Canadian Black History Portraits

If you had told me earlier this year that I’d be wrapping up 2010 by drawing portraits of a dozen African-Canadians, I probably would’ve chuckled, for I am very much American and about as white as it gets. But alas, that’s exactly what happened. It was a great project — I got to focus on straight-up drawing again for a couple months (which I’d wanted to do more of), and I learned a thing or two researching my subjects, as well. Win-win. I hadn’t done this much “analog” drawing since finishing the African-American portrait set that led to this project, so it was nice to return to that for a while. This new set will be featured in a 12-month calendar for a fundraising effort, which I’ll post details about when I learn them.

So, without further ado, I give thee the portraits. Featured are Anderson Ruffin Abbott, Elijah McCoy, Harriet Tubman, Harry Jerome, Josiah Henson, Mary Ann Shadd, Osborne Perry Anderson, Portia White, Rosemary Brown, Sam Langford, Viola Desmond, William Hall and Mifflin Gibbs. I think my favorite one ended up being the Sam Langford — what’s yours?