Shane W. Evans: The Journey to Freedom
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Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»» Listen as Shane Evans discusses his illustrations for Underground By Jennifer M. Brown, Curriculum Connections--School Library Journal From songs of emancipation (Free at Last! by Doreen Rappaport; Candlewick, 2004) to the story of the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Regiment (Hold the Flag High by Catherine Clinton; HarperCollins, 2005) to, most recently, Black Jack by Charles R. Smith, Jr. (Roaring Brook, 2010), Evans's work has traced the growing strength and independence of African Americans through history. He believes that the journey to freedom is ongoing, and that we all have opportunities to help those in need. Here Evans talks of his inspirations, his artwork, and his beliefs. For most of Underground your paintings focus on one family. Did you begin with the image of the family, or did that evolve? It's estimated that 30,000 individuals were freed on the Underground Railroad. [The book represents] all of their stories. While most of us would have [difficulty relating to] an escape to freedom, we can all relate to opening the door to assist someone. You create contrast within the scenes so beautifully, with swirling brushstrokes for the night sky that have swathes of light blue and white in them. How did you achieve that effect? You introduce green into the palette when the travelers are safe—at least temporarily—on the spread, "We rest." Can you talk about your palette? I knew the palette on that piece would be very blue. I say "blue" versus "dark," because when you go outside in the evening, you can still see colors, there's just the absence of intense light. Blue reads for me, the way it does for the reader, as nighttime. The contrast of night is day, and the day is yellow. It's a very primary palette. And the yellow changes—first it's the light in the slave owner's window, then it's the light of the torch held by the overseer, who along with a sheriff goes in search of the runaway slaves, and then it becomes the light of compassion—emanating from the lantern of a conductor of the Underground Railroad standing on her porch. The spread for the text, "We are almost there," is the first time we see daylight in any of your illustrations. In the final, climactic pages of the book, a child is born. How and when did the idea of the child's birth and the attainment of freedom merge in your mind? In your endnotes, you suggest that there are different kinds of freedom, not only freedom from physical confinement but also freedom from want and from spiritual and/or emotional confinement. I felt it was important to honor what [Pastor Alice] was doing. These people moving [on the Underground Railroad], were helped by white Americans, Native Americans, black Americans—it had to be everyone helping. Look around your neighborhood; what can you do to help others? The important thing about history is to realize that this can happen again. Ask yourself, "What would I have done, who would I have been on this journey?" Ed. Note: A portion of Shane Evans's proceeds from Underground will benefit the True Light Family Resource Center. Jennifer M. Brown is the children's editor for Shelf Awareness, a daily enewsletter for the publishing trade. She recently launched the website Twenty by Jenny, which recommends titles to help parents build their child's library one book at a time. Listen as Shane Evans discusses his illustrations for Underground Related TeachingBooks.net resources »»» Learn about more great books to celebrate Black History Month 2011 by following SLJ's daily tweets during February. This article originally appeared in School Library Journal's enewsletter Curriculum Connections. Subscribe here.
With minimal text set to powerful images in nighttime shades of blue, Shane W. Evans's Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom (Roaring Brook, 2011) tells the story of the courageous captives who risked their lives along the Underground Railroad, and the brave conductors who helped them to freedom. Of his book, Evans says, "Everything I've learned to this point has informed that story."
I mixed up the imagery so there's a specific family at times, but not on every page. It switches from the family, to the viewer, to the outside world, to the family. It was more about the journey—that's what was really important here.
[When I begin a project,] I look at the subject matter and think, "What best suits this work?" This artwork happened to start in a sketchbook, and I knew I would use nighttime colors. It's story-informed more than style-informed. Here...I used more of a collage [technique] to get the story told.
Underground (Evans) © 2011
by Shane W. Evans
The light can be in your eyes, in a neighbor helping you, in the capturer's hands. You have to think about what direction you want to go in. Light doesn't always mean happiness, and dark doesn't always mean fear.
This [story] of course doesn't take place over the course of one night. It's weeks' worth, months' worth of nights. There are many pages of night, and then there's that page of light.
I didn't know the woman was pregnant until halfway through my drawing. These [individuals] made a choice to go North. Just moving there didn't necessarily mean freedom for any of them; they could have been tracked down and recaptured. But they taught their children, "You're free from the moment you're born."
I run a studio called Dream Studio that I started on 07-07-07 [in Kansas City, Missouri]. I've been in this community for years working on books. To know your neighbor is a powerful connection. [One of my neighbors,] Pastor Alice, runs True Light Family Resource Center, and attached to that is Emancipation Station. There, people who are homeless, addicted to drugs, and in other situations, are served. I realized I have a modern-day Harriet Tubman right in my neighborhood.
