Thursday, October 20, 2011

Kadir Nelson paints 'the heart and soul' of America


NEW YORK – Author/illustrator Kadir Nelson, 37, went to college on an architectural scholarship, but quickly fell in love with painting, which led to his first job.
  • Image on the cover of 'Heart and Soul;' author Kadir Nelson.
    Image on the cover of 'Heart and Soul;' author Kadir Nelson.
Image on the cover of 'Heart and Soul;' author Kadir Nelson.
"A dream job," he calls it, with a new film studio named DreamWorks.
In 1996, Nelson worked as a "visual development artist," creating artwork that, as he puts it, "would fuel the director's vision."
The director was Steven Spielberg. The film wasAmistad, based on an 1839 mutiny aboard a slave ship that led to a case at the U.S. Supreme Court.
That job stirred Nelson's interest in history, especially African-American history, which he remembers as being treated as a "sidebar" in school. He now sees it as "essential to understanding the great story of America."
And that's the theme of Nelson's latest illustrated book,Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans (Balzer & Bray, $19.99, for ages 9 and up).
In 108 pages, including 44 full-page color paintings, it goes from Revolutionary-era slavery to President Obama's election, told in the voice of a woman who's seen it all.
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