Illustration

	Interview with an Illustrator
	"I discovered I could draw when I was in kindergarten," Shevi Arnold says. "The teacher told us to draw flowers on paper plates. I made a daisy with a yellow center and long, white petals outlined in black. I didn't think it was anything special. The teacher, however, got very excited. She picked it up and showed it to the class as an example of good artwork. I thought, 'that's weird. It's just a flower. How else would you draw a flower? Then I looked at the drawings the other kids had made." Shevi laughs. "They were squiggles! I didn't think I was an artist, but I did wonder why they couldn't draw flowers that looked liked flowers. It seemed simple enough to me."
	"I think I've learned a lot from that experience: never draw a cartoon you don't believe in."
	In elementary school, Shevi enjoyed reading books on cartooning, and she was happy to share what she learned with her friends. She illustrated her class yearbook in eighth grade, and she was the cartoonist of her high school newspaper. In fact, one of her cartoons made the principal so angry he decided to shut the paper down. Shevi claims this wasn't her fault. "I didn't write that cartoon; the editor did. It attacked the school in a way that I thought was dumb and unfair, but I never told the editor. I figured she was right, because she was the editor. I think I learned a lot from that experience: never draw a cartoon you don't believe in."
		After completing her BAs in English Literature and Theater, Shevi continued her art education. She took courses in fine art, graphics, computer graphics, photo retouching and computer animation. These led to work as a political cartoonist, newspaper illustrator, photographer and magazine designer. Like many cartoonists, Shevi normally works in pen and ink, and she colors her work on her computer. She likes to work in other mediums, however, including airbrushing, water painting, photography, photo retouching, and computer graphics. To see samples of her artwork and photos, click on the links below:
	Above: A self portrait, created in Corel Photo-Paint, of Shevi as the Mona Lisa. Below: An illustration from one of Shevi's "Consuming Passion" articles.	Consumer Column Illustrations Political Cartoons Photography Comic Paper Covers