I was asked to illustrate a Google Doodle to celebrate Charlie Hill’s 71st birthday today 🦅 Charlie Hill was an Oneida, Mohawk and Cree trailblazer - most known for being the first Indigenous stand-up comedian to appear on television. I was lucky to work with Charlie’s family to make sure this illustration represented him in a good way. In the words of his family: “Many people don’t know that Charlie had a vision of becoming a comedian since the early age of ten. Many had never heard of a Native American comedian and often scoffed at his notion of wanting to become one. Regardless, Charlie was never deterred from pursuing his dream. When Charlie was on stage, he was in his element. Time and space didn’t exist, and he loved making people laugh. He believed it was the best kind of medicine. Through his comedy, Charlie promoted healing and reminded Native people of their resiliency, capabilities, and creative abilities. Storytelling and humor have always been a part of Native American culture and he reminded everyone of this. He established the visibility of Native people and fought to end stereotypes, while also creating a new wave of accurate representation. Charlie was an incredibly caring person, authentic, and very driven. He was never about the accolades and didn’t like talking about himself.” Illustrating Charlie was a beautiful process. I drew a lot of inspiration from Charlie's work, as well as elements found in Creation. I studied Charlie and learned so much about the things that he loved. He was a very creative and intellectual person and so I wanted to depict him doing the things he loved most: playing the harmonica, performing, making people laugh, reading, representing Indigenous people and paving the way for other Indigenous performers. Charlie resonated with sunsets and forests, and so I wanted him to be in his favourite places doing his life work ❤️ Thank you to the @google Doodle team for being so wonderful and encouraging during this process 🌙