Color Me INFINITE PRIDE

 

Conveying the Deeper Stories Through Art

by Maya Gonzalez

We know that art can heal.  But how do we get there? 

More than just illustrating text, how do we use art to tell the unspoken stories beneath the words? The stories of belonging, of pride, of freedom to be… How do we as creators reach in and express out in a way that kids can feel these deeper messages when they look at our books...

...even if no words are spoken.

In-process art from The Gender and Infinity Book for Kids

 
I lost my voice once. It was gone for years. If I did write something, I would hide it away. It was back when much writing was still done by hand or on a typewriter. I would take the pages of an accidental poem or story and fold it up and slip it between random books on one of my shelves. I couldn’t handle what I was writing then, but I trusted that one day it would be there when I needed it or maybe understood it better.
 
During that time of mostly silence, I invested in my visual vocabulary. I poured my heart into my drawings and honed the language of the nonverbal. My art began as a place to heal and find my own reflection, but the stronger and more embodied I became, the more my art came in service to my community. On the journey, I let go of my own image and focused on conveying my growing experience of belonging. This is what I healed into and this is what I wanted to pass on, especially to LGBTQI+ and BIPOC kids.
 
In my picture book illustrations I use all the things that healed me in real life. One of the most important things is somatic awareness - or awareness of the body. Holding hands, laying in the grass, looking up into the sky…I use physical experience and sensation as a touchstone to show that my characters are in their bodies, connected to others and in their environment. They are present and they belong.

 

Creating Safe Space on the page - art from I Can Be...Me!

In I Can Be...Me! written by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by me, the kids have the freedom to freely explore who they are without stereotypical gender expectations or pressure to conform. To this end of full and free embodiment, the kids have their own space, take up space, make space, create space, and feel their safe space--to be and do everything they want to. More than clothes and activities, their freedom and presence is visible in their body postures, and their spatial relation to the page. Up front, in your face, full circle, all around…

Creating their magical, mythical safe space was probably my favorite part. I still imagine myself there.

Exploring perspective and experience to convey belonging
In-process art from The Gender and Infinity Book for Kids

 

In my upcoming Gender and Infinity Book for Kids, the kids are a part of nature’s massive flow of infinite diversity all around them. I play a lot with perspective and experience. Kids are looking up into the trees, swimming underwater, gazing into the night, dancing amidst all the different elements of the earth. They are in their bodies amidst the lush and colorful flow of nature. Later in the book the imagery goes stark with pink and blue gender boxes on white backgrounds conveying the pressure on kids to conform in comparison to the lushness of nature’s diversity from the opening spreads.
 
I want to create illustrations that plumb the mystery of our being and celebrate our infinite diversity in a way that kids can feel in their hearts beyond words. People say nice things about my work, but I can’t know for sure if I’m catching infinity or conveying real inner freedom and belonging. I’m still working on it. Sometimes the only thing to do is to go nonverbal and play. 

Grab some color pencils and color some Pride with me!
INFINITE PRIDE! Happy pride! 

Download your Infinite Pride coloring page on the Gender Wheel website. 

Learn more about the Infinite Diversity of Nature:

Maya Gonzalez is an award-winning children’s book artist, author, activist and progressive educator. Maya's work addresses systemic inequity in relation to race/ethnicity, sexism and cissexism using children’s books as radical agents of change and healing, both personally and culturally. Maya co-founded Reflection Press, a POC, queer and trans owned independent publishing house that uses holistic, nature-based, and anti-oppression frameworks in their books and materials for kids and grown-ups. Maya is also the creator of the Gender Wheel, a tool to express the dynamic, infinite and inclusive reality of gender, and provides lectures and workshops to educators, parents and caregivers. 

Website: www.mayagonzalez.com
Instagram: @mzmayagonzalez and @genderwheel

Ten Random Thoughts From an Author/Illustrator

    As I was racking my brain for what to write for this post, I had two problems. I had no ideas, yet also too many ideas. Random phrases and miscellaneous publishing thoughts kept inserting themselves onto the page. However, as soon as I typed them out, my mind went blank.

    So instead of making a choice, I’ve decided to share them all with you. Here are my top ten random thoughts about writing, illustrating, and being a creative person, in no particular order. (Complete with random art!) 

1. Trust Your Reader

     When we are writing or illustrating, we should intentionally leave room for the reader or the viewer. Sometimes we get feedback asking us to explain things more thoroughly or assuming that our audience won’t pick up on the intended message of the book. When you get this type of feedback, consider: If I take this feedback will I be over-explaining? Is there, in fact, something missing that is making the message unclear? Or if I add more details, am I not trusting my reader?

