Illustrating A Picture Book with A Tra-Digital Approach

I’m excited to present a project of mine coming next week, April 1st, “We Are The Scrappy Ones.”

We Are the Scrappy Ones was written by groundbreaking educator-memoir writing-creative,-activist, Rebekah Tuassig.

We are the scrappy ones. / We live, we adapt, we defy. / Made of stardust and grit, we are spectacular.

Children with disabilities experience the world in all kinds of ways. Yet one thing they share is navigating a world that doesn’t always make space for them as they are. Existing on the edges can feel unfair—and downright exhausting. And at the exact same time, it can also foster creativity, resourcefulness, and adaptability. In a word, scrappiness.

I approached illustrating We Are the Scrappy Ones feeling completely embraced by Rebekah’s text. This feeling is opposite of how I felt as a kid. I remember feeling particularly gutted after seeing a commercial about a medication I was taking. My lifetime battle with Crohn’s disease, invisable to most, was represented as a few minor, rhyming symptoms with an easy fix. As illustrators, we are charged with how a character will look and I promised myself wouldn’t represent the Scrappy Ones in this one-dimensional way. 

This motivated me to show the scrappy ones from all sides – their challenges, relationships, grief, joy and passions over a series of pages. The rollercoaster of adversities I faced growing up and the people I met along the way were a key part of my inspiration. Spending a lot of time in hospitals and home from school, I found relief from pain, boredom, and loneliness in arts and crafts. I tried everything from photography, to knitting to screen printing. The repetitive movements of art regulated my emotions and distracted me from pain.

The mixed media, collage approach is meant to reflect this scrappy, spirit. Carring on the technique from my work on A Horse Named Sky and the cover for The Secret of Honeycake I used Pan pastel and caran d’ache pastel pencils. Preparing, scanning, editing and collaging the artwork was an important aspect of the style and a bulk of the labor involved. Rebekah, and the team at Lerner’s stories evolved and expanded each concept to it’s full potential.

Rebekah’s words begged to be illuminated with color and texture. I went ten toes down and incorporated the illustrated text into my sketch proposal. (The rest was history as they say?) I wrote about creative risks/expiriments in my previous article. 

I hope the real life details connect you to the scrappy ones and make you feel embraced the way I felt when first reading Rebekah’s manuscript. Please consider supporting We Are the Scrappy Ones

How to Support We Are the Scrappy Ones

• Write a review for We Are the Scrappy Ones
• Buy a book or gift We Are The Scrappy Ones to a friend or classroom 
• Request or Check out We are the Scrappy Ones at your local library