A dad shared his 5-year-old’s artwork on the internet — now people are asking if he's Bob Ross
A proud father of a five-year-old kid shared a painting online and did not expect it to go viral the way it did. Reddit user and a dad, Joseph (u/Bruncvik), who hails from Ireland, had embraced a new after-work habit of painting to unwind. He intended it to be a lighthearted attempt for his mental health, but had no idea it would bring out the artist in his toddler. Following in his footsteps, his son, Philip, also picked up a few crayons and began emulating his father, right from the movements to cleaning the tips of pastels, per Upworthy.
A fun thing to do, Joseph hoped it would strengthen his bond with his son. Unbeknownst to his son’s potential yet, the father got him some pastels and let him draw the ones he himself was trying on. "I found it absolutely adorable when he was seriously repeating the same movements as me: cleaning the tips of the pastels, blending the edges of colors, etc,” he told the outlet. In no time, the father saw his son outperform him in paintings. In a viral post, Joseph shared a snap of the painting his son had made, and it was beyond what anyone had anticipated. “My 5-yo painted this, and I couldn’t be more proud,” the post was captioned.
Receiving more than 4,7000 votes and compliments from strangers online, the father-son duo were elated by the acknowledgement. “I say with complete confidence that I, a 40-year-old man with a career and family, could not paint that well,” admitted u/this_place_stinks while u/DubbleTheFall mused, “Way to make us feel bad about our stick figure art.” Another thoughtful comment by u/Weird_Cantaloupe2757 stated, “Uhhh, this is actually insane. I know everyone is proud of their kid’s artwork, and it might be tempting to think you’re just being a dad, but this really is an extraordinary amount of talent for a five-year-old,” u/kris_mischief expressed, “Wow! Proud dad, I’m proud of you and your son! Hope you get to nurture this passion.”
In follow-up comments, the father shared additional insights about his son’s art journey. The painting was little Philip’s first “finished work.” “I am gently encouraging my kid to draw some more, but don't want to pressure him. And just maybe, eventually, he'll be able to help me with financing my retirement,” Joseph wrote in a comment. He said his son generally follows YouTube videos to get the end result. Shez Art (@ShezART1) and Art Arena (@ArtArena) are two of his go-to channels.
While encouraging his son to do more of his art is certainly something he plans to do, Joseph intends to be thoughtful about not pressurizing Philip and squander his talent and interest in art. “My wife and I were just talking about it. At this point, he needs to be in the mood to do art, so we are afraid that a formal class could discourage him,” the father explained in a different comment. A follow-up post shared a month later featured another brilliant painting by the 5-year-old kid, which also went viral, receiving 1,800 votes.