Wendy MacNaughton is an amazing illustrator and graphic journalist that mixes art and journalism. She uses illustration to tell stories of people who are not usually in the spotlight, and this is what she talked about at the 2015 edition of The Power of Storytelling, showing examples of her work and discussing the process behind it.
Here is the video recording of her keynote, and some highlights:
“Every single thing that I do as an artist, every thing that I put out on the world has repercussions, and the responsibility that goes along with that is mine. I am working with people, but that’s my drawing.”
“I wanted to tell stories of people who might not get to tell them. And if I was going to do that, I wanted to make sure I was using their words, not mine, going back to the Social Work ethics.”
“I grab my book and I grab my pens, it’s kind of my protection, if I feel I’m a little nervous I have my drawing pad and I feel I have a reason to be there, it gives me like a shield.”
“For me, drawing is a way of looking, it’s an opportunity to look at things that we might be uncomfortable with or afraid of. I’m wondering if maybe through drawing we’ll be able to look at things that we turn away from.”