When I read April White’s “The Divorce Colony,” I was immediately captivated by the town of Sioux Falls, described by a newspaper at the time as a “colony of pretty but unhappy people.” White’s essay brilliantly evokes images of the dusty streets of the town in the late 1800s, with all its secrets and scandals. In my illustrations, it was important to get an accurate sense of Sioux Falls during this period, so I began by researching the town and the setting, picking out the important locations in the story. Megan Detrie, the producer on this project, provided me with access to an archive of photographs and illustrations.



For the main image, I wanted to show the protagonist of the story during the court case, dwarfed in the dock by the grand courtroom and observed by crowds of curious onlookers. This seemed like a relevant illustration, as it reflected the close scrutiny under which the divorcées led their lives in the town, observed and judged by the local people, the press, and one another. I wanted the artwork to have a classic feel, so I used a limited color palette, creating vignettes loosely referencing illustrations of the time.

Below is a series of images of the process, from rough sketches and research to final ink drawings.



Read “The Divorce Colony.”