About the Illustrators

Tara El Khoury: Tara is a Syrian-born illustrator/Graphic designer now living in New York. You can see more of her work at her website.






Penny Weber: Penny Weber is a full time artist and illustrator from Long Island, New York, where she’s lived all of her life. She works both digitally and traditionally in acrylics and watercolors. Penny attended classes at the School of Visual Arts in New York and she loves illustrating children’s books, which she has been doing for the last 10 years. She is proud to boast that she has NEVER missed a deadline. Penny has a husband, three children, a very fat cat, and she is heavily lobbying for a puppy! Visit her website. 




Pavla Quinn: “To state, first of all, that this is my first commission to illustrate a page in a book and I was intrigued. Of course, my first art offering made the obvious mistake of being in landscape rather than portrait orientation. This wake-up call made me rethink my whole attitude to this project and I determined to really make something new and fitting. I used watercolors, which I don’t normally use, however, they create bright and even colors. The rooms where the people were are also focused on their purpose of being places where people could truly satisfy hunger and satisfy their sleepiness. All the other confusing elements of a room are not there at all. The pathway defies perspective by appearing as you would walk on it looking down at your feet and the walls are removed to see the people eating and sleeping. In the background are buildings dedicated to growing food by aquaculture so you imagine the people having access to healthy food in abundance. The spaces between the different scenes are contracted to make the most of the space to show the scene and are populated with people from many different backgrounds. I liked very much the idea behind this author’s work and wanted to support it with my illustration. I hope that you will like it too.” 




Kevvo: “I am an illustrator and comic creator based in West Michigan. I have a degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design and I also work in HIV advocacy and prevention. Support my work at www.patreon.com/kevvokreates.” You can also visit Kevvo at his website.




Jonathan Nelson: Born and raised in the Four Corners area of New Mexico, Jonathan (Diné) began his art experience with coloring books like many children. His drawing has evolved into a career as a creative professional. In his youth, he began collecting comic books and started tracing famous comic book characters, like Spiderman and the X-Men. Elementary tracings evolved into freehand drawings with No.2 school pencils. Nowadays, he works in ballpoint pen to showcase the high vast desert landscapes filled with sheep. Jonesy, an untraditional sheep, stands out in the rez just like the overhead power lines and oil pump jacks do among a see of sand, sage, and pinõn trees. Johnny’s recent work entails a humerous narrative called The Wool of Jonesy. It brings to light the sustaining life of indigenous culture and its on-going struggle in a Eurocentric driven society. Johnny’s other works are also inspired from identity and life on the Navajo reservation. Visit his website to view other works on politics, racism, tribal identity, stereotypes, and the environment.




Elizabeth Campbell: Elizabeth Campbell is an American freelance illustrator that lives and works in Savannah, GA.








Rashad Malik Davis: Author/illustrator Rashad Malik Davis can most often be found sketching, writing, or engaging in exciting dialogue about the magic and beauty – both seen and unseen – of our diverse world. He has illustrated for a #1 bestselling children’s book on Amazon entitled Sunne’s Gift: How Sunne Overcame Bullying to Reclaim God’s Gift. Rashad resides in New Jersey with family and a wide array of pencils, pens, and unfinished how-to books. He has also recently illustrated his first children’s book in a series entitled “Carefree, Like Me!”. For more or to follow his work, please visit his website.



Minda Cox: “Everything I want to do and cannot do with my body, art does for me and in me. My art dances when I cannot; my paint runs for me when I am bound to my wheelchair. The colors jump and clap for joy, although I cannot do either of those things apart from my art. I do not paint dark things because my life is not sad, but the absence of arms and legs does involve real physical limitations that art somehow diminishes. I hope the viewer will sense that freedom in my work.” You can learn more about Minda and her art at her website or on facebook. 


 

Ata Berkol: Ata Berkol is a Turkish artist and designer studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. He is currently studying design and illustration alongside motion graphics, animation and 3D digitally in the Adobe Suite and Unity. You can learn more at his website.







Charles Fredrick: Charles Fredrick is a cartoonist and pen and ink artist living in northwest Arkansas. His cartoons and renderings have been published in regional magazines and newspapers for over forty years. You can see more of his art on facebook. 




Alaa Abdelhakiem: Originally from Egypt, Alaa Abdelhakiem is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Pharmacy. Although busy with school and work, Alaa finds an escape in her artwork. Visit her on facebook. 







Emily Boone: Boone is a coffee nerd by day, artist by night/every stray minute possible. They have degrees in both Wildlife Biology and Fine Art with an emphasis in photography from Missouri State University. They delight in fusing those two passions at every opportunity and often take a scientific, research-based approach to their artwork. Boone’s preferred mediums to work with are 120 mm film, charcoal, and a mixture of pastels and colored pencils. They love to flail around in nature at every opportunity, and can often be found squealing incoherently about pretty flowers or a patch of moss somewhere in the city of Chicago. To see their current art projects and inspirations as well as an unnecessary number of dog photos, you can follow them on Instagram as @superboone. 




Sara Lynn Cramb: Sara Lynn Cramb is an illustrator and designer with a love of nature, animals, and travel. She currently lives in Athens, GA with her husband, two grumpy turtles, a pair of mischievous cats, and far more books than one person should own. You can visit her online.