I love this Instagram page—”Drawings by Trent,” which features Trent Landreth, an artist who creates drawings of funny animals typically holding things or doing things. Trent also has autism, and he and his family use his social media and his drawings to raise awareness about autism, to help Trent share his art, and to raise money for his care. On the “Drawings by Trent” website, his family explains:
We’re the Landreth (and Moore) family from El Dorado, KS. Drawings by Trent started in 2016 after a video of Trent drawing animals on our trampoline with sidewalk chalk upside down went viral on Facebook. If you don’t already know about Trent, he is an individual with level 3 Autism Spectrum Disorder with no conversational speech and an incredible artistic ability but no voice to share his gift with the world. In 2021 after not being able to do in person events due to COVID, we were ready to give up on this dream for Trent. Then Trent’s mom started a TikTok to highlight Trent’s drawings and share about a podcast we had begun called Used Up Pens (we share about our lives, Trent’s diagnosis, his struggles and successes and how we as a family dealt with the challenges of living with a sometimes violent Trent). It took 19 weeks for Trent’s TikTok to reach 1 million followers! Since then his social media following has grown to over 2.6 million and continues to grow steadily with many videos with over views in the millions, including one – bear eating pizza drawings video – with over 53 million views alone!
Drawings by Trent exists to fund Trent’s future and make sure that long after we, his parents, are gone he is able to help provide for his own needs. Along the way we want to help encourage other families who are struggling with a diagnosis or other challenges, we want to educate communities on the important role that individuals of every skill level can play and we want to inspire everyone through Trent’s unmistakable art and infectious attitude.
Here are some examples of Trent’s drawings. Here’s his recent Fourth of July drawing – it’s a chicken with fireworks in the background. And here he is drawing some requests (you can request drawings from Trent, which he may or may not choose to do, and you can also buy what he creates), which include a “shark playing hockey,” a “dog playing guitar,” and a “roaring T-Rex.”
I really dig his drawings—the animals always have goofy, toothy smiles and look like they’re having fun. Thanks, Trent, for sharing your gifts with the world! To see more of Trent’s art, follow him on Instagram.
This content was originally published here.