Please join us in welcoming Bridget George to the Full Circle Lit family!
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Full Circle Literary asks illustrator Bridget George to introduce herself to you:
“Aanii! My name is Bridget, my traditional name is Nimkiinagwaagankwe (Rainbow Woman/Blessings from the Thunderbeings). I sit with the bear clan. I am Anishinaabe. My spirit is at rest at the place where the Kettles are and the place near the town (Kettle & Stony Point First Nation.).”
Thank you, Bridget!
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Bridget’s work is primarily focused on Indigenous subjects.
“When it comes to Indigenous culture, a lot of people focus on the negative. There’s a gap in portraying our culture in positive, successful, modern way. We’re still here.”
Bridget’s vibrant, playful, contemporary artwork is all about filling that gap, and she focuses on joy whenever she can.
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"As a visual thinker, first impressions while reading a manuscript are invaluable to my process. When approaching a new book for the first time, I treat it like a filmmaker preparing a shot list, writing down the scenes that play mentally as I read the story along with the key points and descriptors to the story."
Bridget uses those notes to start building visuals, usually working traditionally with pencils and paper in a sketchbook.
"I find that this helps me feel more rooted and connected to work by being as physically present as possible to the work. This stage is all about translating my notes into shapes and forms.”
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The rest of the artwork will be done digitally via a drawing tablet. Bridget uses the digitized exploration work as a base for building more evolved forms in storyboarded thumbnails. Once thumbnails are complete, she refines them further as linework with more detail. She then begins rough black-and-white tone maps. “This helps my brain to start thinking about color."
Using the linework and tone maps as a guide, she begins color blocking. Once this early work is approved for finals, she will add textures and details until the book comes to life as a finished work.
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Bridget feels passionately that home libraries should include diverse representation of characters, stories, and creators. She wrote and illustrated her debut picture book, It’s a Mitig! (Douglas & McIntyre), to provide her own small son with an engaging way to learn Anishnaabemowin words along with English; it earned 2020-2021 First Nations Communities READ: PMC Indigenous Literature Award, selected by Indigenous librarians throughout Ontario.
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Coming up next: Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior, a biography told through water’s perspective about environmental activist Autumn Peltier, by Carole Lindstrom, author of the Caldecott-winning We Are Water Protectors (Roaring Brook, fall 2022).
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A self-described “type geek,” Bridget has an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. She works as a graphic designer specializing in branding and identity design, as well as publication and web design. |
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She has an ongoing collaboration with the Lambton (Ontario) Heritage Museum resulting in two 2021 exhibits, including an interactive children’s exhibit which shares the stories of youth in her community and their perspectives on what makes land a home, and “Nnigiiwemin/We Are Going Home,” which features the “Ipperwash Crisis” through the lens of the land and water protectors who defended their traditional territory. |
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Bridget enjoys working on character-driven narratives as well as more conceptual works in both picture book and board formats. She loves creating covers, as that’s when she gets to flex her “design muscles.” Raised by a single mom and sister to a member of the LGBTQ community, Bridget would love to illustrate stories with non-traditional families. She lives with her husband and young son in London, Ontario. |
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Welcome to Full Circle, Bridget! |
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About Full Circle Literary
Full Circle Literary is a literary agency representing children's books from toddler to teen, and creative nonfiction for all ages. We work with both award-winning veteran and debut writers and artists and our team has a knack for discovering and developing new and diverse talent. For more information about all of our Full Circle Literary illustrators, please visit our website and follow us on Instagram/Twitter @fullcirclelit.
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Full Circle Literary
3268 Governor Drive #323
San Diego CA 92122
Copyright 2021 Full Circle Literary. Copyright artwork 2021 Bridget George. All rights reserved.
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