Pop art: Father turns his young children's line drawings into brilliant illustrations during monthly business trips away
- Fred Giovannitti colours in his children's drawings when on the road for days every month
- Completed versions have led to calls for him to publish drawings in a book
- Artist says children are 'besides themselves seeing their work online'
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For any father, time spent on the road away from his children is difficult.
Fred Giovannitti, who spends a third of the year away, wanted to make sure he had a shared hobby with Freddie, aged eight, and Sofia, six, to make sure they stayed close.
So the inventor and part-time tattoo artist from Delaware took to colouring in his children's drawings when had to work away from home, and he has transformed them into amazing works of art.
Fred Giovannitti colours in his children's drawings to pass the time on flights: he explains on his website that this was the second drawing from his daughter, and the first he remembered to take before and after photographs
Mr Giovannitti explained that he invents industrial equipment designed to protect the world's marine ecosystems.
In order to pay for this, he travels 10 days every month to Las Vegas, where he owns a high-end tattoo studio.
'My children like to draw me pictures for my trip so I can keep them close to me while I'm away,' he said.
Frankstein's monster?: Mr Giovannitti says on his third trip his son wanted to get in on the act, so they both drew him something - on 8X10 paper
Elephant boy: Fred Giovannitti explains that his daughter, aged five at the time, drew an 'elephant boy' for him, telling her that it tells her things in her dreams. 'I thought this would be the neatest way to color it at the time'
'One day my daughter didn't get around to making me a picture in time, so right before I left she quickly drew me a line drawing to take with me.
'On my flights to work I keep a sketchbook to draw on the plane and have coloured pencils handy. This one particular trip, instead of drawing in my sketchbook, I decided to colour in my daughter's drawing in the manner in which I would colour my own work.
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Share'When I returned home, I gave her the picture and she loved it so much that we started a tradition of me collaborating with both of my children each month on drawings to be coloured by me on my trips.'
Lady in Red: Giovannitti wrote on his website: 'I got in trouble for this one. Apparently she wasn't supposed to have a red shirt. I had to claim artistic license with my contribution and that was that'
Special commission: this effort was a request from the children's mother who wanted them to draw some chickens for her birthday to decorate the kitchen
His pictures have now become a hit online after he shared them on his Reddit account, drawing an overwhelmingly positive response.
He explained on his website that he started the process two years ago, and after a few months he asked his daughter to draw him another one. His son subsequently wanted to be included.
Halloween pumpkin: Giovannitti explained that he sometimes forgets to take a 'before' picture because just starts colouring - like this scary effort from son
As well as using colouring pencils on the flights, Mr Giovannitti has also tried filling the drawings in using digital technology, but following the comments online, he will now stick to pencils.
Alien with a scar: he tried colouring in some of the sketches digitally - in this case an iPad. However after online feedback, he says that he will stick primarily with penciles from now on
This coloured drawing of an owl was the first time Fred Giovannitti forgot his pencils on his flight, so he experimented with his iPad
Cats in love: a third drawing from his iPad creations. He has decided to stick with pencils however, explaining on Reddit: 'The overwhelming positive response towards the pencils have convinced me to stick to them'
Now his newfound fame has led to calls for him to publish the illustrations in a book from online fans - as well as his wife.
'Personally I’ve just been doing this because the kids love it, and I love collaborating with them and seeing their faces when the pictures go in a frame and up on the wall,' he said.
Friendly bat: Mr Giovannitti explains that sometimes his children forget to give him drawings so he digs old pictures out of his camera, such as this one
After his drawings became known to a wider audience, he wrote on his Facebook account: 'Dangit. I guess my Reddit account is public now. But I gotta tell ya, the kids are besides themselves seeing their work online.'
Tattoo artist Fred Giovannitti (r) and the image that started it all. He writes on his website: 'I did this one a few years back on a whim to see how it would look if I colored one of my 4 yr old daughter's pictures. This is the one that started it all for me.' He started taking before and after pictures after this one
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