Alama's Walk, Healing the Earth (graphic novel, book 2)

It’s 5:30pm and sun is going down in equatorial Kenya, the sky is now a reddish orange. The smell of rain is the air, dark clouds form as Alama is led by three young boys to Aba Yusufa, the village elder. Alama is amazed by the rich river basin, a sharp contrast from his desert scrubland in the north. Fat cows, fields of maize, bananas and mangoes stretch across the land. A vibrant village with a rich culture deeply connected to the land. Alama absorbs joy from the children as he feels the warmth of the people. He has journeyed far. Soon it will be dark and Alama will rest his feet and gaze at the same stars from his homeland.

This is the scene I worked on over the last two days for the second graphic novel scheduled for the fall of 2022 - Alama's Walk, Healing the Earth.

These are the feelings I tried to capture in the illustration. I had several conversations with Sultan Somjee, the author/ethnographer of One Who Dreams is Called a Prophet about this scene. Besides my African childhood memories, readings and image research, Sultan advised me on time of day, the rain clouds, material culture and clothing. It is like going back to college and learning about the culture, landscape and ethnography. Like many art forms. I find this kind of illustration both enjoyable and meditative as I delve into a form of deep learning. 

Sadiq Somjee (Ilustrator)

Process of creating a graphic novel page

Many people have asked me about my graphic novel creation process, now that I’m on my third graphic novel I have a pretty refined process. Although the creative process is dynamic and I like to keep it open and fluid.

This time I am the illustrator and not also the author like for my previous books. I wondered how it would work collaborating with someone, that is would I loose my autonomy and my fluid creative process. Well it turns out that I am really enjoying the collaboration especially after self isolating for over year. Although most of collaboration takes place online and over the phone.

In a nutshell after the story script is done, I make a storyboard and review it with the author, after some back and forth a polished story board with text emerges. Then I get to do the final artwork, page layouts and panel designs. Even at this stage there is a back and forth between the illustrator and the author, lots of tweaks, edits, adds and discards. This is why I go with digital as edits as they are easier to manage. Typically I complete one or two pages a day which equates to four to six panels (pictures,) so essentially it is a full time job. 

In this example, I have included a page from my sketchbook and short video of my digital creation process using an app called Procreate. 

Hyena Sketches

There are so many interesting animals in "One who dreams is called a prophet", I am enjoying sketching them.