A wide illustration with a light beige background and dark blue pencil lines, showing half of a woman's face on the left with her long hair blowing twoards the right, under the text "ela, Mary Delaney & Alexandra Lüthen".A wide illustration with a light beige background and dark blue pencil lines, showing half of a woman's face on the left with her long hair blowing twoards the right, under the text "ela, Mary Delaney & Alexandra Lüthen".
Ela
Ela is an illustrated novel written by Alexandra Lüthen and illustrated by Mary Delaney
A photograph of the book Ela next to the leaves of a plant. The book cover shows the title and an illustration of a woman's face with long swirling hair and small swirls representing the sea.
Alexandra first approached me about illustrating her novel Ela in a hand-drawn, graphic novel style.
Ela is the story of a young couple with Down Syndrome. Alexandra planned to write the novel in "Leichte Sprache" (simplified German language intended for people with a basic language level). It was perfect for me as someone who at that time couldn't speak German well, but I was also fascinated by Alexandra's vision of a story that would place a character with a disability at the center of the story. I was moved by Alexandra's vision of teling a story about a person with Down Syndrome working, falling in love, and having adventures - challenging common stereotypes about what people with disabilities can and cannot do.
Ela is printed and distributed by the Kunstanstifter publishing house.
A two-page spread from the novel Ela, showing an illustration and large text. The illustration shows half of a woman's face and her flowing hair. The woman appears to have down syndrome. The illustration is in a sketchy graphic novel style.
A two-page spread from the novel Ela, showing an illustration on one page and text on the other. The illustration shows a man and woman lying on a bed kissing with their legs entwined. The illustration is in a sketchy, graphic novel style with shades of grey.
A two-page spread from the novel Ela, showing text on the left and an illustration on the left and right pages. The illustration on the left shows an outstretched hand with a hospital braclet, and the illustration on the right shows an older man with his hand outstretched as if to shake hands. The illustrations are in a sketchy, graphic novel style.
An illustrated page from the book Ela showing a man looking at car keys in his hand with a close-up of a car wheel, and a mouse gazing up at him with a party scene in the background. The illustration is in a graphic novel style.
A photograph of a double page spread from the book Ela. The left page shows a black and white illustration in graphic novel style, with a police woman arresting another woman who appears to be nude, and a male police officer glaring at a young man. The scene is tense.
A two-page spread from the novel Ela, showing text on one page and an illustration on the other The illustration is in a sketchy graphic novel style and shows a man and a woman with down syndrome kissing superimposed above a drawing of a BMW car, with a slight background of a wavy ocean.
A graphic showing two images of an open book. The books are open to show text and illustrations in a pencil sketch style with some blue and green colorful elements, showing a young couple kissing next to a car, and a scene with water and a bridge with a city in the distance.
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Ela
Ela an illustrated novel written by Alexandra Lüthen and illustrated by Mary Delaney. It's the story of a young man with down's syndrome who meets the woman of his dreams...
A graphic showing the main illustration of the novel Ela, with an illustration of a woman with down syndrome showing her long flowing hair, above a swirling pattern representing the sea. The illustration is in a graphic novel style.
An illustrated page from the book Ela showing a man looking at car keys in his hand with a close-up of a car wheel, and a mouse gazing up at him with a party scene in the background. The illustration is in a graphic novel style.A two-page spread from the novel Ela, showing an illustration on one page and text on the other. The illustration shows a man and woman lying on a bed kissing with their legs entwined. The illustration is in a sketchy, graphic novel style with shades of grey.A photograph of a double page spread from the book Ela. The left page shows a black and white illustration in graphic novel style, with a police woman arresting another woman who appears to be nude, and a male police officer glaring at a young man. The scene is tense.A photo of the cover of the book Ela, showing the title and a large illustration of a woman's face above a stylized swirl representing the sea. The woman appears to have down syndrome facial characteristics. The illustration is dark green in a graphic novel style.A two-page spread from the novel Ela, showing text on one page and an illustration on the other The illustration is in a sketchy graphic novel style and shows a man and a woman with down syndrome kissing superimposed above a drawing of a BMW car, with a slight background of a wavy ocean.
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