Here’s former US President Barack Obama in a tan suit. I drew this as part of a larger project for Learning A-Z.
You might remember that there was a brief, silly controversy about President Obama wearing this tan suit because on a slow news day some people thought it did not look presidential. Originally, this illustration had him in a black suit, but the client was concerned that the project had too many historic figures in dark suits already. They wanted a little more variety, which was somewhat challenging since men’s formalwear is not really particularly varied. But then I remembered the silliness about the tan suit and I thought this would be the perfect solution. More about President Obama can be found here.
This is the second time I’ve drawn Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) the famed civil rights activist. This is one of several significant historical figures drawn for a larger project for Learning A-Z.
He was a Baptist minister and a civil rights activist who was assassinated on April 4, 1968. He was known for his emphasis on using non-violent protest and civil disobedience to challenge the racist and discretionary laws of his time. More information can be found here.
Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was an American abolitionist best known for her association with the Underground Railroad, the secret network of safehouses run by abolitionist activists to help slaves escape to free states, territories, and British North America (now Canada). Originally named Araminta Ross, she was born into slavery. After she escaped in 1849, she personally led an estimated 70 others to freedom as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she was a nurse, scout, and spy for the Union army. Later she was an activist for women’s suffrage and established the Harriet Tubman Home for the Elderly. More information about her life can be found here.
This illustration was created for Learning A-Z as part of a larger project. I used black and white photographs as references, but the quality of the surviving images were not ideal.
Have you ever noticed that in the earliest black and white photos, the subjects always had very serious, sometimes even unpleasant, expressions on their faces? This is because early film wasn’t very light sensitive and required the subjects to stay perfectly still for a fairly long time. Sometimes for several minutes. Sometimes in bright sunlight. It’s difficult to hold a smile that long, so they usually didn’t. The reference photos I had of Tubman all left me with the impression that she was perpetually annoyed. But, since that’s probably the fault of the photographic technology rather than a true reflection of reality, I toned it down quite a bit. Still, I didn’t want to go too far and make her smiley instead. I settled for something fairly neutral.
Our next historical figure (or celebrity, depending on how you categorize him) is Jackie Robinson. He was the first black baseball player in Major League Baseball. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and earned many accolades throughout his baseball career. Although he’s most famous for breaking the color line in MLB, he had a long history of activism throughout his life. More information on him can be found here.
I did my best to match the historical details of the uniform as well as to get the likeness reasonably accurate.
This is a cartoon illustration of a commercial airline pilot in her traditional uniform. It was part of a larger commission for Learning A-Z. This set depicts diverse people with recognizable occupations.
I was pleased that this one called for a woman with short hair, since we hadn’t had many of those so far in the project. I also kept forgetting to add jewelry to people, since it was rarely mentioned in the specs. For this one I made a point to give her earrings and a wedding ring to make up for that previous oversight. I don’t remember why she didn’t get a pilot’s hat, but there was probably a reason.
Did you know that there is a reason the flight crew greets the passengers with one hand behind their backs like this? It’s nothing nefarious. They have a little counting device that they use to count the number of passengers that board the plane. They want to make sure it matches the number of tickets scanned. (Either stowaways or missing passengers would be bad.) They keep the device behind their back because they are trying to be discreet about it.
This boy is walking with forearm crutches. I was to draw him as if he were walking to school wearing a backpack. I actually kind of like drawing backpacks, for some reason.
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 