The Bus Ride: A Junior Narrative Illustration by Nisha Malley (2018)

My Flash Fiction tells the story of two children in elementary school that meet on the bus. The narrative details the growth and loss of their friendship, all of which takes place on bus rides in the morning to get to school over the course of several years. The two characters bond over playing video games and listening to music - a quiet friendship. Written through the eyes of her friend, the main character Lily grows to become more extroverted, and, consequently, moves on to new friends by the end of the story.

To create the hybrid-animal illustration, I first brainstormed personality traits and matched those to other animals. I wanted to focus on her growth from shy to outgoing, her humor, and innocence. I chose a turtle for her shyness, a dolphin for her outgoing and lighthearted qualities, and a bear cub for innocence. I sketched different angles and looks for my character and created different versions of my background. I chose a bear cub body with dolphin fins and a turtle shell, waiting for the school bus to arrive in a woody meadow. Then, I went into Illustrator. I traced images of animals and references for my background with the pen tool, and used the pen tool, paintbrush, and/or symbols to finesse the details. We also had to apply our knowledge of linear perspective in this piece. As such, my path tapers off near the horizon line and so does the body of the bus. I’m pleased with the fur that I created for my animal and my color scheme. I also wanted to create a sense of whimsy, so I used silly shapes to represent clouds in the sky and made wave-like symbols on the fins as a nod to the ocean. If I had time to make changes, I would add a small tail to my bear!