Hidden Clues in Pictures

Al Hirschfeld was born in St. Louis on the first day of summer, June 21st, 1903. When he was eleven years old, an art teacher informed his mother, "There is nothing more we can teach him in St. Louis." The family quickly moved to New York City where Al would have more opportunities to share his talents.

In 1943, Hirschfeld married one of Europe's most famous actresses, Dolly Haas. They had a daughter who they named Nina. Al loved hiding her name at least once in each of his drawings. The number of NINAs hidden in his pictures is shown by an Arabic numeral to the right of his signature. Can you find any in the picture below of The Three Stooges?

Have you ever hidden a word, a clue or a symbol in your artwork? The illustrator of Chasing Vermeer, Brett Hellquist, said the most challenging part of creating Chasing Vermeer was, "finding a way to hide the pentomino code in the pictures." Share your thoughts about hidden clues and meanings in pictures.

What is a coincidence?

Coincidences fascinate us! Have you ever heard the story of the twins who were put up for adoption at birth only to follow parallel lives? They grow up playing the same sports, liking the same foods, finding a job in the same field, driving the same car????

I had what I would call a coincidence just as I started to read our book Chasing Vermeer. I was waiting in the airport in Texas for my plane to arrive and I had this amazing craving for M & M's. As I was nibbling my M & M's and reading the first few pages of Chasing Vermeer, I noticed how many blue M & M's were in the bag- I just thought to myself- that's odd? You never usually see a lot of one color and only a few of another in a bag of M & M's. It was not until a few hours later when I was to the part in the book where Petra and Calder were stashing their blue M & M's as part of a "mystery ritual" that I chuckled and remembered all of those blue M & M's I had eaten earlier!

Do you have a personal coincidence to share? Click on comments below to add your reply.