Mix-Up Monster Sketches

Crayola's "Color and Stamp Mix-Up Monsters" original box art. Hand painted with gouache on bristol board.

This is a product I designed and illustrated for Crayola quite a few years ago. It's one that I really like and had a lot of fun working on. Color and Stamp Mix-Up Monsters was small rackable set of eight high quality rubber stamps featuring zany monsters with interchangeable heads and bodies. The set also came with four washable markers and two background sheets for stamping.

Everything was hand illustrated. The box art above was done in gouache on bristol board. The inkings for the stamps were probably done on vellum with brush or maybe an art pen. I can't remember, and they don't appear to be in my possession anymore.

The four original pencil sketches used in designing Crayola's "Color and Stamp Mix-Up Monsters".

The set was always planned with four characters, but I designed five of them. Surprised I didn't have to design twelve! Depending upon the project,  I either do one design or quite a few. All the extra concept work is used for market testing or simply to have a variety to pick from. And, of course, my favorite character, a burly-looking pig monster with horns and fur was not chosen. *Insert sad-faced emoji here. Oh, well, seems that's the way it goes! Most of the characters made it through with few changes. You can see the original sketches below. I also designed and illustrated a matching set called Color and Stamp Dinosaurs.

Don't confuse  Crayola's  Color and Stamp Mix-Up Monsters with Crayola's Monster Mix-Ups, a big rubbing plate kit. I designed that one too and will be posting it for Halloween.

To see more of my art, please visit my website.

Unused pig-nosed character and original sketch of lizard character prior to changes.