A Winner is You

So as a wrap-up to the long entries posted a couple months back, the Student Exhibition I helped jury opened last Friday at the Society of Illustrators. It was actually a week of student work for me. A couple of days earlier, I attended the School of Visual Arts Senior Illustration show, which was interesting. SVA is by any measure one of the top art schools in the country, and their senior show definitely showed the goods. The percentage of seniors for whom I had optimistic outlooks was surprisingly high, as befits a school with SVA's reputation. And I am definitely a glass-basically-empty guy. Especially when it comes to the incredibly harsh realities of the business of illustration. It turns out that 2 of the 3 pieces I had really championed for the Society competition were from SVA students. I didn't know that at the time, since we didn't know the schools when judging. The third was, I believe, a Ringling student. Ringling is also considered one of the finest art schools in the land. Hmm.

It should be noted that in the end, SVA and Ringling also seemed to have a very high participation rate in the competition. About 6 schools/universities seemed to be heavily represented. CCA, my own school was not well represented, for instance. Or at least, it's possible that they were but only one piece (IIRC) made it in. So, perhaps it's more accurate to say that about 6 schools got lots of works in. These, then, would be among the best schools.

It got more packed still

So, back to the Society. I expected a busy opening, but oh man it was as packed as any of the major professional shows--that so many NY-area students got in perhaps helped with attendance. It was good to see the work hanging on the walls, and must've been a thrill for the students. Seen hung and nicely spaced and in-context as an exhibiton, all of the work had a different flavor, a different...dignity, I suppose. No longer were these slides or specimens to scrutinize, now they were just works of art to enjoy.

So, a piece of advice for these burgeoning artists: if you are entering (and winning awards in) big competitions--please please please get even a quickie blog website up. Something where you can be found. Because people might want to find you--people who might want to give you more money, or work. I tried to make a point to find out who a few artists were, particularly of those pieces I was particularly fond of, and if they were in attendance. I wanted to congratulate them in person and encourage them a little, let them know that it wasn't some faceless jury they impressed, but an actual person, and an illustrator at that. I think that sort of thing is important--at least, I know I always have really appreciated someone going out of their way to compliment a piece of my work in person, particularly if they have a little story behind their appreciation of a piece I've done. It was difficult with it being so packed, and on two floors. I did track down Cannaday Chapman because he was wise and hung out in the vicinity of his work for a little while. I also said some nice words to some other artists who were also wise and were found near their art, even if they didn't have pieces I pushed strongly for, because with a ~2% acceptance rate, anyone on that wall deserved congratulations. I also spoke briefly with one of the two grand prize winners, Becca Green, and her fellow Kendall College of Art and Design student Liisa Rush (I think that's actually how it's spelled). But see, despite Kendall apparently having a very solid drawing and painting department (they both are realists and painters), they apparently haven't told their students to put up basic websites. So, no links, although Becca was interviewed on her piece elsewhere.

So there you go. A new batch of artists who are out to drink my milkshake, as it were. Still, I honestly wish them well.

And for putting up with another wall of text, your reward: