These two dancers are performing the traditional Mexican Hat Dance. It is Mexico’s national dance and is often performed during Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Again, this is a very small illustration. That’s why the faces are mostly featureless.
Salsa dancing is a very Latin American tradition. This illustration is actually very small on the page, so that’s why the dancers are mostly faceless.
Potatoes are a Latin American food. They originated in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Here’s potatoes, fries, and potato chips.
Here’s another example of a Latin American food for this book project. Chips and guacamole with a half avocado.
A chocolate bar next to some cocoa beans and a cocoa pod. I hadn’t realized how big these things were until I looked them up. This illustration appears in the book next to a paragraph about chocolate being an example of a food grown in Latin America.
To get the full effect on this one, imagine it is hanging from one of the letters in the page header. It was tied, if I remember right, to the bottom of an “E”. There are three different depictions of pinatas in this book, all of them star-shaped.
This one is a very simple, and it was very small on the page. Just a smiling boy.
Here’s the first interior illustration for Positive Promotion’s Hispanic Heritage book. The original art specs called for this illustration to read “Hurray for Hispanic Heritage” in English, which was also the header for this page. I thought that seemed a little redundant and missed a good opportunity to show some Spanish language in an otherwise completely English manuscript. It seemed appropriate given the subject.
Since I don’t speak Spanish, I used Google Translate to find the equivalent phrase in Spanish and gave the client the option to have me use that phrase instead. To be safe, I also warned the client to double-check whether my translation was correct, but I think it’s right. They didn’t correct me, anyway. 🤞
I recently completed a project for Utah-based Fish for Garbage, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes communities through waterway cleanups and watershed education. They commissioned me to create a series of illustrations for a children’s activity book.
This image is the second of two hidden picture puzzles. I saved this one until last because it’s my favorite. That’s the same duck from several pages ago. Having him visible both above and below the waterline really sold the idea that he was floating on the water and what was underneath was the underwater view. And just look at those duck feet! So cute!
I’m really not an expert at drawing fish, but I work from references and do my best. The client said the one brown trout I drew had a longer snout than the other, which is actually called a kype and is sought after by fishermen. I don’t really know enough about them to do that intentionally, but I’m so glad it turned out to be a feature and not a bug. Serendipity.
Can you find all 8 items? There’s a cigarette butt, a tin can, a plastic spoon, a plastic drinking straw, a deflated balloon, a deflated inner tube, a plastic bag, and a flip-flop sandal. The client said they find a surprising number of uninflated inner tubes at their cleanup events.
I will say that, between this one and the previous illustration, I spent SO much time drawing little circles for all that gravel. But it was worth it!
I recently completed a project for Utah-based Fish for Garbage, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes communities through waterway cleanups and watershed education. They commissioned me to create a series of illustrations for a children’s activity book.
This image is the first of two a hidden picture puzzles. Can you find all 8 items? There’s a soda bottle, a drink cup, a flip-flop sandal, a chip bag, a soda can, a plastic fork, a deflated balloon, and a set of 6-pack rings. The hidden items were chosen because they’re items often found during the organization’s cleanup events.
This image is a version of the illustration that was used as the cover image. The cover image was in color and without the hidden items. But it still has the same expansive view and variety of wild animals.
Karen B. Jones - Illustrator 