Here’s a chubby little boy holding out a birthday present. The client asked me to put a pattern on his little vest, but I didn’t like how that was looking. So, I added a dino in his pocket instead. The client agreed that they liked that better.
Halfway through and a new batch! This batch will be all Hispanic/Latine characters.
Here you have a little girl holding out a handful of seeds. I think she’s supposed to be feeding an animal who’s out of frame, but she could also just be preparing to spread seeds on the ground. I’m not sure which.
The boots and sun hat were particularly fun. I have several characters in this project where I made the pattern on their clothing with this same scattered flower shape brush. Good results, minimal effort. Work smarter, not harder. 🙂
And here’s the blind man with a guide dog I promised you.
Public service announcement: A Guide Dog is a type of Service Animal. They are not the same thing as an Emotional Support Animal. Guide dogs and other Service Animals go through extensive training and cost a lot of money. Service Animals know how to behave in public without being a nuisance or a danger. Emotional support animals often don’t, even when they’re legit ESAs (nominal distinction that that is) instead of fake ESA pets. Service animals are required by law to be allowed to go pretty much anywhere that their handler is allowed to go. ESA’s are not. Please don’t attempt to pass off your ESA or (even worse) your pet as a Service Animal. Their poor behavior will reflect badly on real Service Animals. That will just make it harder for disabled folks who depend on ACTUAL Service Animals to get their rights honored. Just don’t do it, no matter how much you want to take fluffy with you to the grocery store.
This style of prosthetic leg and foot always seemed really interesting to me. I’m glad I got to draw one.
This artist uses a wheelchair.
The client was pushing the scope of the project on this one. Each of these were supposed to be one character isolated on white, some with a prop. I was willing to allow a little more leeway for this batch featuring the visibly disabled because their mobility devices are integral to their lives and become almost an extension of themselves. But there’s a limit. This image reached this limit because the client initially wanted not just what you see below, but also an easel and canvas. That would make it almost a full scene, which wasn’t what we bid. (To be fair, I don’t think the client intended to push any limits. It just happened.) I had to send that objection through my art rep and she straightened it out for me without ruffling any feathers. Janet’s great at that.
Moving onto the adults, here we have a Muslim woman with a prosthetic leg.
Here’s a wheelchair basketball player taking their shot.
This boy is diabetic and is wearing a visible glucose monitor on his upper arm.
A deaf child signing, “Friend.” I think space buns are my new favorite hairstyle to draw on little girls.
A child who uses a walker. Some walkers have a seat on them like this. Looks like they’re catching their breath before planting that little tree. They intentionally look a bit tired, maybe unhealthy, though there were no specifics given on what condition they have to make a walker necessary.
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 