Craig Alan Child Art ABCD

OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2020

By Huxley S.

THE MAGAZINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHILD ART FOUNDATION

By Paulina G.

By Alexandria J.

By Alexa K.

By Natalie W.

The Intersection of Art and Neuroscience:

A View Through the ABCD Lens

By Paulo C.

By Defne Y.

By Viviana V.

By Cameron T.

By Aaron G.

The

Power

As far back as he can remember, Craig Alan has been creating. As a kid, he found an artistic outlet by drawing with crayons on his parents’ walls. Craig continued to work on his art (not only on walls!) and gradually got better at it. In spite of his expressive drawings with crayons and his parents’ encouragement, Craig never imagined that he would become a painter.

Craig went to elementary and middle school in California.

He says, “I remember when I was as young as eight, our teacher would write stories, and we illustrated the stories with five drawings. We did this assignment one day a week.

It was one of my favorite parts of school.” His creativity blossomed throughout his childhood and early adulthood.

Today, Craig Alan’s art is exhibited across North America and in Europe, where he has become a one-of-a-kind voice in the visual arts.

Craig knows the power of art. “Art is incredibly important for kids, for many reasons,” he says. Here are a few reasons he thinks this is true: • Creating art helps you be yourself and not be afraid to express yourself—even without using words or your voice.

Craig Alan’s story is inspiring for kids who, like him, enjoy creating new things. It might also hold a lesson for parents who may not recognize the artistry and imagination in their kids’ crayon wall art. Who knows where it could lead them?

• Art can help you solve problems. It’s a great way to experiment and try new things. When you try art, you always answer the question, “What if?”

• Getting lost in your imagination can turn your ideas inside out and upside down—that’s a really beautiful thing!

• Art can help you tell a story in your own way.

There is no better way to build your confidence.

• Sometimes, we can learn things more easily if we have a visual or a picture to help us understand it. Artists are needed in all areas of education to help represent math, science, language arts, and history in visual ways. We can inject the creativity of art into all aspects of life and learning.

of

Art

Craig focused on soccer in college and was offered an athletic scholarship. It was stressful for him to balance college classwork, soccer, and friendships, and his grades began to suffer. To help improve his grades, Craig took an art class. His first class— pottery—had an unexpected and important benefit: It helped him make sense of everything.

School became easier for Craig; he actually wanted to learn because he saw how his classwork and lessons applied to his life. “I threw myself into [art], and it ended up changing my whole perspective on learning,” Craig says. He connected with a publisher and started on his path in the art world. “That’s

Artist Profile:

basically how I went from jock to art student to painter,” he explains.

As an artist, Craig has a restless eye. His work refers to numerous artistic styles, including pop-surrealism, magic realism, neoexpressionist abstraction, and natural representation. His most recent work, which he calls the “Populus Series”—a few pieces of which are featured in this article—includes original images of hundreds of tiny people on a white background. At first glance, the paintings look like aerial photographs, but a closer inspection reveals that they’re painted by hand. Craig hopes that viewers of his paintings will realize “that we are all part of something greater than ourselves, and if we work together, we could achieve greater balance…not in a religious sense, but rather a universal sense.”

The

Power

As far back as he can remember, Craig Alan has been creating. As a kid, he found an artistic outlet by drawing with crayons on his parents’ walls. Craig continued to work on his art (not only on walls!) and gradually got better at it. In spite of his expressive drawings with crayons and his parents’ encouragement, Craig never imagined that he would become a painter.

Craig went to elementary and middle school in California.

He says, “I remember when I was as young as eight, our teacher would write stories, and we illustrated the stories with five drawings. We did this assignment one day a week.

It was one of my favorite parts of school.” His creativity blossomed throughout his childhood and early adulthood.

Today, Craig Alan’s art is exhibited across North America and in Europe, where he has become a one-of-a-kind voice in the visual arts.

Craig knows the power of art. “Art is incredibly important for kids, for many reasons,” he says. Here are a few reasons he thinks this is true: • Creating art helps you be yourself and not be afraid to express yourself—even without using words or your voice.

Craig Alan’s story is inspiring for kids who, like him, enjoy creating new things. It might also hold a lesson for parents who may not recognize the artistry and imagination in their kids’ crayon wall art. Who knows where it could lead them?

• Art can help you solve problems. It’s a great way to experiment and try new things. When you try art, you always answer the question, “What if?”

• Getting lost in your imagination can turn your ideas inside out and upside down—that’s a really beautiful thing!

• Art can help you tell a story in your own way.

There is no better way to build your confidence.

• Sometimes, we can learn things more easily if we have a visual or a picture to help us understand it. Artists are needed in all areas of education to help represent math, science, language arts, and history in visual ways. We can inject the creativity of art into all aspects of life and learning.

of

Art

Craig focused on soccer in college and was offered an athletic scholarship. It was stressful for him to balance college classwork, soccer, and friendships, and his grades began to suffer. To help improve his grades, Craig took an art class. His first class— pottery—had an unexpected and important benefit: It helped him make sense of everything.

School became easier for Craig; he actually wanted to learn because he saw how his classwork and lessons applied to his life. “I threw myself into [art], and it ended up changing my whole perspective on learning,” Craig says. He connected with a publisher and started on his path in the art world. “That’s

Artist Profile:

basically how I went from jock to art student to painter,” he explains.

As an artist, Craig has a restless eye. His work refers to numerous artistic styles, including pop-surrealism, magic realism, neoexpressionist abstraction, and natural representation. His most recent work, which he calls the “Populus Series”—a few pieces of which are featured in this article—includes original images of hundreds of tiny people on a white background. At first glance, the paintings look like aerial photographs, but a closer inspection reveals that they’re painted by hand. Craig hopes that viewers of his paintings will realize “that we are all part of something greater than ourselves, and if we work together, we could achieve greater balance…not in a religious sense, but rather a universal sense.”