Eye Candy: The Monster Engine

“The Monster Engine” is the work of Dave Devries who takes children’s drawings of monsters and illustrates them as full-colored professional paintings. This is one of those ideas that is so simple yet so brilliant that it’s a wonder it hasnt’ been done before. Kids, whose imaginations are less bound to convention than anyone else, will of course have the most fascinating and outlandish ideas about monsters.

Devries has collected some of his work into a book that combines his painting with the original children’s drawing and an interview with the child artist. Additionally, he does lectures and demonstrations at schools, asking children to draw monsters then selecting one to paint in front of all the children.

I really like the lecture aspect of “The Monster Engine,” as it’s both interactive and creative for the children, as well as encouraging. After all, the children are creating the nucleus of the final product and Devries does a good job of staying true to their original art. Additionally, I’m sure that Devries makes the painting part of his demonstration look easy so that all the children are inspired to try their hands.

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