Kid Art Softie

Kid art is amazing. It's whimsical and colorful. It's scribbly and unrestrained. The characters and creatures kids often draw are otherworldly, impossible and beautiful. Kids' minds are bursting with imagination that hasn't yet become bogged down by "reality" and ordinariness. And hopefully they never will be. May we all see the world through the weirdo eyes of children!

I've seen a lot of companies and individuals on the internet that make custom softies based on children's art, and I always think, "Hey, I could do that." My boss showed me a picture that her six-year-old drew of a really cool-looking clown, so I decided to give it a shot. 

I spent a good amount of time giving this artwork some pretty serious analysis. From the dramatic outlining to the sumptuous layering of color, I love everything about it.

I love how it has kind of an "Ernie & Bert" quality to the facial features, but as I started felting the face together, I thought mine looked more Mr. Potato Head. 

Eventually, it came together though. I made it much in the same way I make my little softie dolls, including using pipe cleaners in the arms and legs, though I carefully folded and wrapped the pointed ends of the pipe cleaners so they wouldn't ever poke through the felt (though I'm certain this doll wouldn't pass any kind of toy safety regulation test so, "disclaimer!"). 

Here he is! His name is actually "Cupcake," I found out from the artist's mother. 

Here's the side by side comparison. I think I did a pretty good job capturing the essence of Cupcake, but I'm just the structural engineer who brought the artist and designer's work to soft sculpture life. 

Cupcake in his safe space.

His favorite book, obvi. 

This photo makes me want to cry. It's like, such childlike yearning!

Nap time! The most underrated part of childhood. 

Meta kid art!