Critical Analysis of a Portrait Drawn by a Child Prodigy

The other day, at my restaurant job, a coworker found a drawing that a child had left behind at one of his tables. As this particular coworker (a fine gentleman named Jon) has a keen eye for good art, he posted the drawing outside the break room for everyone to enjoy.

There are a lot of things that I love about this drawing. In this post, I will discuss two of those things.

Number one...

The drawing is clearly labeled. There is no need for the viewer to ask themselves, "What am I looking at?", because the answer is right there: It is a drawing.

Number two...

The young artist has endeavored to comment on the pedestrian limitations of titles. He has avoided his subject's given name, instead choosing to juxtapose the categorical (the type of animal) with the individually specific (the subject's most abiding question about the nature of life). A mispelling is even thrown in there as a subtle, yet acutely relevant joke. Thus, Eeyore becomes (Why me) Donky.

If you have any further observations on this piece of art, please share them in the comments section. I'm eager to see what sort of thoughts this drawing inspires!


* Photographs taken by Katie Eisnor.