On August 29th 2008 the jury of the Illustrator’s Award assembled.
The jury consisted of:
Lieve Pollet, councillor of culture of the city of Hasselt
Philippe Werck, publisher of Clavis Publishing
Liesbet Slegers, children’s book illustrator
Lieve Claeys, children’s book reviewer
Toin Duijx, teacher of children’s literature
For the seventh edition of the Illustrator’s Award the jury had to look at 292 contributions, which came from many different countries. Among them Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and Japan.
The jury had two very different thoughts after the first assessment of the contributions. Some of the works made the jury wonder whether the contestant had understood the assignment, as they only contributed drafts or copies, illustrations that were sloppy as a whole or really not good enough. The jury didn’t have a hard time eliminating these contributions.
On the other hand, however, the jury also agreed almost unanimously on the works presented with much care, occasionally showing a lot of professionalism and craftsmanship. But the members of the jury weren’t surprised by big innovations, which is quite normal, as they have already seen and assessed so much work. It is hard to be truly original or innovative, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Originality often results in illustrations that are not from this world and not pro-children. Spielerei or l’art pour l’art. And that’s not what this competition is about. Illustrating is an applied graphic art. In this context, applied means serving a purpose: entertaining children and designing a story that is adapted to the environment children live in. This implies a different way of looking at the works contributed.
Some remarkable conclusions about this edition. First, many illustrators used collage techniques, with newspaper as the main material. Second, elephants play an important role in many stories. In every edition a certain animal steps into the limelight, this time the elephant.
The jury consisted of:
Lieve Pollet, councillor of culture of the city of Hasselt
Philippe Werck, publisher of Clavis Publishing
Liesbet Slegers, children’s book illustrator
Lieve Claeys, children’s book reviewer
Toin Duijx, teacher of children’s literature
For the seventh edition of the Illustrator’s Award the jury had to look at 292 contributions, which came from many different countries. Among them Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and Japan.
The jury had two very different thoughts after the first assessment of the contributions. Some of the works made the jury wonder whether the contestant had understood the assignment, as they only contributed drafts or copies, illustrations that were sloppy as a whole or really not good enough. The jury didn’t have a hard time eliminating these contributions.
On the other hand, however, the jury also agreed almost unanimously on the works presented with much care, occasionally showing a lot of professionalism and craftsmanship. But the members of the jury weren’t surprised by big innovations, which is quite normal, as they have already seen and assessed so much work. It is hard to be truly original or innovative, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Originality often results in illustrations that are not from this world and not pro-children. Spielerei or l’art pour l’art. And that’s not what this competition is about. Illustrating is an applied graphic art. In this context, applied means serving a purpose: entertaining children and designing a story that is adapted to the environment children live in. This implies a different way of looking at the works contributed.
Some remarkable conclusions about this edition. First, many illustrators used collage techniques, with newspaper as the main material. Second, elephants play an important role in many stories. In every edition a certain animal steps into the limelight, this time the elephant.
THE JURY NOMINATED THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTIONS
Der kleine Junge der immer auf seine Füsse guckt
Monika Mura (Germany)
A little boy is always sad and constantly looks at his feet. Everyone tries to cheer him up, but that isn’t easy. He looks at his shoes when he has swallowed cherry stones, when he’s afraid of the thunder and lightning, when he gets a bad school report … But when he sees his mom, he becomes happy again. Nothing bad can happen to him now. A story about being afraid, which will be recognizable for many children.
The style of the illustrations is unusual, with simple lines and colours. The character is not accessible, which is symbolized by the boy’s closed eyes, and yet he manages to evoke our sympathy. A very special contribution. The illustrations are a combination of simple coloured lines and collage, which is partly illustrated and cut up, partly simple coloured areas. The images are very powerful in their directness and simplicity. But we miss the connection with a child’s mind.
Tanneke en de kikkerprins
An Leysen (Belgium)
In an unguarded moment Tanneke the Witch kisses a frog, which changes into a prince. But the prince doesn’t want to marry a witch, so Tanneke has to become a princess in order to win the prince’s heart. That isn’t easy. Better stay a witch and no more kissing frogs. A cheerful story, not really original, but a nice variation on a famous fairy tale.
The illustrations are very cheerful as well: witches in all shapes and sizes, flying and casting spells. The technique isn’t always perfect and sometimes a bit sloppy, especially the colours. But one way or another it suits this witch story. The colours are fresh, the composition is sometimes strong, sometimes very ordinary, which gives it a messy look. The illustrations on the left page are very original, imitating in children’s drawings. This story and its witches are very promising.
Rob vaart naar de maan
Ducaneo Telgado (Belgium)
Rob wants to travel to the moon by boat. Nobody believes that’s possible. But in Rob’s imagination it is. When the sun is low in the sky and his shadow becomes very long, it has to work.
