Simple Virtues: The Monster Engine

I am not a big fan of

"the monster".

Scary.

Weird.

Revolting.

But......

David DeVries

(artist and cartoon creator)

has done something magnificent.

The following is taken from Dave's website.

http://www.linesandcolors.com/2012/01/12/the-monster-engine-dave-devries/

The Monster Engine is a project by illustrator and comics artist Dave DeVries that originated in a simple concept. In looking through the drawings and doodles that his young niece had made in his sketchbooks, he wondered what it might look like if children’s drawings were finished off by an accomplished adult artist.

Since then, he has followed through with numerous renderings made from children’s drawings, primarily of monsters, which Devries, no stranger to rendering monsters in his professional work, has finished off as rendered paintings.

In DeVries’ words: “The process is simple. I project a child’s drawing with an opaque projector, faithfully tracing each line. Applying a combination of logic and instinct, I then paint the image as realistically as I can. My medium is mixed—primarily acrylic, airbrush, and colored pencil.”

The results are wonderful, and often hilarious. DeVries has collected a number of them in a book, along with photos and interviews, and also gives lectures and arranges gallery exhibitions of the drawings.

You can see samples on the Monster Engine website in the Artwork andLarger Works sections. Unfortunately not as many as you might like, but you may be able to find other examples on the web by Googling around.

You can also see DeVries’ professional work on his own website.