What I ended up discovering is that there's a much bigger picture involved. More than just whether or not your child can put a pencil to paper. It comes down to a fundamental lesson that we have to teach our children. We have to teach them to see the world, both for what it is and what it is not. Without bias, without judgement, without filters. If you want to encourage your child to pursue art as a career, first and foremost, make sure he sees doesn't go out into the world ignorant of what's around him. Make him aware, alert of everything he sees.

People (including kids) tend to become very focused on their lives and don't always pay attention to the beauty of their surroundings. But an artist has to appreciate these things, it's important for a couple of reasons. First to get a sense of how the world works, but also to understand how to put that back into his art. Some children can demonstrate this without any help, and I believe they are the ones that grow up to be the creative types in the world. This is where it all begins.

I remember in my art classes, the teacher would tell us to paint a picture by using a photo or an object as reference, basically copying it. That's not art. A lot of people confuse that for art, but it's only training. Training your eye to see, training your mind to understand and training your hands to put it on paper. The real art comes when there's nothing to look at, nothing to refer to, just your imagination. That's the essential ingredient that any artist needs more than anything else.

Maybe that's a good way to develop a child's talent, to let him kind of grow on his own through practice and experimenting. Sometimes a class environment can block creativity more than it helps. Don't get me wrong, classes are good, but I know for me, when it stops being fun and starts becoming work, I can't stay focused. I lose my creativity and can't seem to come up with any good ideas.

Also, I would encourage reading. Lots of it. But not the boring stuff. Y'know, stuff that lets him use his imagination, to develop his inner "eye". I remember reading lots of science fiction and fantasy books, because I could imagine things that I'd never see. Breaking that barrier is an important thing for an artist.

Of course, it's important to never give up. Being an artist isn't always easy, no matter whether it's drawing, painting, music, performing, or whatever. This is more down-the-road stuff, but it's important keep in mind that not everyone cares about art, nor are they willing to pay for it. We've all heard the term "starving artist", right? While I've never seen it that bad, I know it can be tough to deal with sometimes, especially when there's money and deadlines involved.

It's surprised me a little when I realized how little these things involved being able to actually create. Learning how to use a brush, mix paint or even a computer is all technical. Anyone can learn how to do that. What I'm talking about is the talent that people just naturally have. Everyone has some form of creativity, that's what makes man different from any other creature in this world. The ability to think, imagine and create is what drives mankind. It shows itself more in some people than others, but everyone has a creative spirit.

It makes me happy to see a creative mind being appreciated.