A downright fantasy story, probably not understandable for all children. Just like Rob they will need a lot of imagination to get into the story. The images are dreamy, in soft blue tones and with a character that might show up in your dreams. The images we saw, were a bit monotonous, but capture the right atmosphere. They attract the attention, because of the colours and the dreaminess. A stronger script and the right guidelines will help this illustrator tremendously.
De schoorsteenveger
Kristine Baeck (Belgium)
Bird is fond of music and flies towards it when he hears it. The music is coming from the chimney of the house were grandma lives. Grandma always sings when she cleans her house. She likes cleaning. When Bird falls through the chimney and lands into the stove, he covers the entire house with ashes. Grandma frees Bird and has to start all over again, which she doesn’t mind.
A simple story with dynamic images that are outlined in black and presented in a smooth design with beautiful colours. The perspective of the illustrator is refreshing, as she follows the flight of the bird. The story might be a bit too poor and not recognizable enough for children. There is, however, a nice sense of humour about it. The style is really original, but technically executed as it should be.
Zeig mir wie man fliegt
Dieter Konsek (Germany)
A little elephant wants to know whether elephants can fly. His mother says elephants stand firmly on the ground with their feet and that they can do lots of useful things, but the little elephant would love to fly anyway. He asks the butterfly, the feather, the thunder cloud and the bat for help. They all want to help him, but flying isn’t that easy. The little elephant is sad, but then his friends help him out. A story about dreaming and making dreams come true.
The plot isn’t spectacular, but not artificial either. A classic structure, but a warm story that will appeal to many children. The style of the illustrations is classic and direct. The characters show many emotions and will appeal to children of all ages. Soft pastel, which is used properly and provides lively colours. The story and the illustrations are well balanced. This illustrator is capable of bringing characters to life.
Franz ohne Schwanz
Eva Schatz & Susanne Strasser (Germany)
One day dog Franz wakes up without his tail. He is unhappy and goes looking for his tail. He meets everyone in his neighbourhood, some characters are regular, some strange. Finally he finds a new tail, which doesn’t fit properly, but he is happy anyway.
A cute dog. The characters are presented in original images. The story is rather weak, but the images make up for it. They will stimulate the imagination of children and encourage them to invent similar stories. A good combination of techniques. Collage and paint provide good colours and layered combinations. The composition is fresh and dynamic. With a strong story this illustrator will certainly make good books.
Luna-Lae
Annabel Lammers & Michael Bamber (Germany)
Kosimo Karfunkel has got seven sons and one daughter, Luna-Lae. Every night her brothers take care of the moon, cleaning and checking its craters. Luna-Lae wants to go to the moon too, but her father says it’s a man’s job. One night a comet flies past and the moon touches the sea. Now it’s time for Luna-Lae to visit the moon.
A fairy tale, a dream, a longing for the moon. This is a theme that regularly shows up in children’s books and therefore isn’t quite original. The images are surrealistic, with the right atmosphere. The moon, the night … the images are mainly blue, black and white, the colours of the night, but maybe not really meant for children. Lots of details, classic but good compositions and a very smart and technical execution favour this work.
Un monde à moi
Barbara Ortelli (Switzerland)
Nina is a girl with long plaits, because grandma wants it like that. Her friend Hugo is a nice dog with long ears. One day they are playing together in the garden when Nina ends up in a beautiful dream. Along the way she meets strange circus characters: a blue elephant, mister ‘Mercijevousenprie’, strange fat men and a seamstress. When she’s hungry she eats butterflies and flowers. And then she wakes up and mom enters the garden.
A dream, illustrated in a dreamy way, which leaves a lot to be imagined and is very detailed at the same time. Every image is a painting, which originated into detail in the illustrator’s mind. Beautiful, sophisticated compositions and wonderful colours. The illustrations are high-quality, but maybe aim a bit to high for the average child. The story is a dream, an succession of images. Structure and storyline are missing, which is quite a pity.
Hartenelsje
Gudrun Makelberge & Gary De Weerdt (Belgium)
Hartenelsje loves people and animals. Birds, old ladies, fish and a cat all have a place in her heart. When you have a big heart, you come across a lot of interesting people and things. But the number of characters in Hartenelsje’s heart are too much. Everyone has to be set free. Hartenelsje calls mom, for she always has a place in mom’s heart.
A tender story about love and big-heartedness. It might be a bit to contemplative and not narrative enough to entertain young children. The images are fascinating. The background and the details are made in collage, in which the illustrator put the characters in colourless line drawings. Hartenelsje is a special figure in a beautiful graphic design, but she doesn’t evoke emotions, even though this story is about love. The colours are quite gloomy and monotonous as well. Yet, the images are appealing in their directness and complexity.
