For the love of braids!

After finishing the cover and interior art for the picture book Oshún and Me by Adiba Nelson, I was tasked with the responsibility of illustrating a small index of braided hairstyles for the very end of the book. Adiba wanted me to illustrate kid versions of box braids, jumbo box braids, Fulani braids, cornrows, and Bantu knots. She also wanted me to include locs!

When I was brainstorming exactly how I wanted to draw the styles, I thought back to the pictures in the Black hair books and magazines that I would see at the hairdresser as a kid, specifically the ones in Hair World, Hype Hair, Ebony, and Jet. Some examples are below:

I knew I wanted my illustrations to have the same vibe as the hair pictures. Here are what my sketches looked like:

After sending in my sketches and getting them approved by the MacKids team, the art director Naomi asked me if I also wanted to do the hand lettering for the names of each hairstyle. That was an absolute yes! I modeled the lettering after the typeface that the team used on the cover. It was playful and bold. Here's how the final art and lettering turned out:

The coolest part of the entire process was that Oshún and Me was also translated into a Spanish language version, Ochún y Yo, translated by Issa M. Mas. That meant I had the chance to handletter the spanish names of the braided hairstyles too! I learned a few new terms like rizos rastas, trenza de cajitas, and nudos bantúes.

I absolutely love how the illustrations turned out. They're a perfect mix of current day style and throwback style. It's a perfect fit for a picture book that's a love letter to natural hair and braids.

Oshún and Me and Ochún y Yo are now available wherever books are sold!

Gracias por tu apoyo,
Alleanna