Spotty's Soft Steps

The Brief: A Deer. He lives in the forest. He's in a clearing. The sun is bright. It's in the summertime. He's just got a new pair of antlers. The ground is wet and soft. His hooves are quiet. He waits to hear another one of his kind. Deers live in a pack. He has a spotted back. When he hears a predator he'll jump and leap. Mountain Lions strike softly and quietly.

The Critique: I like it because his antlers are in a funny shape and he has a blaze on his forehead.

Job Status: Approved

Additional Comments: TAD has realized that the best way to get something done right is to do it herself.

Secrets of the Tooth Fairy, REVEALED

The Brief: I have some questions for the tooth fairy:
   1) People think you're small.  Are you small?
   2) Do you wear clothes?
   3) What's your name?
   4) Are you really a fairy or just a magic person?
   That's it.  Here's a drawing of me holding this note and a tooth.


The Response from the Tooth Fairy:



The Critique: I'm beginning to wonder if parents might leave these things...
Job Status: Under Review
The Backstory: TAD lost a tooth recently

Ice Cream and Frenchy on the Promenade

The Brief: A dog jumping up on me


The Critique: I like it! I want two scoops of ice cream. No, three scoops!
Job Status: Approved
Additional Comments: Daddy some dogs even don't have tails! They only have buttholes!
Artist's Note: Tiny A.D. was electrified by this idea and drew 4 versions of it. Below is my favorite.  This was done a while ago and is one of the pieces from the book that I hadn't posted yet:

More Silly Dinosaurs

The Brief: More Silly Dinosaurs



The Critique: Does pterodactyls has feathers? I don't think so. Mine is the best. I'm a bit more talented. And I've been practicing.
Job Status: Rejected. Art director to use her own piece, below



Artist's Note: I donated the original Silly Dinosaurs to the school auction so TAD asked me to make a replacement, but I agree hers is quite good.  Those are brachiosauruses, of course, but they also have blowholes like whales.

update: see the comments below - apparently TAD didn't make up those blow holes herself -- scientists did!

Sneaking Away

The Brief: A Brachiosaurus sneaking away from a T-Rex



The Critique: Brachiosauruses don't have spikes! I like how you made his teeth yellow - because do dinosaurs brush their teeth? I don't think so! I think you should do some of her babies sneaking away too.

Job Status: Approved
Additional Comments: I want to do a version!

Here's my version (that's the tip of the guy sneaking off's tail)

Flying Chital - A Collaboration

The Brief: Flying Chital


Artist's Note: Chital are apparently a kind of deer. These ones fly.
This is a new kind of collaboration for us - I scanned in her drawing, let her color it in photoshop and then put my background on it (it's also the background for the TAD twitter feed).

The Critique: I asked her what words we should add -- meaning what we should say about it on the blog:

"I don't think we should put words on it. It's my picture and I get to take care of it and decide if there should be words."

"No, I  mean what do you think about the picture? The words are just for the computer - not on the picture itself."

"Oh. Ok... I didn't want there to be volcanoes.  I just wanted there to be snow mountains.  So Dadda can you please erase the volcanoes and I'm going to see how it looks with the lava gone and the smoke gone?"

Job Status: Approved anyway

Collaboration: T-Rex, Superdog and Girl

The Brief: I'll show you. I'll draw it and you copy [fig. 1]. It's a T-Rex trying to eat a girl.
The Critique (on sketch, after TAD's, no longer extant): I hate that girl. You erase her and I'll draw her as I like her. I want her to be brave. She's not scared of one thing cause that's me and I'm not scared.
The Critique (on sketch, improved by Art Director [fig. 2]): I think my drawing's a little bit better than yours.
Comments on collaborative painting, above: That's my bag, and that's a puppy in it. I'm not noticing the dinosaur, but the superdog [note the 3 eyes] knows what to do. She bites it on the neck and kicks it into a lava pool -- that's the volcano.
Job Status: Approved

A Crocodile Swimming to Shore

The Brief: A Crocodile Swimming to Shore

The Critique: That’s not a crocodile, that’s a caiman! I like the noses - they’re called nostrils. How do you like mine? Do you like yours? I hate yours. Job Status: Rejected Comments on her own piece (right): That’s a caiman, that’s an American alligator, that’s an alligator and that’s a crocodile. They’re all kinds of reptiles. They’re all a family of crocodiles but that one is looking for his babies.

3D!: If you can view cross-eyed 3d images click below for a bigger version
(But I'm not responsible if your eyes get stuck that way!)

Purple Gatorade and Uger

The Brief: Purple Gatorade [The Tiny Art Director's Fish] The Critique: Why did you draw Uger? [Her sister's fish] I hate Uger! Why is his eyes like that? It looks like he's mad. What are you writing down? Grownups never lie, right Daddy? Dad, that doesn't look like Purple Gatorade. Only mine looks like Purple Gatorade. You're going to scan it, and then when you're done with it, it's going to be scrappled up and thrown in the garbage. And then mine will be our final picture. Job Status: Rejected Our Final Picture: at right