MADISON, Wis. — A local artist teamed up with staff at University of Wisconsin — Madison to create coloring pages for kids that deal with topics related to COVID-19.
Will Santino [MFA ’18], an artist, cartoonist, illustrator and author, created the pages with Gavin Luter and Lori Deprete-Brown at UW Madison to help keep kids busy at home by engaging in a fun activity.
Santino has published two illustrated books and is currently working on a fantasy novel for young adults. Santino also works part time for a white board animation studio called TruScribe based in Fitchburg.
Santino, Luter and Deprete-Brown said the coloring pages project is part of an intitiave called Do Your Part.
“I’ve always made fantastical art that appeals to kids,” Santino said. “I can only imagine how difficult and confusing this is for young kids, for whom concepts like microscopic viruses, flattening the curve, etc, are totally over their heads. I wanted to make something that could engage kids with humor, fun, and uplifting messages, as well as whimsical and magical art. Many of my friends are parents, and their struggles to keep their kids busy and positively engaged while trying to work from home sound rough, so the pages are for the parents just as much for the kids. ”