Illustrator and Illustrator-Author Study

• ​Michaela Goade, whose illustrations in We Are Water Protectors, won the 2021 Caldecott Medal, uses a beautiful technique that seems to envelope the viewer. Her use of color schemes that play with themes of cool and warm lend a smooth, flowing, quality to her work. Her use of round, soft, shapes and shadings are reminiscent of old fresco murals.

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• Goade's preferred medium is watercolor (Schuit, 2020), which enhances the enveloping, flowing, aesthetic of her work. She also incorporates colored pencils and digital editing to add definition to her illustrations.

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• Michaela Goade is a member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and she is passionate about focusing her illustrations on Indigenous children's literature (Goade, 2021).

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