'Contextualised parables'

An interesting article by the author of The Journey of Life. 

The article is really about his children's books - which I didn't illustrate - but a lot of the same things apply.

Illustrating for another culture

In Pilgrim's Progress there is a guy called Ignorance, who keeps going on about his good heart. So I drew a picture of a heart. You know, standard loveheart, universal symbol.

Only it turns out that 'doesn't fit for Africa'.

Maybe not so universal after all.

Evil spirits Malawian style

This is where I've got to so far. Elbows were hard to have going the 'opposite' way, as arm joints rotate. So I've just gone for weird angles.

Joints go the way they do for a reason.

Knees were easier. Walking figures is going to be quite a challenge though! Probably base it on an ostrich walking. Doesn't matter if it looks odd - it's meant to be unnatural.(I swapped the legs & bodies, which is why there are gaps in the middle)

Illustrating for another culture is so difficult!
I'm working on the Malawian Pilgrim's Progress, and I have to draw evil spirits in the valley of the shadow of death.

I could draw evil spirits for here - I know what looks spooky or macabre or evil to us. But all I have is a brief description of witches in a book, and a few photos of masks. I'm reluctant to use the masks, as I don't know what they represent (they said they were evil spirits, but you never quite know if they're just saying what you want to hear). I think silhouettes is probably the way to go.

The book description is helpful: protruding teeth, red eyes, discoloured skin, ugly & distorted features, long snouts to eat corpses. But the coolest thing is - arm and knee joints that bend the wrong way. That would make them look really wierd.

But how on earth do I draw it?