The book design & illustrations in Dad’s Toolbox uses hand tools to teach men to be better fathers. The illustrations I did are hand-drawn pencil sketches that appear on the cover and throughout the inside pages to help explain the book’s message. Another fun part of this book design is that I used an actual old ledger book cover for the background.

The publisher is Abiding Fathers which is a men’s ministry based in Dallas, Texas with a true global reach. Their goal is to teach fathers how to be dads.

I was really blessed to have a great dad. His tools were the inspiration for many of the items I drew. The oil can drawing was inspired by his old oil can.

My father didn’t get mad very often but if he did, it was usually because he couldn’t find a tool.

His favorite curse word was “nuts” – as in “AH NUTS!” as he slammed cabinets and drawers in the garage looking for something that eluded him.

He wasn’t a cusser.

I hope I was at least half the dad that he was and that I raised my sons to be even better fathers.