Van Vliet began painting and sculpting at age three.Rogers, John (June 22, 1995). "Captain Beefheart Gaining International Acclaim—for Painting ". AP. His subjects reflected his "obsession" with animals, particularly dinosaurs, fish, African mammals and lemurs. Considered a child prodigy, at age four he was featured with his animal sculptures on a weekly Los Angeles television program. At the age of nine, he won a children's sculpting competition organized for the Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park by a local tutor, Agostinho Rodrigues. Local newspaper cuttings of his junior sculpting achievements can be found reproduced in the Splinters book, included in the Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh boxed CD work, released in 2004. The sprawling park, with its zoo and observatory, had a strong influence on young Vliet, as it was a short distance from his home on Waverly Drive. The track "Observatory Crest" on Bluejeans & Moonbeams reflects this continued interest. A portrait photo of school-age Vliet can be seen on the front of the lyric sheet within the first issue of the US release of Trout Mask Replica.
Van Vliet began painting and sculpting at age threeRogers John (June 22 1995) "Captain Beefheart Gaining International Acclaim—for Painting " AP His subjects reflected his "obsession" with animals particularly dinosaurs fish African mammals and lemurs Considered a child prodigy at age four he was featured with his animal sculptures on a weekly Los Angeles television program At the age of nine he won a children's sculpting competition organized for the Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park by a local tutor Agostinho Rodrigues Local newspaper cuttings of his junior sculpting achievements can be found reproduced in the Splinters book included in the Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh boxed CD work released in 2004 The sprawling park with its zoo and observatory had a strong influence on young Vliet as it was a short distance from his home on Waverly Drive The track "Observatory Crest" on Bluejeans & Moonbeams reflects this continued interest A portrait photo of school-age Vliet can be seen on the front of the lyric sheet within the first issue of the US release of Trout Mask Replica