Childhood Artwork
by Mac Love
A childhood maze created by Mac Love in 1983.
I won my first art competition in 1990 at a local comic book store in Katonah, New York, with a drawing of Spider-Man vs. The Lizard*. When I went to collect my prize, I learned that there were two categories in the competition: 10-and-Under, and 11-and-Up. I suddenly realized I had bested all of the teenagers, their older siblings, and their parents! My mind was blown. While it is easy to point to this memory as a pivotal point in my creative career, the truth is that it was nurtured from the start by loving parents and family members who recognized the value of creativity and encouraged it in their kids.
Spider-Man vs. The Lizard, by Mac Love (1990). Spider-Man vs. The Lizard was created using tracing paper to transpose figural art by Todd McFarlane into an original composition.
I was born in New York City in 1979, and still have childhood memories of playing with my Smurfs color-forms on the living room floor of my parent’s loft apartment in 1981. My family moved to Westchester in 1982, and not long afterwards I contracted a bacterial infection called epiglottitus, and was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night for an emergency tracheotomy. You can still see the scar on my throat. I share all of this because I’ve read that traumatic childhood experience is a primary reason why some people remember their infancy. This would explain my strong memories of being 2-3 years old, which includes details like the layout of rooms, sensory experience, and where the light was coming from. I also remember the artwork. It was big, beautiful, and everywhere.
My mother was a fashion illustrator for Lord & Taylor, before photography and models took over marketing communications. My father also loved to draw and play with creative ideas. The walls of our house featured sketches from their travels around the world, as well as artwork they’d collected. As we got older, portraits of me and my siblings, painted by my mother, came to decorate the walls. This environment gave me a great deal of comfort and curiosity about people’s creative potential.
Despite my father working in advertising, I remember having strict rules against watching too much television. My childhood was largely spent exploring the woods, drawing mazes, and playing with Legos. As the first kid on the bus in the morning and last one off in the afternoon, I lived seemingly far away from my friends (not walking distance) and learned to be self-sufficient with my imagination.
In retrospect, it is amazing to think about how this upbringing instilled a sense of confidence in me. It’s easy for people to point to that background and think, He’s an artist because his parents are. One thing I have learned over the years is that this couldn’t be further from the case. Certainly, I grew up in a privileged creative environment, but artistic talent, passion, and capability is no more exclusive or genetic than athleticism. Yes, it can be passed on, but anyone can learn to be an artist and develop these skills into a wide range of professional and practical applications. In fact, I think we’re all born artists – many choose not to think of themselves that way.
I wanted to share these pictures of my early work to challenge the myth and mystique of the “gifted” artist. I consider myself a self-made individual, and while I owe a great deal to my family, teachers, mentors, friends, and the serendipitous experiences of my life – the truth is that we all are made of the exact same 24 hours we get each day. I look forward to sharing more thoughts, reflections, insights, and examples of the work that continues to inspire me in the years ahead.
