ADAMS TWP — In 1998, David DeVries had the idea to trace a drawing done by his young niece and turn it into a lifelike painting.

This was the beginning of an art project he would launch in 2005 called “The Monster Engine” in which he transforms children's drawings into colorful creatures and monsters.

A professional artist and illustrator in New Jersey, DeVries' project really took off in 2011 when his website and work went viral.

Since then, artists and students around the world, including those in the Mars School District, have been inspired by DeVries to do similar monster paintings.

On Friday, DeVries visited the school district for an interactive painting workshop with second graders and critiqued artwork done by students at the high school.

In the fall, kindergarten and second grade students at Mars Elementary School were asked to do drawings on white paper, said art teacher Erin Sloane. The drawings were then given to high school art students in grades 9 through 12 who used them as the basis for colorful monster paintings.

On Friday DeVries offered critiques to the students who made them.

“I'm super impressed with your work,” he told them.

He complemented several paintings including one by senior Elena Bilotto.

“Elena has an energy that captures the kid's energy,” he said.

When talking about his life and career, he encouraged the students to find a way to be unique and to explore whatever they are interested in.

“As teenagers and as students you will face pressures as you get older that will make you compromise, but you have to have fun, you can't let that go,” he said.

DeVries is a middle school art teacher and also has worked over the years on advertising, movies, comic books, video games and other media. One highlight of his career was making paintings and designing characters for the Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster at Universal Studios in California.

“The roller coaster actually goes through my painting. It's awesome,” he said.

He also worked on 2014's “The LEGO Movie”for Warner Brothers Animation.

Though his work is often fun, he told the students that the art world is not perfect.

One thing he realized when doing art for the horror, fantasy and comic book genres is that publishers have a high standard for what the female characters look like.

“When you work on stuff like this, the women have to be beautiful,” he said. “It exists, it's annoying, it bothers me, but this is what you have to work with.”

After his presentation, he took time to meet with students and talk about their art.

Though he has been featured on national television and traveled abroad for appearances, DeVries said he doesn't make a lot of money from “The Monster Engine.”

“It's a lot of fun for me to see these kids take it and run. I enjoy it,” he said.

Gabbie Wright, a sophomore, said DeVries complimented the lighting in her painting of a robot.

“It's a great opportunity for him to come to the school and to give us tips,” she said.

Claire Staresinic, a junior, said the program was inspirational for her.

“I'm not even considering going into art, and it was so eye opening. It was really enjoyable,” she said.

DeVries was brought to the school with help from the Mars Planet Foundation Teaching Enrichment Grant, Sloane said. Students and teachers first got the idea to do paintings like DeVries' after seeing some on display at ToonSeum in Pittsburgh, she said.