David DeVries is an artist. Sure, anyone can be an "artist" if they draw a couple of Star Wars characters or get a job putting a face stamp on a Jesse James mistress, but DeVries has a secret weapon that they don't have: an army of child prodigies.

DeVries, under the banner of the Web site The Monster Engine, encourages kids to draw pictures like the one seen here (left); he then recreates them with more detail, 3D depth, and occasionally some skulls and shiny lights in the background as a painting (right). He's like Freddy Krueger, if Freddy broke into your dreams to tap into your deepest artistic impulses.

Keep reading to see his masterworks and check out some exclusive quotes from DeVries about this 12-year-long project.

"People who think that teaching children is like giving up are really misguided," DeVries tells Asylum. "Kids are so free and self-possessed that you can't help but be impressed. Frankly, the secret is that you are learning from the students -- forget that and you go stale, and then the kids resent you for it. Nothing makes students feel more powerless than being in the presence of a teacher who has all the answers."

DeVries, who says he can't do The Monster Engine full time because of his "real-life" gigs as an art director and illustrator for Blueshift, an online graphic novel with "dark themes and visuals." He admits that The Monster Engine is itself quite dark, but Blueshift allows him to go places that would normally be too frightening for kids, like a sleepover at the Vatican. (Kidding.)

As if that's not enough to deal with, he's also working on a couple of traditional gallery shows, including one that involves creating paintings in record time. "Working on the spot requires viewer patience that only art students possess," DeVries says. "A decent demonstration painting takes three to five hours to complete, and my really top-notch illustrations take 30 to 100 hours, depending on size. During a demonstration, the average viewer will drop off and walk away if you don't entertain them."

Rather than running them through a Warhol-esque gauntlet, DeVries offers audiences the rushed-through 25-minute version of his project, with the results, he admits, not "detailed enough for my tastes."

As for following up on this popular series, DeVries says he'd love to do more books but he's too busy for now. In the meantime, he'll keep defending his work from critics who wonder if kids like it if you "improve" upon their work: "Mama didn't raise no fool. I've been humbled by every drawing I get, but some just beat the crap out of me. Looking those images over is like staring down Mike Tyson in a bar -- you know if you tussle with it, you'll get your head handed to you."