Number 125 of 150

September 6, 2023August 31, 2023Leave a comment

A child with a red playground ball. I particularly like their shirt stripes.

Number 79 of 150

May 29, 2023May 16, 2023Leave a comment

Is this our first one with fun, brightly dyed hair? It might be. It was fun to figure out what technique to use to show the dyed hair.

A Latino boy, aged 7-9, sits with his legs crossed and a book in his lap. He wears glasses and has the tips of his short black hair dyed a pale blue. He is wearing a purple t-shirt, jeans with the cuffs rolled, and blue sneakers. He is smiling and looking at the viewer.

Number 57 of 150

April 15, 2023April 17, 2023Leave a comment

Our first adult. Beaded jewelry is fun to draw. So was the pattern on her sweater. The pose the client initially requested had her looking down at her wristwatch. Then they changed their mind and wanted her waving.

A cartoon illustration of a middle-aged Indigenous American woman. She is standing and waving. She is wearing glasses and beaded earrings. She has jeans, cowboy boots, a t-shirt, and a white, red, and blue patterned cardigan. Her black hair falls to just past her shoulders and is slightly wavy.

Number 54 of 150

April 9, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

Next comes three characters in the 10-12 age range. The colorful sweater and space buns were cute, I thought.

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous American girl aged 10-12. She has glasses and a larger body type. She's standing. Her long, black hair is in space buns. She's wearing slip-on high top sneakers, leggings, a t-shir, and a cardigan with white, green, turquois, pink, and yellow stripes. She's wearing a silver and turquois pendant necklace.

Number 50 of 150

April 1, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

No fooling, we’re only a third of the way through this project. Lots more to come.

Here’s one of our gender non-conforming or ambiguous characters. Since they’re indigenous, the braid isn’t a gender indicator, and the clothing is intentionally gender neutral.

I think I may have drawn them to read a bit older than the 7-9 I was going for. Maybe I should have rounded that chin a little more. Maybe smaller hands. I have mentioned before that this project was scheduled a bit tight, right?

A cartoon illustration of a standing indigenous child, aged 7-9. They have long black hair pulled back in a low braid. They are smiling with their mouth open as if talking. One hand is held up as if gesturing. They are wearing glasses, a short-sleeved western shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

Number 47 of 150

March 26, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

Here’s a little boy with glasses and a missing tooth. If I did it right, he should look to be somewhere in the 4-6 age range.

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous American boy aged 4-6. He is wearing glasses and is missing a bottom tooth. He is wearing black shorts, a yellow t-shirt with a black and red stripe over a white long-sleeved undershirt, and white sneakers. He is standing with both hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.

Number 39 of 150

February 8, 2023February 10, 2023Leave a comment

Next up: Age 10-12. She’s a little young for a hijab, but we figured in the interest of diversity to give her one anyway. Plus, it works well with her outfit.

A Muslim girl stands with one hand up, waving. She is wearing pink glasses and a light blue hijab with white polka dots. She is also wearing a pink, long-sleeved tunic that's shorter in the front than the back with gathered sleeves and three stripes along the bottom hem. She has on black leggings, pink socks, and brown lace-up boots.

Number 35 of 150

January 30, 2023December 30, 2022Leave a comment

Representation of queer, or at least non-traditional, gender expressions was an important part of this project.

So far, we’ve had some characters that were deliberately ambiguous on gender, presenting as more-or-less androgenous. Today’s character is a little different. They’re wearing traditionally female clothing, but their hair and facial features are drawn using visual cues that typically read as masculine. However, I tried to make it ambiguous enough that it still wasn’t entirely clearcut. Personally, I’d hesitate to guess how this child identifies. I’d have to ask for their pronouns.

I’m not certain I got the age to read quite right. They may look a little older than they should.

A child, aged 7-9, stands with one hand up as if gesturing. They are wearing a yellow button-up dress, with a long-sleeved t-shirt and leggings underneath. They're wearing red high-top sneakers and glasses. The child is Middle Eastern and has a larger body type. Their gender is ambiguous, but it possibly reads a little more male than female.

Number 32 of 150

January 24, 2023December 30, 2022Leave a comment

This little guy is happy, isn’t he?

A Middle Eastern boy, aged 4-6, stands with a big smile on his face and his arms up and open wide. He's wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, plaid shorts, and sneakers. He also has glasses. His hair is black.

Number 26 of 150

January 12, 2023December 30, 2022Leave a comment

Cool purple hair on this one. I started this one with ALOHA in a varsity font on the hoodie, but the client wanted the sea turtle design instead. I think the heathered texture makes it look soft and comfy.