The assignment was to make a sketch to accompany a story of triumph and perseverance as told by Hellen Ndutah. As I came to understand her story - one based in Kenya, and involving leading safari tours in a male dominated landscape - images of animals, Acacia trees, and Masai tribesmen swam around my head. I struggled with the fact that straight away, my imagination went to the most cliche images of East Africa when I knew I could better communicate her story with out yielding to any.
I have no experience in illustration, and must admit I felt conflicted about making work that was true to my sensibility and pursuit versus what might work better for the over all idea of the book. In the end I was able to find that Hellen's face was what told her story the best. When I was studying her features, I noticed how much energy lay in her eyes and mouth and I liked investigating these tensions and the interplay between them. Most of all, the intention was to communicate her sense of pride.
The book will be on order soon at gadventures.com
