25 November 2023 , 14:29
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A woman who let her son scribble on walls as a baby believes it turned him into a talented artist - at just four years old.
Young Santiago Daniel Peña García started drawing when he was just ten months old. The tot would scrawl around the family home and draw on walls in every room. Mum Adianée Peña García never stopped him and the four-year-old now paints every day and produces new pieces daily.
Some of his paintings even include a version of Starry Night by Van Gogh. Adianée said: "I had just bought some coloured pencils and I didn't want him to ruin them, so I got him crayons.
Young Santiago Daniel Peña García started drawing when he was just ten months old. (Adianée Peña García / SWNS)"He started to draw all over the walls but he seemed so happy that I couldn't stop him." Santiago Daniel's drawings were such that the family even had to re-paint the apartment before they moved out. But Adianée thinks it was worth because she raised an artist.
Santiago Daniel's scribblings weren't everybody's tastes and Alianée's brother, who lived with the pair at the time, didn't like it. Alianée said: "At the beginning, my brother didn't like it because it wasn't our house, but then he saw how much Santiago Daniel enjoyed it.
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"He basically painted every wall in the house. Our bedroom, the hallway, the kitchen and the living room were covered. The landlord saw it too when we left and he looked so shocked, but we were already painting over it so it was fine."
Some of his paintings even include a version of Starry Night by Van Gogh (Adianée Peña García / SWNS)
Alianée believes that stopping the tot would have stifled his passion for art and says other parents should follow her lead. (Adianée Peña García / SWNS)Alianée believes that stopping the tot would have stifled his passion for art and says other parents should follow her lead. She said: "I think if he had done it and I had taken away his crayons it would have killed his passion for creativity. I've seen parents do that and their kids just don't enjoy painting like Santiago Daniel does. I would recommend other parents let their children be.
"They probably won't all be artists because they scribbled on the walls but they shouldn't limit something that could help their growth, their creativity. They shouldn't see it as naughty thing. Walls can be re-painted and kids are kids."
The little boy now dedicates at least 40 minutes a day to painting. His inspiration comes from cartoons and his favourite things to paint are The PJ Masks, Disney's Luca or Mickey Mouse.
Adianée said: "He will sit watching TV and then say: 'mum, I want to paint that! It depends on the painting but it varies from 40 minutes to an hour or so. I don't make him do anything so he gets distracted and goes to play with something else and then comes back later. He's only four."