Long-time friend of DA, Mr. Jess Smart Smiley is making a children's book he's quite passionate about. It's not often that I post about Kickstarter type projects, but I couldn't help falling in love with his cute monsters and playful scenes. The book is titled, Rumpus on the Run, and is Kickstarter's first "look-n-find" book.

Lucky for us, Jess passed along some of his sketches from over the years. Take a look below and make sure to check out his Kickstarter page, the rewards especially, he's even offering to draw some of you right into the book ;)

We've just got word that our lovely friend Sara Barnes (of Brown Paper Bag) and cohort Lisa Perrin teamed up on a new venture, named Píccolo, a collaborative illustration project dedicated to the small things.

To get it off the ground, they've launched a Kickstarter campaign that could use your support to reach its goal, and in return, you get one print (or all four) commissioned for their first project, by the illustrated talents of Yelena Bryksenkova, Michael C. Hsiung, Philipp Dornbierer and Paige Vickers.

In fact, I'll let them tell you all about it, watch the cute, stop-motion video below and then click on over to Kickstarter to help make this project a reality.