Finished: Claudette Colvin on the Bus

August 10, 2021August 22, 20214 Comments

And now I’m done.

This is the final version of my illustration of Claudette Colvin refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus on March 2, 1955 in Montgomery, AL. She was 15 years old and was riding the city bus home from school. Because she refused, police were called and she was arrested.

This was 9 months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, but they were not the only ones. Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith and Jeanetta Reese also refused to give up their seats. Their arrests were the trigger for the Montgomery AL bus boycott that ran from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956. All these women were plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit against the city of Montgomery, AL and the bus company. On June 5, 1956 the court found that bus segregation was unconstitutional but it was sent to the US Supreme Court and through an appeal before the city and bus company were finally forced to integrate the buses on December 20, 1956.

A historical illustration of Claudette Colvin as she refuses to vacate her seat on a Motgomery Alabama bus on March 2, 1955.

There are two photos of Miss Colvin taken around that time which I used for references on her likeness and a hint at the clothing she might have worn that day. I’m not sure what color she’d have worn, but red illustrates anger and stands out nicely from the green bus seats. I always draw kids with big eyes, so her eyes are disproportional. I hope that doesn’t throw off her likeness too much. I think her face could be a little narrower, but then the huge eyes wouldn’t fit. I got her chin with that little almost-cleft. The nose is pretty close. Glasses and hair are right, I think. I got her coloring from a color photo of her as an adult.

I didn’t find any references to who the white woman was who demanded that Miss Colvin move or any of the other passengers on the bus. So, I used my imagination and designed some generic characters with 1950s clothes and hair. I hope I didn’t make the women too colorful. I got their fashions from vintage photos and drawings.

The bus interior is based on several reference photos of buses of that era.

Anyway…

What historical figure should I tackle next?

WIP: A Little More Progress…

July 26, 2021July 26, 2021Leave a comment

Here’s some progress on my Claudette Colvin illustration. Lines are more-or-less final and I’ve done the colors and shading on Miss Colvin there in the middle.

More to come…

A work in progress image. It is to be an illustration of Claudette Colvin's refusal to yield her seat to a white woman in Montgomery, AL. The scene shows the interior of a segregated bus with Miss Colvin seated and defiant in her spot and the other passengers reacting to her according to their role in the event. The colors and shading are done on Miss Colvin, but the other characters have final lines, but no colors or shading.

WIP: With Sketchy People

July 21, 2021July 21, 2021Leave a comment

I was out of town last week, but now I’m back and here’s what I was working on today. You’ll recognize the same scene from my last post, but I’ve added a bit of highlights and shading and I sketched in all the characters.

This scene is to be an illustration of Claudette Colvin’s March 2, 1955 refusal to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus. You can see Miss Colvin there in the middle, with her schoolbooks and her righteous defiance.

I’ll post more as I work on it.

A work in progress illustration of Claudette Colvin refusing to yield her seat on a Montgomery Alabama bus in 1955. The interior of the bus is mostly complete, but the characters are only sketches on white backgrounds.

WIP: Bus Interior

July 6, 2021Leave a comment

Here’s something I’m working on just now. It’s a work in progress, so it’s not intended to be finished yet. I have the lines and base colors in, but that’s about it.

It’s the interior of a Montgomery, AL bus CIRCA 1955. It will be the background for an illustration of Claudette Colvin’s March 2, 1955 refusal to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus.

I found quite a few pictures of buses of that period and I did my best to get it accurate.

I’ll post more as I continue to work on it.

A work in progress illustration of the interior of a Montgomery, AL bus, CIRCA 1955.

Inktober 2020 #18 – Storm

October 18, 2020September 25, 20202 Comments

This lightning storm was fun to draw. The piece was all about the lighting. And the lightning. Lighting my lightning. 🙂

A boy standing in front of an open window at night watching a lightning storm.

My Treehouse – Page 10

January 16, 2020January 2, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s page 10 from My Treehouse, a short graded reader I recently illustrated for Learning A-Z. This is the last page for this book. My Treehouse - Page 10

My Treehouse – Page 9

January 14, 2020January 2, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s page 9 from My Treehouse, a short graded reader I recently illustrated for Learning A-Z. The girl really has a remarkable view from the deck of her treehouse. If you look close, you’ll see a road with two bridges. One over a river and another over railway tracks. There’s traffic on the road. The distant fields have trees along the fencelines and there are cows in a field closer in.

Girl looks out at the view from her treehouse balcony

My Treehouse – Page 8

January 12, 2020January 2, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s page 8 from My Treehouse, a short graded reader I recently illustrated for Learning A-Z. As you can see, it’s really not so much a treehouse as an elevated playhouse build around some trees. But the girl seems to like it.

Girl walks out onto treehouse balcony

My Treehouse – Page 7

January 10, 2020January 2, 2020Leave a comment

Here’s page 7 from My Treehouse, a short graded reader I recently illustrated for Learning A-Z. A cropped version of this image is also used on the title page.

My Treehouse - Page 7