What would a child's drawing look like if it were painted realistically? Here's your answer:



The little people of this world are more creative, imaginative and artistic than we think. And illustrator Dave DeVries has set to expose their creative talents through his Monster Engine project.

In his own words:

It began at the Jersey Shore in 1998, where my niece Jessica often filled my sketchbook with doodles. While I stared at them, I wondered if color, texture and shading could be applied for a 3D effect. As a painter, I made cartoons look three dimensional every day for the likes of Marvel and DC comics, so why couldn’t I apply those same techniques to a kid’s drawing? That was it… no research, no years of toil, just the curiosity of seeing Jessica’s drawings come to life.



The result was a 48-page book of inspiring illustrations. For each drawing, the artist projects the original child's drawing with an opaque projector and traces each line. He then paints them as realistically as possibly with a bit of his own creative input. The theme is monsters and Dave DeVries interviews each kid after they've created the drawing and asks them to explain the concept so he has an understanding of their thinking and vision.

Apparently now the artist is being swamped by requests from people asking him to turn their children's drawings in to a painting. It's a nice idea. I can't decide which is my favorite. Each one is unique and some of them are surprisingly eerie and dark for an innocent child's imagination... or maybe that's his interpretation and input coming into play.

It would also be interesting to know what the children thought of their drawings turned into paintings.

Here are a few more:







Here's link to artist's website for more info: themonsterengine.com