Masked Toonz

I Paint, Therefore I Am in addition to the other upcoming stories in The Descoones Series were inspired by my own experiences in high school. Anyone who's watched The Dead Poets Society ~~and cried at the end~~ knows the harm that can come from the lack of support for a child's creative dreams. However, what happens when there is too much support in spite of good intentions?

Society has evolved and changed since the 80s. Many parents now realize the benefits a career path in art can bring, and try their best to nurture this talent. They buy those big art kits with the squeaky plastic clamshell cases and the dry markers. They buy sketchbooks from the dollar store that are actually just rebound printer paper. It's the thought that counts, of course.

This, almost inevitably, comes with the trade off that if a child continues to go down this path and improve their skills into tween/teenhood, they will start to be seen exclusively for what they can provide by their peers. ''Can you draw a tattoo for me?'' ''You should make me a cartoon!'' ''How about making me a comic?'' ''Why not draw the family Christmas card?'' etc.

Why is this so damaging? Think of it this way: if you went to a cousin's peewee hockey game, you wouldn't assume they were only playing hockey to join the NHL as an adult, would you? They're playing for the fun of the game. Now, if you had that same kid run drills every night with the promise of being accepted into bigger and better hockey leagues until they're rolling in cash as an adult, that child would probably start to feel a little used. This is the issue practically every ''supported'' artist faces.

We all want our own cool, personalized piece of artwork, but outside of artists who know each other's worth, the common folk don't want to pay for it. So much, in fact, that billionaires are dumping money into machines that steal pre-existing artwork and mash it into something they want for free. While we're going in the right direction from where we were, the common view of artists now is deeply rooted in capitalism and consumerism. The sentiment now, at its core, is still ''art is stupid and not worth pursuing,'' just with the added asterisk of ''unless it's making me money and/or results.''

I Paint, Therefore I Am fights back against this notion. Art, a little raccoon boy of only eight, is asked by every student in his school to paint portraits for all of them after only doing it once for a close friend. They each give him five dollars per portrait, and he makes quite a bit of money this way, but the money can't fill the void with how tedious the repeated task is and how little he wants to keep doing it. He is then asked by his principal to paint a mural on the side of the school. The principal, of course, doesn't realize this is already a massive request for one child, much less one who is already experiencing burnout, and Art resorts to putting off the project until he confides with his family.

Oak, Art's grandfather, explains that he too used to paint for a living, but found the act of painting other raccoons all day to be tiring. The freelance work makes good money, but the toll it takes on his body and mind can never justify the money. He admits defeat and leaves the big city, moving back to his home of Wetpaw Way, where he meets Maple, a blind albino raccoon who remained his artistic muse and the love of his life until her passing.

Grandpa Oak's story teaches us to embrace the joy of creation; that we can take a break from art when it begins to feel more like a chore than a hobby, and pick it up again when we feel inspired. When the world wants to take the hobby that brings us happiness and wring all of that good emotion out of us for pure monetary gain, the best thing we can do to fight against it is to put down the brushes and canvases until true inspiration strikes us again, creating only for ourselves and the ones who respect us for who we are.

Art takes this message to heart and puts all of his art supplies away for a year, taking the time to appreciate the world around him and learn other things. Instead of slotting himself in the box of ''artist'' forever, he decides to branch out and pick up other hobbies like bug observation in addition to the talents he already has. When he's ready to pick up the brush again, he dedicates the work to his biggest inspiration: his grandfather.

Hey! Why not put my button on your website?