The process for the project of Rosa Parks was that Nikki Giovanni wrote this wonderful story on Rosa’s life, and I got it, and I read it, and I wanted this project. Once I received it and it was a go, I do what’s called a thumbnail sketch of the story, which is a storyboard about what goes on each page. And from there, I’ll elaborate and do a more detailed sketch, and that sketch will turn into me painting a watercolor wash and then the collage sort of finds its way in. And that’s a series of me gluing and cutting away and adding to the image.
I use old magazines that I buy from vendors here in New York — back-issue magazines — and I just tear out images, or patterns, or whatever it is that I need for the collage that lends itself well to the story that I’m doing. And I sorta build on that idea, and by the time we get to the end of the book, they look totally different from the sketches, you know.
And that’s sort of the process. There’s no rhyme or reason on what goes more, the watercolor or the collage. It’s just sorta what feels right. And I sort of feel my way through on how this book should look and how it should feel.
