The Artworks is incredibly excited to announce an open call for new graduates to apply for our Startworks mentoring programme!
Since the agency was founded, Startworks has been helping new graduates bridge the gap between leaving university and kickstarting their career as an illustrator. We continue to successfully represent many artists who have joined the agency through Startworks; helping to expand portfolios, build client relationships and navigate the creative industry.
If you have graduated as part of the class of 2020 from an illustration, design or arts degree and think you’re ready to leap into the world of professional illustration, then we want to hear from you!
Please send a short introduction, no more than 5 low-res jpegsand a link to your online portfolio, to submissions@theartworksinc.com . To reiterate, this is only open to those who have graduated in 2020. Please be aware that due to the overwhelming amount of applications, we can only respond to those who have been successful, but we thank everyone for taking the time to get in touch.
Best of luck! We look forward to hearing from the graduates of 2020!
We are delighted to announce that Meiklejohn has teamed up with Live Life Give Life for their Heart At Home campaign, supporting the transplant community who are listed as the most vulnerable to Coronavirus by the government.
IllustrationX are delighted to have Abi Langridge – AKA Paperface join as their latest signing having won the SAA Award at the WIA Awards last year where she stood out to all of us with her, her portfolio is now Live on the site and she is welcoming commissions.
Working in a bold, graphical style, Paperface – creates illustrations that are punchy and expressive, yet light-hearted in tone and thoroughly charming. Her background in graphic garida design means she’s adept at reducing clutter and ensuring that the core message hits home in an instant, knows her way around an agency brief and understands the creative process.
Growing up in Grantham, Abi has been drawn to illustration since childhood. She received a degree in graphic design from Leeds University, before working in London and New York, later returning to the UK and settling in Yorkshire. Her time in the US is a big source of inspiration, with the landscape, culture, people, food and wildlife across the country feeding into her personal work.
To see Paperface's outstanding work please visit her portfolio HERE
Ben Beach of WRKSHP 33 was commissioned by Fox Sports to create a high-impact illustrated backdrop for the pre-match press conference for the World Heavyweight Championship: Fury vs. Wilder fight.
Earlier this month members of The SAA were delighted to join friends, colleagues and remarkable talent for the prestigious World Illustration Awards 2019.
We are delighted and incredibly proud that Bright author illustrator Fiona Woodcock has won the World Illustration Awards 2019 Children’s Book Category for her children’s book LOOK, published by HarperCollins US imprint Greenwillow Books.
Fiona at Somerset House for the World Illustration Awards 2019
Told entirely in words that contain a double ‘O’, LOOK is the story of a brother and sister’s day, including a trip to the zoo, where they discover baboons, balloons and many more delights!
The engaging, interactive text is perfect for emerging readers – encouraging them to read through the blend of letters and pictures – and has captured the hearts of both children and adults with its heart-warming illustrations and fun word play.
Established over 40 years ago, the AOI’s World Illustration Awards are widely respected across the industry, offering a comprehensive insight into the ideas, trends and techniques that are at the forefront of illustration today. Previous winners of the award include Benji Davies in 2015 for Grandad’s Island (published by Simon & Schuster).
Fiona
“It is such an enormous honour and a beautiful surprise for LOOK to receive this World Illustration Award. I was thrilled to be shortlisted amongst so many brilliant children’s books, so to be given this recognition from the judges really does mean a lot.
“There’s a lovely sense of things linking back up, because I first came across The Bright Agency at an AOI talk held at Somerset House six years ago. And I always visit the World Illustration Awards exhibition, so I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of it this year.
Fiona with her winning artwork, Fiona and Bright MD Vicki Willden-Lebrecht and Director Arabella Stein at Somerset House
“The concept for the book was an idea I had many years ago and when I eventually started trying to shape it into a book my personal brief was to produce a vibrant and playful story using double ‘O’ words. I incorporated the ‘OO’ letters into the illustrations to encourage children to engage with both the words and pictures together.
“The initial inspiration came from a pair of 2003 New Year’s glasses. The double zeros transformed into double ‘O’ words in my sketches and I started playing around with both the shape and sound, experimenting with words which worked well when incorporated in the image.”
“Once the difficult part of deciding on the sequence of events was resolved it was a real pleasure to focus on the artwork. I created every element of the illustration individually on paper, using stencils and rubber stamps to create varied areas of textured colour. Then I composited them together like a collage digitally, sometimes changing the size and colour if needed. This final stage came together relatively quickly after all those years of walking around with the idea knocking around in the back of my head.
“This book taught me to persevere with my ideas, even though they might not exactly fit with picture book conventions.”
“I find that publishers are often after unique individuals, so I think about what I love to draw best and let ideas grow from that. Of course, making books is a team game, so I’d like to say a big thank you to Greenwillow Books for seeing the potential in my idea.”
Fiona at Somerset House for the World Illustration Awards 2019
Fiona with her winning artwork, Fiona and Bright MD Vicki Willden-Lebrecht and Director Arabella Stein at Somerset House
