Erlson Neba

Erlson is our lead artist, who has defined our major characters, set key scenes, and also really set the tone for the art in the rest of our first book.

A native of Cameroon, Erlson moved to the U.S. at the age of 12. Always a fan of comic books, Erlson took his own art studies seriously. He studied at both Eastfield College and the Columbus College of Art and Design, earning a bachelor’s in illustration from Columbus. Since then, Erlson has worked as a concept artist at Escalation Studios in Dallas, TX, creating bold, otherworldly, innovative takes on both new and well-known video gaming titles. Always pushing his limits both creatively and technically, Erlson can rapidly produce portraits, character sketches, action, immense volumetric landscapes, architecture, machines, foliage, and so much more. We’ve been incredibly excited to watch our own story come to life at his hand.

Don’t miss nebaerlson.com and Erlson’s galleries on tumblr and deviantart .

Marie-Francine Dongmo

An instructor who teaches drawing, painting, and computer graphics at Institut de Beaux-Arts de Foumban (IBAF), Marie-Francine Dongmo has been studying shapes, materials, and visual impressions since an early age.

Skilled in portraits and realism, Marie-Francine Dongmo has also developed her own form of stylism and impressionism strongly influenced by African tradition and by the culture and visual impressions of her home, Fongo-Tongo in western Cameroon. At the age of 2009, she was able to begin formal art studies at the newly-formed IBAF, earning her Professional Master’s in Fine Arts by 2014.

Marie-Francine Dongmo has now developed art for several public exhibitions including FESCARHY (Festival of Cartoon and Humor Yaoundé), Bandjoun Station (a museum and creative workshop for gifted artists in Cameroon), and the Contemporary Art Center in Cameroon.

Nzakam Kamgain Gemahel Gullit

Gemahel has been self-taught and passionate about drawing from an early age, gaining his first recognition by winning company-sponsored art competitions in elementary school. Gemahel studied visual arts and earned his degree at the School of Fine Arts of Mbalamyo, at the Institute of Artistic Training (IFA). Since then, he has also made fast progress in the professional domain, including at a design firm (the Center of Applied Arts at Mbalmayo), as a ceramist in a ceramic workshop, and going digital with CAD (computer-aided drafting) and 2D animation.

Christelle Kamga Pride

Originally from Douala in Cameroon, Christelle earned her bachelor’s degree before coming to the U.S. at the age of 19 for graduate studies in science. She earned her master’s and Ph.D. and worked as a researcher in pharmacology before beginning law school in the class of 2017 at Berkeley Law.

Having enjoyed literature for her entire life, Christelle is passionate about seeing great dramatic literary treatment for all ages of not only her home country of Cameroon but so many other countries that have been home to people who live in the United States. Héléna and the Missing Papaya was inspired by her own new baby girl and the search for meaningful, delightful children’s books that could help her understand her heritage.

Christelle the talent search for the Cameroonian artists who brought Héléna and the Missing Papaya to life, developing artistic direction to give each page a consistent, authentic, unmistakably Cameroonian feel, commissioning numerous tryout paintings, and working together with artists in English and French. Along with her law studies, Christelle devotes a little time to writing every day.

Joseph Pride

Joseph Pride handles LADUMO’s business, operations, and in-house creative design. While growing up in St. Louis, Joseph worked in a family magazine publishing business, where he had professional exposure to graphic arts and all the work that keeps a business running. At the same time, for his own enjoyment, he took up cartooning, comic book art, painting, and piano.

Joseph studied engineering and project management and earned his MBA, having worked as a U.S. Coast Guard officer and an engineer. He is working now as an engineer for a power utility company.

Joseph did technical production on Héléna and the Missing Papaya, including art edits for the print layout and typesetting according to English and French standards.