My daughter has been taking weekly art classes for more than a year. In the beginning, her favourite thing about going there was that those who arrived early could watch cartoons in the waiting room until class started. Then she entered painting competitions and started to win the occasional prize, and her interest in drawing was piqued by her growing confidence and her gushing parents.
Neither my husband nor I are artistically inclined. We appreciate art but cannot create it. And so, to give my daughter a further boost in her artistic endeavours, I read her books about budding artists' first encounters with art and what constitutes art.
Art & Max is the latest offering from the brilliant visual storyteller David Wiesner. Arthur is a great painter and Max is a keen beginner who thinks that he, too, can paint. Max's enthusiasm stems from his lack of awareness of his own shortcomings, and therein lies the humour. When Max is at a loss for what to paint, the great Art suggests that he be Max's subject. He generously offers, "Well … you could paint me." Max complies by spraying paint all over Art. The adventure begins and the story gets crazier and crazier.
The banter between these two unlikely friends reminds me of Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller in the film Meet the Parents, where the prospective son-in-law believes himself to be a decent fellow, until he comes under the disapproving eye of the prospective father-in-law.
While I am blown away by the gorgeously illustrated lizards in Art & Max, my daughter is more enthralled by the two art books of Peter H. Reynolds, The Dot and Ish.
The Dot is the story of a reluctant art student whose teacher patiently nurtures her interest in art while helping to change her perception of what art is. For example, when the student hasn't produced anything by the end of class, the teacher looks at the blank paper and offers, "Ah! A polar bear in a snow storm."
The story is well told and the pencil drawing style of Reynolds is simple and direct. I also love the fact that the student's name is Vashti, a distinctly ethnic name.