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 56 of 150

April 13, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

The last child for this batch, with groovy tie-dye.

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous child aged 10-12. They are walking towards the left while waving. They have their long, black hair in two braids and their smile shows a slight gap between their two front teeth. They are wearing jeans, red sneakers, and a pink tie-dyed t-shirt with a tribal-style bear paw print.

Number 55 of 150

April 11, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

A boy with longer, shaggy hair. The hair reference the client gave me for this one was a picture of D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear Smallhill in Reservation dogs.

I’m not really sure why, but some of the characters in this project were supposed to be drawn with them holding up their hand(s) as if holding something. This was a collaborative project, with different artists handing different parts, so that’s not too weird. But I was never told what they were to be holding. Any guesses?

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous American boy standing with one hand raised as if holding something. He is smiling and has long, shaggy, black hair. He's wearing black jeans, black sneakers, a white t-shirt, and a yellow plaid overshirt.

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 53 of 150

April 7, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

The last one for age 7-9 for this batch. A gender ambiguous child wearing a letterman jacket and a beaded necklace.

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous American child aged 7-9. They're standing with an arm out as if gesturing to something off frame. They are wearing jeans, sneakers, a letterman jacket, t-shirt, and a beaded necklace. They have long, black hair that's slightly wavy and worn loose.

Number 52 of 150

April 5, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

Here’s the first larger body size character for this batch. A boy aged 7-9.

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous American boy aged 7-9. He's standing with his arms crossed over his chest and one hand on his chin in a thinking pose. He has a larger body size and short black hair. He's wearing jeans, a red hoodie, and black converse-style sneakers.

Number 51 of 150

April 3, 2023March 20, 2023Leave a comment

Another girl, aged 7-9. I really like her rainbow-colored shirt. I based it on one my daughter had years ago that I always liked.

A cartoon illustration of an Indigenous American girl standing with one hand raised as if gesturing. She is 7-9 years old and is smiling. Her long, black hair is pulled back in a high ponytail. She is wearing jeans, work boots, and a black T-shirt with a rainbow stripes pattern.

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?