#19 Drawing Pictures. Bird Extravaganza
My 8-year-old son with uneven development.
For him, with his thick language barrier, drawing has become one of his tools for expression.
Every day, he diligently fills A4 copy paper with various drawings.
This time, I am holding a 'Bird Extravaganza' exhibition for my bird-loving son. (Though it's only what he drew last week.)
As of the third term of second grade, my son is obsessed with birds.
Last year, he seemed to like birds with quiet movements like owls, but
now he seems to find it fun to draw colorful birds.
My personal favorites are
the iguana and the chameleon.
It's easy to tell which is which,
and he has captured their features well and deformed them just the right amount.
Also, his way of drawing birds is interesting.
Is it because the birds at the zoo are often perched on branches that he draws them facing forward?
If he is drawing them from memory, that is also amazing,
well, as a parent, I am just impressed like a fool.
Next, these are his paintings.
Work 1
My son's explanation:
'Toco toucan, sloth, blue-and-yellow macaw, macaw, parakeet, butterfly, Japanese macaque, frog, lizard, and palm trees are the jungle.'
So he says.
The lizard, frog, and Japanese macaque are nicely camouflaged.
Work 2
For this one, he used scissors to snip away.
Before I knew it, he had stuck them on the wall.
Looking at it from a distance, it's like a wall sticker that lets you enjoy a jungle mood.
Son: 'I love macaws.
Also. I love flowers too!'
To appreciate the beauty of nature at age 8 is quite sophisticated.
However...
A few days later, he tore them up.
Flowers scattered, birds gone, a quiet window.
Impermanence comes too soon.
Mourning the now-lost phantom stickers, I think to myself.
I'm so glad I took a picture!
Work 3
Now that the birds from project #2 are gone.
Soon after returning from his after-school day service,
Son: "I'm going to use paints! I'll draw parakeets."
"You sure do love colorful things, don't you?"
he said, while silently continuing to draw.
Then, every time he finished drawing one, he would snip-snip with his scissors.
After that, he came to the kitchen and
Son: "I'm done!"
Me: "You did it! Show me later, okay?"
Son: "Mommy. Get on."
he said, trying to make me hunch over.
Me: "!?"
For a split second, I braced myself, thinking he wanted a piggyback ride.
My son used to be a piggyback addict.
He's grown quite a bit now, so if I gave him a piggyback ride, my back would give out.
However, it seemed he didn't mean "get on" for a piggyback ride...
Even though he hasn't asked for piggyback rides lately, the reflexes ingrained in my body over many years are hard to shake off.
Then, what did he mean by "get on"??
Just as I was wondering...
He placed a small, colorful parakeet on my shoulder.
Oh, wow.
So it was a "shoulder-riding parakeet."
He came to place one on me every time he finished one,
and after I had seven birds on my shoulder,
I was able to enjoy a slightly fairy-tale feeling, as if I were in a bird paradise.
Project #4
My son dreams of holding a peacock.
There really aren't any facilities that would let you hold a peacock. (Probably...)
Did he think of a way to touch one somehow?
It started—he cut out the peacock he drew.
I didn't teach him this, but it's an interesting idea.
It means he can enjoy the feeling of interacting with them using the birds he cut out along their outlines.
Holding it carefully in his arms,
Son: "Good bird, good bird"
he said while petting it.
He is smiling as if he had found a bluebird.
I cannot help but feel his growth, seeing my son in a way I could never have imagined during his toddler years.
Still, the orientation of the birds...
The way he draws them facing forward, to the right, and to the left—
is it being input into his head in 3D rather than 2D!?
Since there is no way to confirm, I have no way of knowing the truth.
I just found myself wishing I could peek into the structure of my son's brain.
Well then.
These are stories about other birds. Please feel free to take a look.