2. Blank Pages Are The Worst

Be An Artist - Illustration by Anne Appert

    Get something, ANYTHING on the page. You never know where it will take you. A chance phrase may just be the idea that carries your story or illustration across the finish line. When brainstorming this post, I wrote “light up sneakers” on the page because it popped into my head as I was pondering ideas, and didn’t want to be staring at a blank page anymore. This phrase helped me arrive at the idea to share my ten random thoughts. You never know where seemingly unrelated ideas will lead you!

3. Everything Takes Time. And Always More Than You Think It Should

    The amount of time you think something should take? Double it. Triple it. It is incredibly satisfying to reach your audience with your book(s), but publishing is a slow industry. One of my favorite pieces of advice that I have ever received was from one of my college professors: If you don’t give up, you will succeed. In publishing, just know this could take two or five or ten or twenty (or more) years. However, if you are passionate about getting your stories into books for children to read, it will be worth it. 

4. Any Idea Can Be A Good One, With A Little Work

    Okay, I know people will disagree with me on this one. Hear me out. If you thought it was worth writing down, if it made you laugh or someone else laugh, if someone started building off your “silly” idea when they heard it, then maybe, just maybe, there is a seed of something there. Just like a random phrase can lead to a post worth sharing, a bad idea can lead to a good idea worth writing or drawing. You may just have to polish it a bit (ok a lot) before it shines.

Be Your Own Unicorn - Illustration by Anne Appert 

5. Put Yourself On The Page

    My first post for this blog was about how BLOB helped me discover myself. You may think you don’t have anything new or unique to say, but your writing and art will surprise you. By being you, by allowing yourself to be vulnerable, by allowing yourself to be silly or frustrated, happy or sad, by letting yourself feel whatever thing you are feeling, you will connect with your audience.

6. It’s Always Okay To Buy Another Notebook Or Sketchbook

    Don’t even question it. Of course you need it. It may just be the thing that unlocks your next idea! You never know, and you wouldn’t want to risk anything by NOT buying the notebook/sketchbook. Right? 

7. Always Tell A Story

    As writing advice this may seem obvious; however, sometimes we get so caught up in adding elements such as alliteration, repetition, and lyrical language that the story gets lost. The story is what is important. Always. As for drawing advice, you can create a gorgeous painting, but if it doesn’t tell the viewer a story, you won’t be hired to create a book. Always think: what story am I trying to tell? What details can I add? How can I hint at the before and after? How can I get the reader or the viewer to ask, what happens next?

8. When In Doubt, Add Sparkles

    Those light up sneakers? Of course your character needs them! While we don’t want our story to get lost in too many unnecessary elements, a little extra bling in the form of outrageous outfits, creative color choices, or alliterative adjectives can bring your manuscript or illustration to the next level.

9. It’s Okay To Be Not Ok

It's Ok to Be Sad - Illustration by Anne Appert

    Hey! We are still in a pandemic. Life is hard. Writing is hard. Illustrating is hard. Maybe you got a rejection from your dream agent. Maybe your advance was lower than you wanted. Maybe you didn't get the call to illustrate the book you really wanted to illustrate. Maybe you are burnt out and can’t think of a single idea for anything, not even a blog post. Sometimes we try to squash our feelings because we convince ourselves we should just be happy with how far we’ve come, that because we have had some success our feelings aren’t valid. Publishing can still be disappointing, and It’s ok to feel how you feel.

10. Celebrate Everything

    Sold a book? Celebrate! Signed with an agent? Celebrate! Finished your book dummy? Celebrate! Figured out that ending you could never get right? Celebrate! Finished a sketch that was keeping you up? Celebrate! Made it to your computer to write? Celebrate! Decided to take a self care day? Celebrate! Cleaned off your desk? Celebrate! Went on an artist date? You know what to do.

Bonus Thought! Ignore Everything I’ve Said

    Everyone's journey is different. Everyone has opinions about the right way to do things and the correct path to success. As with a critique of your work, perhaps some of this stuff feels superficial or unimportant to you. That’s ok! You find you and your own path. Then, celebrate that.

    Maybe add some sparkle too. Just for good measure.

    And of course, buy that notebook.

Anne Appert (they/them ) is a nonbinary author/illustrator who spent their childhood with their nose stuck in a book, while their wild imagination transformed their New Jersey backyard into faraway places. Anne still enjoys spending time in their backyard dreaming, and now their imagination turns their dreams into words and pictures for children. Anne wrote and illustrated their debut book Blob, which was published by HarperCollins in Fall of 2021. Their second book What If You Wish? will publish with HarperCollins in 2024. They are a member of SCBWI, from which they received an honor in the 2021 Conference Portfolio Showcase. When not writing and illustrating, Anne enjoys teaching college students, dying their hair every color of the rainbow, and attempting to roller skate. You can see their work at anneappert.com.