Sudan Scholarship Foundation

This is an illustration completed for USD Magazine at the University of San Diego. I do quite a bit of work for Universities, and USD is one of the best.

Depicted here is a USD graduate by the name of Daniel Akech James, as well as 2 of the beneficiaries of the Sudan Scholarship Foundation, formed by Mr. James.

From its website --

The Sudan Scholarship Foundation (SSF) seeks to help those gifted Sudanese refugee students who have been expelled to drop out from high schools in light of the evacuation of Kakuma refugee camp and other refugee camps by the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Mr. James works to give educational opportunities to the young people of Sudan in spite of many challenges to his own well-being, which are recounted at his blog. It's very interesting reading, to say the least. If you have a moment, please give it a look, here. USD Magazine did a profile of him and his work by shining a spotlight on his blog. The illustration above accompanies this profile

The artwork painted itself very nicely. I say painted itself, because some illustrations do, while others, equally rewarding, don't come equally as easily. I don't know if it was the right combination of paint and my secret medium, or if the planets were aligned just so, but I remember the brushstrokes and the paint doing just as I wished -- the textures were perfect and the paint lifted out nicely (not easily done with acrylics).

The warmth in the palette lends itself to the positivity of the Foundation, as do the radiant strokes, particularly noticeable behind Daniel.

My next blog entry will be from the Big Apple, as I arrive for the Illustration Conference. I'll have my laptop in-hand, my digital camera in-tow, and my thesaurus packed so as to sufficiently relay the most brilliant adjective for the hopefully non-brick-wall-view from my hotel room.