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How I illustrated “Stepping Out”
This is the second
of two books I’ve illustrated on special
needs children. The first, “Small Steps
Forward” about younger children, won a
BMA prize, (Popular Medicine Book of the Year)
so I was excited to work on the second.
.
Sarah wanted me to show emotional scenes and
gave me a list of suggestions. At first I was
totally lost, but I got invitations into schools
and opportunity groups in England and California,
where I watched the children at work and play.
Soon I won the children's confidence, my novelty
wore off and I could watch them closely without
disruption. I wanted to paint pictures to tell
the emotional story behind the advice and inspiration
of Sarah’s text. I also wanted each picture
to be a work of art.
During
my research I saw parents and carers totally
dedicated to the children. Soon I became emotionally
caught up in the lives of these children. In
the swimming pool with a class of special needs
children a carer called out to me “Haven’t
we got a fabulous bunch of kids?” “Yeh
– I’m in paradise” I called
back. They are fabulous adults too!
The 84 illustrations do important
things for the book. First they show emotional
scenes that parents can identify with. They
show the children as beautiful and lovable.
They act as easily remembered marks so it is
easier to find your way around the book, and
finally they lift the book and enhance it so
that it shines out. I really loved illustrating
this book. I was moved by the body language
and the eye contact that I saw, and I empathised
with both the children and the adults. Some
of the pictures, like the big picture at the
top of the page, seem to me to be a breakthrough
in my art. I’m hoping for more illustration
work showing similar strong emotion and social
interaction. I love to work in colour though
I liked the discipline of painting these illustrations
in black and white.
These pictures are drawn
at a high definition and look great enlarged
up to the size of a door! They would make a
lovely exhibition!
Buy
“Stepping
Out”:
Click here for Jessica
Kingsley (the publisher) where you can buy
online. Or go to Amazon or other online book
store.
Click
here to email me
All
artwork © Jeanie Mellersh 2003
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Reading
together
Granny
reads a favourite book to her grandson. They
are both close family friends of mine. Here
I wanted to show mutual love.
Swimming
games
 
Several
carers gather the children into a circle and
play games, encouraging them to duck in the
water. Notice the girl on the right looking
out of the circle? Her concentration has wandered
already.
Wheelchair
Dance
All
children love to be included in activities,
games, and dancing. Here two wheelchair children
join in a dance.
Showering
Showering
an older special needs child; you are likely
to get a soaking. So this carer is well prepared
wearing a swimming costume and with a chair
and hand-held shower.
Pictures
in the left hand column
Top:
The author’s middle son posed for me.
Sarah had asked me to illustrate bad behaviour
and he was delighted to assist and suggested
this as one picture – a brilliant spontaneous
gesture.
Second: A very sulky girl angrily
refuses to swim today. Her carer persuaded her
to kick the water to show how angry she was
They both got soaked, and hugged and, laughed.
The complete sequence is shown in the book
Third: Many special needs children
are stuck in their own small worlds a lot of
the time. I drew this boy in his own small world
as the class played around him.
Bottom: Two close friends and
a toy garage. The two boys play together quietly
and happily making eye contact.
Technical
notes: I
collected the work using sketches notes and
digital photographs which I then downloaded
onto my computer. Using Corel Painter 7 (software)
and a Wacom tablet and stylus (hardware), I
then painted directly onto the computer, using
very few “tools”:mostly scratchboard
pen and airbrush. I placed it all, when finished,
onto a CD to hand to the publisher.
The
computer as an art tool is capable of extreme
sensitivity and the advantages far outweigh
the disadvantages. This project would have taken
me many times as long without a computer. I
do love modern technology! It makes things happen.
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