Samurai Are Doubtlessly The Most Bad Ass Thing That Ever Existed

rennaissance painters: what is a baby? a small man?

Characters look dev for an indie game project! Patterns are inspired or stolen from William Morris 

I shall be a perfect Dad… by Thomas Sanders

A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, “My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?” The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.” The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks accept him, feed him, even fix his car. That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier. The next morning, he asks what it is, but the monks reply, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.” The man says, “All right, all right. I’m *dying* to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?” The monks reply, “You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk.” The man sets about his task. Forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, “I have traveled the earth and have found what you have asked for. There are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth.” The monks reply, “Congratulations. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound.” The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, “The sound is right behind that door.” The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He says, “Real funny. May I have the key?” The monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man demands the key to the stone door. The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. So it went until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst. Finally, the monks say, “This is the last key to the last door.” The man is relieved to no end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound. But I can’t tell you what it is because you’re not a monk

I've been wanting to ask your advice for a while, and your drawing from when you were seven has made me finally act. I'm a dad with two daughters, ages 2 and 4, and they're starting to show interest in drawing. It's pretty typical scribbles like all kids. But do you have any suggestions for how to encourage them? Are there things I should look out for that could stifle or discourage them? What kind of encouragement, if any, did you get when you were younger? Thanks for whatever you can tell me!

I think the most practical thing you can do is draw with them. Or at least let them see that you also do creative things. It doesn’t have to be drawing. But work creatively alongside them so they can see you working, too. It makes whatever they’re doing seem more valuable if they see Dad doing it. My parents both did this, and they still do it—they show me their creative projects as much as I show them mine, and we talk about whatever progress we’ve made or obstacles we run into. I can always discuss my creativity with my parents because I know that they understand the process.

But also—and this one is trickier because it’s psychology…

Don’t praise your girls for their goodness. The tendency with girls is to constantly tell them things like, “You’re so smart. You’re so talented. You’re such a good girl.”

And when you do that, girls ends up believing that it’s part of their character. They believe that goodness is part of who they are, rather than something they can practice at, fail at, and improve at. They think they can’t change. 

That’s why, when girls get older, they’re more likely to give up. They’re more likely to be extra hard on themselves. Especially in the arts and sciences. Because nobody told them that the qualities that make them good aren’t innate but can in fact be improved upon.

So the message you want to send to your girls is that if they work hard, and if they practice, they can get better. The task might be difficult, but it’s acceptable to fail because the ability to improve is in them.

The message you don’t want to send is that they are innately good. Because they’ll believe it, and when failure comes their way, they’ll think it’s something that can’t fix. They’ll think, “This should have been easy. I should have succeeded. Because Dad told me I was smart and good.” 

And they’ll give up.

Also, OH MY GOD. Take them to look at art. Have art around. Let them try art. Let them meet artists. Make sure they see as much art as you can shove in their cute little faces. 

Hope that helps! Hugs to your girls. <3