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Freelance illustrator and fine artist Sheldon Dawson has devoted the last nine years of his career to the publishing world, where he specializes in illustrating children’s books and educational material for schools in northern Canada. Sheldon has been nominated three times for the Manitoba Best Illustrated Book Of The Year Award and three of the books he has illustrated have been nominated for the McNally Robinson Book For Young People Award.

He is currently working with the Louis Riel Institute on the "Illustrated Métis History Series" of textbooks for Manitoba schools. Through his work for Pemmican Publications, Sheldon has been involved in the effort to preserve the Michif language by illustrating a series of picture books for children that celebrates the Métis language and heritage. In the northern schools' projects created for Native Reflections, Sheldon’s culturally sensitive illustrations help teach positive, healthy and traditional lifestyles and provide First Nations students with classroom materials that honour their identity and culture.  

He lives in Warren, Manitoba.

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Q&A

When and how did your career as an illustrator start?

I illustrated my first book in 1995, and in 2001, after a 25-year career in the field of advertising, I switched to the publishing world full-time. Since then I have specialized in children's books and educational materials.

Could you tell us a little bit about your ties with the Métis culture and how these ties have influenced your work?

I am not of Métis heritage myself but my son is Métis through his mother's family, so I am connected to the Métis culture in that way. All of the Métis History Series books that I have illustrated are written by Métis authors.

My side of the family has been involved in some of the historical events that I have illustrated, but not on the Métis side. My great-great grandfather was a newspaper editor in the Red River settlement, during the Resistance of 1869-70, and was imprisoned in Fort Garry by the Métis for his editorials criticizing Louis Riel. Needless to say, I am more sympathetic to the Métis point of view than my ancestor was.

It is this sympathy for the Métis point of view that has influenced my work. For many years the voices of the Métis people were not heard and their version of their own history was not being told. The Illustrated Métis History series portrays events from the Métis perspective, rather than the more widely circulated version told by their conquerors and oppressors.

From their own point of view, much of Métis history is seen as a struggle for rights and freedoms that is still ongoing today.

Do you have a favorite technique?

I work in pen and ink and acrylic paint. The style of artwork varies slightly according to the age of the intended readership. Books for older students call for a more realistic approach, while the technique I use to illustrate for younger children is a little more cartoonish.

Who are some of the Canadian aboriginal illustrators you admire?

I like Mary Longman, Darlene Gait and Heather Holmlund. There are other aboriginal artists who may not be considered illustrators but whose work I admire, such as Cyril Assiniboine, Gerald Folster, Gayle Sinclaire and Jackie Traverse.

What are you working on the moment?

I am currently working on The Memoir of Isabelle Branconnier Vandal, the true story of a Métis woman who was a witness to both the Red River Resistance in 1869-1870 and to the Battle of Batoche in 1885. This will be the latest entry in the Illustrated Métis History series, and is scheduled to come out later this year. It is very unusual to get a woman's point of view of these historical events, so I think this memoir will be of great value to students.

Also, after illustrating books for nine different authors, I am finally taking the step of writing my own children's story.

Posted April 2010

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