Dan Smith first came to Kincheloe Elementary School in 1977, fresh out of college. He proceeded to spend the next 13 years teaching third- and fourth-grade students at the school, before leaving the district to become a principal in Watervliet.

A single year later, Smith returned to his old building, this time as principal. He held this position for another 15, before deciding to step away from education and pursue another passion of his.

Last week, Smith came back the halls of Kincheloe, in a third role: as a storybook illustrator.

Smith came to the building to donate a copy of the book he has spent the last year creating artwork for, Mara Mae MacKay’s “Hunter’s Quest.” He handed the book over to Kristi Wagner, the school’s library aide, in order to show his appreciation for all his former staff contributed to his efforts over the last several years, he said.

“I think it was kind of surprising to them, since it’s a totally different to see me in” Smith said. “They were very warm, and very pleased to see me there.”

The book, which is aimed toward children between the ages of 7 and 10 years old, is the second in a series that MacKay has written, that focuses heavily on Michigan history. This particular story is based in southwest Michigan, around the Kalamazoo area, Smith said.

“It doesn’t feature a comprehensive history, but a touch here or there to interest kids,” Smith said.

The former educator, who currently lives in Paw Paw with his wife, Laura, become involved in the project after winning an online contest to become the illustrator for the book in the fall of 2012, he said. He beat out several other artists to earn the position, earning the most amount of votes for his five submitted watercolors on Facebook.

“Lots of people supported people in Dowagiac supported me, including some of my old students and former staff,” he said. “I also had some support from teachers in different states, who I’ve been friends with over the years.”

Smith has been creating watercolor paintings for the past 12 years, and retired at a younger age than most educators in order to devote more time to his new craft, he said. For the self-taught artist, the project has helped him honed his skills, as he created around 22 different illustrations over the last 12 months.

“I spent a lot of time in the drawing phase,” he said. “I probably spent two to three eight-hour work days working on the drawing before actually painting each illustration. One of things I’ve learned is that no amount of paint fixes a bad drawing, so I had to get that right first.”

Smith and MacKay collaborated quite frequently throughout the creation of the book, with the former fleshing out the ideas provided to by the latter.

“I was really pleased with how the book finally came out,” Smith said. “The illustrations turned out to be very true to what the paintings actually look like in real life.”

“Hunter’s Quest” officially hits bookshelves this weekend. Smith will be signing books during a release party held at Kazoo Books in Kalamazoo on Saturday, Sept. 20.

“I’m humbled to be a part of the project,” Smith said. “Lots of illustrators could have done as good or better job than I, so I’m thankful for the awesome opportunity to work on it. I feel honored.”