Stone Mountain Artist Draws National Attention

Stone Mountain resident Shadra Strickland loves great stories and storytelling.

Her love of the art led her to pursue a career in illustrating children’s books that have already garnered national awards such as the 2010 NAACP Image Award and words of praise from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. 

“I read many wonderful picture books growing up and then when I began teaching I used them in my classroom,” Strickland said. “Eventually I got to the point where I said, hey, I can do that.” 

So, she went back to school in New York, where she studied design, writing and illustration at Syracuse University and later completed her M.F.A at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.  

Long before the young artist, who is 33, puts pencil to paper to sketch out her ideas, she’s already immersed herself in the culture and surroundings of the characters.

 Research for “Bird,” her first book, brought her to Harlem, New York, where the characters lived. “I took a lot of photographs and observed what people did, where they lived — where they go — what their day might be like and I drew a lot of sketches.”

When she took on “A Place Where Hurricanes Happen,” a story of four children in New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina, she had never traveled to New Orleans. “It was a very different place after the storm,” said Strickland.  

Before she could illustrate a book about their loss, she had to learn about their world before Katrina. She did interviews, watched films and read as much as she could to learn about their lives. After getting to know her characters intimately, she begins drawing and experimenting with her characters and their surroundings.

“I draw until it looks and feel right to me, which can take many tries and fill up a lot of sketch books.” Next, she sketches a mock-up of the entire book with the text and illustrations. When she’s satisfied with that on a small scale, she enlarges each sketch and begins the actual painting.

Along the way, characters can change as they circle through editors coming back with comments on the drawings. The back and forth between editors and Strickland, who has her own ideas about the illustrations, can take as long as six months. 

Before she takes on a project, she says she must feel a connection to the manuscript. Although many of the characters are African American, she says she hopes people connect with her work because there is something “they find beautiful in the people and experiences that are being shared.”  

“I think most artists draw and paint themselves first,” Strickland said. “Because I am African-American it is only natural that I draw and paint from my own experience. I don't think of myself as an artist who illustrates for any specific ethnicity. I am just an artist who makes work based on the world around me, and as my experiences broaden and change, I am sure my work will reflect the new ideas and people who I interact with.” 

Strickland’s next book, “White Water,” is due out in August. To find out more visit www.shadrastrickland.com.