The framing makes each illustration discrete and separates the unique people and their customs rather than lumping together all Africans.Īs husband and wife, the Dillons illustrate together, handing work back and forth, so it is not done by one or the other but by what they call the “Third Artist.” Their work is sometimes described as “decorative realism” (Haber, 2020), but Leo Dillon said, “We gave away our separate styles, and in doing so realized that we opened ourselves to every style that ever existed on the face of the earth. The black and gold lines are connected at the corners with Kano Knots which symbolize “endless searching - a design originally used in the then-flourishing city of Kano in northern Nigeria during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries” (Musgrove, 1976). Text and paintings are framed by parallel black and gold lines separated by white space. The pages follow the same formal pattern with the illustrations placed above white text blocks. The only other colors in the book are brown in the African map showing the countries where Kiswahili is spoken and green letters of the featured alphabet word.Įach alphabet letter presents a different ethnic group on a separate page: A for Ashanti, B for Baule, and C for Chagga. “The second color is not obvious in the final book, but has the effect of enriching the reproduction and maintaining the strength, subtlety, and warmth of the original art” (Feelings, 1974, A Note about the Art).

The second photograph includes only part of the art and is printed in the color ochre, a sort of brownish-tan clay color.

The first photograph includes all the art and is printed in black ink. In reproducing the art, it is photographed twice using a method called double-dot. A detailed description of his process is provided in “A Note about the Art” in the back of the book. Feelings uses black ink, white tempera, and linseed oil on textured board. The illustrations extend the meaning of the words and provide context.

Jambo Means Hello by Muriel L. Feelings