Kids portraits

I was dropping Maja off at school the other day and saw these fantastic portraits up on the wall by a classroom. It's like Picasso said "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up". It humbles me to see the creative energy oozing out of kids. I feel like I spend my life refining my craft and sometimes in the refinement I loose the essence of what was there when I started. When I look a children's art I see that essence. There is a spirit of each person coming through in a simple, clear way. I love the idea of kids doing their own self portraits, it makes me think- Why not do a self portrait every year, just like we take a school picture? Who knows, it's never too late to start.
Sometimes I will study how I want my characters to look. Do I want big eyes, small noses, and so on. It's fun to experiment with features. When I look at these portraits I see the way children make choices. How they too are trying out new noses and eyes and playing with with all kind of proportions. 
These are just a few portraits. I'll post more soon.