I created these illustrations to contribute to a Girl Scout Gold Award Project. The client had a list of disabilities for the artists to portray. I chose cerebral palsy (left) and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (right). I created line art and full-color versions of the illustrations. I wanted to show children with these disabilities participating in activities they enjoy and making friends. I put the color and line drawings into a mockup by user17882893 on freepik.com.

I researched each disability and used reference photos to draw the mobility aids. Both disabilities have different degrees of physical impairment-- some children with cerebral palsy need a wheelchair, some need crutches, and some use neither. With Ehlers-Danlos, the same is true. I also chose to portray the hyper flexibility that many with Ehlers-Danlos have through dance, including a bandage on the child in the middle to show that people with Ehlers-Danlos are more prone to injury due to skin fragility.

Once I sketched the backgrounds, I realized that keeping only two figures in each scene was the best spatial decision. While I wanted to show a child with Ehlers-Danlos with a mobility aid, the scene felt cramped with three people and I wanted to focus on hyper flexibility in dance. For the cerebral palsy page, I added happy classroom posters and a bright rug.

I followed the sketches carefully, making sure to keep the line art clean and easy to color while leaving in texture where needed (especially in the hair). I lowered the opacity of the line art for the mirror reflection and adjusted the perspective and proportions.

I chose bright color palettes and paid special attention to the lighting in both scenes.