A Drawing A Day: One Grandfather's Gift For His Grandsons

For a grandparent, the relationship with their grandchildren is a chance to relive all the best parts of parenthood.

The love that they feel for their grandchildren can motivate them to do great things for the children’s enjoyment and benefit.

For 75 year old grandpa, Chanjae Lee, that inspiration turned into an incredible project that is archived online for his grandsons to always enjoy.

The project started when Mr. Lee’s grandson’s moved back to their native Korea while he and his wife remained in Brazil. With them gone, he was left without his job of driving the boys to school and without a connection to them.

His son Ji Lee, who lives in New York and has his own son (Mr. Lee’s youngest grandson), suggested that he pick up art –– a hobby that he had put aside years before in favor of working to support his family.

With the help of his mother, Ji was able to convince his father to begin making art again and taught him how to use Instagram in order to upload his images for the boys to view around the world.

From there, Mr. Lee’s project Drawings For My Grandchildren was born and has since gone viral because of its daily updates of colorful and personal artwork done in Mr. Lee’s own style and the accompanying stories by his wife.

 

Kids are going to school together. "Hold my hand tight." Dad and the big brother are making the little one feel safe. #drawing #watercolor #kids #school #dad #bigbrother Crianças indo para escola. "É preciso dar as mãos" na hora de atravessar a rua. O pai e o irmão mais velho dão a segurança. #criança #paraescola #atravessararua #paieirmao #seguranca 학교 가는 아이들. 큰길을 건너 가며 "손 ê¼­ 잡아야 í•´" . ë“ ë“ í•œ ì•„ë¹ , ë“ ë“ í•œ 형 #등교길 #아빠와형 #꼭잡은손

A photo posted by Chan Jae Lee (@drawings_for_my_grandchildren) on Dec 7, 2016 at 8:12am PST

 

 

It's the falling leaves season in Korea, right? It's a beautiful season when many green leaves are changing their colors and in the end they become more beautiful than flowers. In Brazil, the purple and yellow flowers have gone and now it's a summer time with lots of green. #drawing #watercolor #crepas #korea #leaves #colors #flowers #brazil Na Coreia agora é a estação das folhas. As folhas verdes se transformam num colorido fazendo da sua estação mais linda que a das flores. Aqui no Brasil as flores roxas e amarelas já caíram e estamos entrando no verão rico pelo verde de suas folhas. 한국은 단풍의 계절이지? 초록색 잎새들이 갖가지 색으로 변해 마침내 꽃보다 아름답다는 계절, 여기 브라질은 보라색 노란색 꽃들은 다 지고 푸른 잎이 무성한 여름으로 들어간다.

A photo posted by Chan Jae Lee (@drawings_for_my_grandchildren) on Nov 21, 2016 at 9:01am PST

 

 

Baby is sleeping. Astro is in a deep sleep. Peace is embracing Astro. #drawing #watercolor O bebê está dormindo. O Astro está dormindo tranquilamente. A paz está abraçando o pequeno Astro. 애기가 잔다. 아로가 곤하게 자고 있다. 평화가 아로를 감싸준다.

A photo posted by Chan Jae Lee (@drawings_for_my_grandchildren) on Oct 23, 2016 at 9:53am PDT

 

 

Today, October 12 is Children's Day is Brazil. Weather is beautiful today. Instead of once a year, it should be commemorated 365 days. Boys, my heart is heavy. #drawing #watercolor #childrensday #brazil Hoje, dia 12 de outubro, é o dia das crianças no Brasil. Fazia tempo que não fazia um dia tão bonito assim. O dia das crianças não deveria ser apenas 1 dia ao ano e sim 365dias. Sinto um pesar no coração... 오늘 10ì›” 12일은 브라질의 어린이날. 오랜만에 날씨도 좋았다. 하루가 ì•„ë‹Œ 1ë…„ 365일이 어린이들의 날이어야 하는데 .....얘들아, 마음이 무겁구나.

A photo posted by Chan Jae Lee (@drawings_for_my_grandchildren) on Oct 13, 2016 at 10:51am PDT

 

 

Arthur, what are you thinking? Brazilian friends? The time when you used to play hide and seek in grandpa's house? When I see you in deep thoughts, I realize you're no longer a child. #drawing #watercolor #brazilian Arthur, o que você está pensando? Em seus amigos do Brasil? No dia em que brincamos de pega-pega? Vendo você assim mergulhado em algum pensamento profundo, sinto que você já deixou de ser criança. 알뚤! ë„Œ 무엇을 생각하고 있니? 브라질의 친구들? 할아버지 집에서 숨바꼭질 하던 ë‚ ? 깊은 생각에 빠진 네 모습에서 이제 네가 어린아이가 ì•„ë‹Œ 것을 느낀단다.

A photo posted by Chan Jae Lee (@drawings_for_my_grandchildren) on Jun 28, 2016 at 1:28pm PDT

 

 

Arthur, Allan, your mom went to a giant rose garden in Buchon, Seoul and sent many beautifu photos to us. So I drew these roses from one of the photos. Would you draw some roses too? You used to draw a lot in Brazil, remember? #drawing # watercolor #roses #giantgarden #buchon A mãe de vocês foi a um rosário enorme. Passei para o papel um das fotos que ela nos enviou das rosas. Por que vocês não o fazem também? Vocês costumavam desenhar bem quando moravam no Brasil. #rosarioenorme 얘들아, 부천시에 있는 <백만 송이> 장미원에 갔었다고? 너희 엄마가 찍어 보낸 꽃송이를 화선지에다 옮겨 놓았다. 너희도 그려보거라. 여기선 늘 그림을 그렸었잖니? #장미원 #부천시 #백만송이장미원 #화선지

A photo posted by Chan Jae Lee (@drawings_for_my_grandchildren) on May 27, 2016 at 9:07am PDT

 

Mr. Lee’s son and daughter translate the stories into English and Portuguese along with the texts’ original Korean. The account has gone viral with 152K followers and growing.

It is not uncommon for older generations to feel the loss of purpose as they age, but Mr. Lee has taken that feeling and turned it into something that his grandchildren can always cherish.