This Latina Illustrated Jenna Ortega’s Little Golden Book
Art by Stephany Torres for Remezcla
A glimpse into the biography of actress Jenna Ortega has arrived in a children’s picture book. Jenna Ortega: A Little Golden Book by by Heather E. Schwartz is a children’s book that offers a glimpse into the Wednesday actresses’ journey from child actress to breakout television and film superstar. The book features illustrations of Ortega’s family, Hollywood sets, and the Wednesday dance number that broke the internet.
The illustrator behind the beautiful pages of this book is Argentinian artist Luz Tapia. Tapia creates colorful art that reflects her passions, including fantasy characters and stories, animals, fan art, and now, Jenna Ortega. “Working on this project was a dream come true,” Tapia tells Remezcla in an exclusive statement.
“I’m a big Jenna Ortega fan. I’ve always loved her horror works and then when she got to play Wednesday, it made me excited that more people got to know how talented she is.” Tapia even has a personal connection to Ortega’s Wednesday Addams character. “As a Latina who grew up watching the 90s version with Christina Ricci (and often got called Wednesday because of my long braided black hair and dark circles) it felt like a full circle moment getting to illustrate this generation’s Wednesday.”
Tapia also shared the creative process of creating the artwork, adding that investigation (and watching Ortega’s catalogue) is a big part of her artistic practice. “Luckily the sketches came quite easily to me. It’s ideal to make them as clear as they can be to facilitate the painting process later. Once those got approved, going into finishing the illustrations was easier as I had an idea for the color palette’s already,” says Tapia.
On Instagram, Tapia gave followers a first look into the picture book, sharing select pages that highlight Ortega’s Mexican and Puerto Rican family and traditions, and a colorful expression of her history. “I wanted to convey how colorful her catalog is even though she is mostly known for her darker fashion nowadays. I put as much details of her family life that I could father on my visual research too.”
Tapia has also done other illustrations for Ortega’s Wednesday, like the one below of all the young women of Season 2.
And she even did an illustration of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
Jenna Ortega: A Little Golden Book by Heather E. Schwartz and illustrated by Luz Tapia, is now available for purchase online at Penguinrandomhouse.com and at select book retailers, including Target, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.