taking a breath or break, so obviously I am ecstatic that she has finally begun to enjoy books. Not to say she didn't before, but now she loves to pour over them and really observe the details in each picture. She'll soak in each story so she can reenact them with her toys later or create drawings that revolve around her favorite stories.

As I'm sure you may have guessed, her most recent favorite would be the beloved classic, "Paper Bag Princess." It includes two of Eve's treasured characters, a Princess AND a Dragon, it doesn't hurt that the princess is finally saving a prince and not the other way around.

As we painted side by side, I let Eve decide what colors to use (pink and indigo) and it just took off. Other than a basic portrait sketch I had drawn there really was no plan for this piece other than having fun, I find anytime I DO have a plan it is quickly derailed by Eve's imagination. As I am still learning to embrace this wildly, unpredictable aspect to collaborating with my toddler, I have realized no plan equals less frustration and leaves me with an open mind.

Eventually Eve decided to move on and return back to the painting she had been working on earlier that morning. She had discovered my bag of old, ripped book pages and was gluing them to her piece when she decided our collaborative painting was clearly missing some.
Within minutes, she had decided it was also missing two arms (the lines she drew on either side), a purse on the left arm, a necklace and of course a crown which she asked me to draw. She would later add her final touches using more pencil.

And that is how "The Paperback Princess" came to be.

Don't forget to check out the Video Time Lapse down below!
http://youtu.be/u3GNKEowVQs

http://youtu.be/u3GNKEowVQs

A Collaboration with my Toddler

by Eve and Ruth Oosterman


The stories that Eve's imagination creates is absolutely fantastic and truly out of this world. I hope to write down some of these surreal stories one day but until then I will happily bask in the beauty of her story telling. As we paint she enjoys coming up with back stories to each piece and for this one it was of a mermaid.

This time around, the mermaid in her story was chased by a terrible watermelon octopus that locked her up in the tall tower of his underwater castle. She sends her faithful friend, an orange fish, out to find a prince to save her. The handsome prince returns to the castle with the mermaid's mother and father and they all fight the terrifying watermelon octopus and rescue her from certain doom. If you watch the video time lapse of us painting together you can see Eve draw out the watermelon octopus onto the back of the paper.

With the most recent of our collaborations, Eve has been helping me "color" in a sketch using watercolors. I love being able to paint side by side with her as opposed to taking turns, to me it really enhances our bonding experience. However, I have also discovered that the pieces we create this way end up being much darker than our other pieces. For example, the Moon Bear, is a bright, moonlit children's illustration and the Red Boat is a simple landscape that holds the potential of a story.

The Siren's Song and Red Lips both come across as much darker, intense art pieces, especially with their lips painted over, courtesy of Eve. The Siren's Song, to me, represents a darker version of Eve's happily ever after story... something more similar to a Grimm's fairy tale. Instead of being rescued the mischievous mermaid uses her beautiful, siren-like voice to lure would be rescuers, into the octopus' lair, to certain doom. Until one day a King falls into the trap and his brother, an artist, comes to his rescue. He finds a way to take away and sacrifice his hearing forever in order to get past the mermaid's enchanting voice and avenge his brother. The artist captures the mermaid and uses his paint, doused with magic, to forever paint over her lips so she may never use her deadly voice again.

And that is how the name and story for this piece came to be.

I hope you enjoy the video and stay tuned for more pieces! We have also started to take commissions for portraits using this collaborative technique so if you want to see your face in one of these videos visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/238181081/custom-portrait-by-eve-and-ruth?ref=shop_home_active_6


Watch the Video Time Lapse
http://youtu.be/tLCzCkp0XPc