Paul Schoeni, a visual development artist at DreamWorks Feature Animation, knows something about kids and it’s not just because he’s spent the last 15 years working on animated films for children. He’s a father of four—Ashlyn (16), Leah (14), Brandon (12) and Carter (9). So it doesn’t come as a surprise that when we received orders to shelter at home, he began thinking about ways to help young adults and children cope in a positive way. That’s why he and a group of about 35 artists created the Good Things Coloring Book.
Why did you decide to start this project to create a coloring book? It goes without saying that these are crazy difficult times that we are all living through. The news cycle can be both alarming and depressing for all of us, and unfortunately there’s a tendency towards negativity and pessimism. Because of that, I wanted to show kids that there is still a lot of good in the world, and it’s actually all around us. So many people have risen to occasion and are serving others and showing kindness. By creating a coloring book that highlights these good things, it puts it into a perfect format for kids that lets them focus on the positive while doing something fun. And it’s something that parents and kids can do together and talk about.
How long did it take to compile it? From the initial idea to the finished product, it took about three weeks to complete. After the idea came to me, I took a few days to think it through and make a plan of how to pull it off. I’ve gotten to know a lot of artists over the years through work and through social media, so I sent out a mass email to them and proposed the idea. I know people are busy and stressed, so I tried not to put any pressure on them but I wanted to test the waters to see what the interest level was. The response I got back was huge! So many of them responded back quickly and enthusiastically, it was so heartening to receive their responses. They were very generous with their time and talents. This was a project that needed a pretty quick turnaround, so I gave the artists a two week deadline and they were great about sticking to that. Once all the artwork came in, I took a few days to compile everything into a PDF and then released it!
Did you discuss themes or was it pretty much submit what you want? When I sent the initial email to everyone, I suggested that they look for good things happening in their home or to look for news articles of something that impressed them and to draw what they wanted to. I created a Google Doc that everyone could access, and so we all kept track of who was doing what in that way. I told them that a little bit of overlap in themes was totally fine, but I wanted to try and avoid duplication of the exact same news article.
.png)