Creating-"A Mother's Love Letter"

So, where do I get my inspiration to illustrate stories? How do I get the shots that I submit? Well, let me tell you about my latest published photo illustration.... “A Mother’s Love Letter.”

After Haruah accepted my story, “A Mother’s Love,” Dan asked me if I was going to illustrate it. I told him that I had thought about it, but I didn’t know how – that I didn’t know where a psych ward was. He told me to take a picture of the letter.

He was referring to the letter the mother wrote to her son.

Thinking that I great idea, I lay in bed that night and figured the shot out in my head.

First, I needed a letter. That went from plain paper, to stationary (which I didn’t have), to making stationary on the computer.

Then, I wanted to add some quarters. I decided on two stacks of $2 each. This would have been the bus fare for a trip to the psych ward and back in NYC.

Third, I thought about having an envelope with Jose, the son’s name, on it.

I was trying to figure out how I was going to add some color to this shot. The only thing that kept coming to me was to add a silk flower around the letter (and of course the stationary).

So the next morning, I got up and went to the Print Shop program on the computer to find a picture suitable for stationary. I found one and then while trying to make it more like a water mark; I found a way to make the whole picture lighter. I printed off three versions to see which one I liked better.

Choosing one, I took lined paper and took a thin, black marker over them to make them darker. Then I sat and wrote the letter the mother, Maria, had written to her son. At first it my print was too large and then I made a mistake. After writing the letter two, well maybe three times, I had what I wanted.

Later in the day, I took the table cloth off the table and placed my letter, envelope, quarter stacks, and a silk flower upon it. In my story, Maria was crying has she wrote the letter, so I splashed some water droplets onto the letter I had written. I’m not sure if the Haruah editors noticed it or not, but they are there. I did several arrangements and different lightings.

I then download the digital shots to the computer to see which one I liked. I really didn’t like any of them, so I went back to my shooting session. After my second session, I looked on the computer again at the shots.

After picking one I liked, I submitted it to Haruah. And they accepted it.