Spanish baby started making abstract drawings at 5 months, had paintings sold in Marbella and set a Guinness record at 10 months

At five months old, John Christian Caldeira Weibull was already making pictures, although nobody could have known where those first marks would lead. Given an LED drawing tablet by his parents in Spain, the baby began moving across its surface and producing colourful abstract patterns. What might easily have been dismissed as a passing childhood curiosity became a regular activity, with John continuing to create new drawings as he grew. Within months, his work had moved beyond the tablet and into the physical world of exhibitions.On 19 October 2024, some of his paintings were displayed in Marbella, where several were sold. By then, John was still less than a year old. At 10 months and seven days, he also received a Guinness World Records title as the youngest male artist, making his unusually early start in art officially recognised.John's artistic journey started with a simple tabletJohn's introduction to drawing was remarkably simple. At five months old, he was given an LED drawing tablet by his mother and father. There was no formal training involved and, at that age, there could hardly have been any deliberate artistic technique in the usual sense.He began making marks anyway. The drawings developed into abstract compositions as John continued using the tablet. For his parents, watching their baby create these shapes was enough to keep encouraging him. What began as an ordinary object placed in front of a curious infant gradually produced a collection of drawings that could be kept and displayed.The early work also gave the family something tangible to look back on. Rather than treating the drawings as nothing more than a baby's pastime, they recognised that John's repeated interest in making them was unusual.His baby drawings were soon displayed in MarbellaThe move from a drawing tablet to physical artwork gave John's work a different setting. His abstract pieces could be presented as paintings rather than simply viewed as marks made during play.That distinction became important when one of his works was shown publicly in Marbella, Spain. On 19 October 2024, John's artwork appeared at an art exhibition there, where several of his paintings were sold.It was an unexpected progression for someone who had only recently started experimenting with a drawing surface. The exhibition also meant that the work was no longer confined to the family home. Other people were able to see the pieces, and some chose to buy them.For a child only months old, the circumstances were unusual, but the timeline remained straightforward: a drawing tablet at five months, a growing body of abstract work and then a public exhibition before his first birthday.John set a Guinness record before his first birthdayJohn's record arrived when he was just 10 months and seven days old. Guinness World Records recognised him as the youngest artist (male).The timing is what makes the record particularly striking. He had not spent years developing a conventional artistic practice before receiving the title. His creative activity had begun only months earlier, when his parents first placed the LED tablet in his hands.By then, however, there was a documented progression from those first experiments to artwork that had been exhibited and sold. The Guinness recognition placed his early drawings into a very different category, giving an official record to an activity that had started as an experiment at home.John's paintings went on sale while he was still an infantThe exhibition in Marbella took place on 19 October 2024, giving John's work a public platform while he was still an infant. Paintings were sold during the exhibition, adding a commercial element to an artistic practice that had begun with a baby simply making marks on a tablet.There is little need to attach an elaborate explanation to the drawings. They are abstract works, and their origin is unusual enough on its own. John was not following lessons or reproducing established forms. His parents had provided the tablet, and he developed his own way of interacting with it.The sequence of events is perhaps the most distinctive part of the story. John began drawing at five months. Several months later, his paintings had appeared at an exhibition in Marbella. At 10 months and seven days, he had a Guinness World Records title to his name.John's first artworks came before his first birthdayFor most children, making pictures becomes part of growing up and gradually changes as their ability to control a pencil, brush or other tool improves. John's story began much earlier, before those familiar stages of childhood drawing had even started.His first medium was an LED tablet rather than paper. His earliest pictures were abstract rather than recognisable scenes. And before he reached his first birthday, examples of his work had already been displayed in public.By 10 months and seven days, the Spanish baby had moved from making his first abstract drawings at home to holding a world record for the youngest male artist. It was a remarkably short journey from a glowing drawing screen to an entry in the Guinness World Records book.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.