Taking A Leap Of Faith
On entering an illustration competition.
In March this year the publisher Folio Society, renowned for their amazingly illustrated books, announced their illustration competition: The Folio Book Illustration Award. I decided to enter it.
The Fliers of Gy
The participants had to choose a scene from the short story The Fliers of Gy by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's an interplanetary tale about people who have feathers instead of hair. But only one in a thousand grows wings. Here's a physical description of the Gyr people:
Most men have ruffs at the back of the neck, shorter feathers all over the head, and tall, erectile crests. The head-plumage of males is brown or black, barred and marked variously with bronze, red, green, and blue. Women's plumes usually grow long, sometimes sweeping down the back almost to the floor, with soft, curling, trailing edges, like the tail-plumes of ostriches; the colors of the feathers of women are vivid-purple, scarlet, coral, turquoise, gold.
I decided to go with this scene for my illustration:
Whether she flies or falls, all the men of the tribe, screaming with excitement, shoot at her with bow and arrow or throw their razor-pointed hunting spears. She falls, pierced by dozens of spears and arrows.
I liked the idea of setting it at dawn, which lended itself to a colour palette that worked well with the description of the women in the text. I wanted to put the emphasis on the woman's face, showing sadness and resignation as she plunged to her death. And of course the wings were important, taking a lot of space (so many feathers!).
I submitted my entry at the end of April, and waited patiently for the results to be announced at some point in May. I got the email last week. I didn't make the longlist.
And looking at the selected 20 (out of 730 entries), frankly, I’m not surprised. The illustrations chosen are all amazing. Even my most biased aunt (and they're all extremely biased) wouldn't dare say I was robbed. I mean look at them! Good luck to the judges having to make the final decision. Here are my favourite three.
It's interesting that half of the longlisted entries are based on the same passage I chose. I'm guessing the pathos in it attracted us.
Now, even before seeing the finalists I worried the characters in my illustrations looked stiff. But oof, it's even worse when comparing them to some of the entries! The angles and compositions are so much more dynamic than mine. And I love the way some are more conceptual while still conveying the scene.
Even though I understand why I wasn't selected, I'm sad about the outcome. Truth is, I really need a sign that I'm on the right track at the moment, and I'd hoped this would be it… But I'm taking notes, seeing it as an opportunity to learn and improve my skills. Next time I’ll think longer about the composition, and how the characters could look more alive and in motion.
Judith xx
Podcast recommendation
You Must Remember This is a podcast “about the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century.” And those histories are fascinating. You don’t even have to know the actors mentioned (I often don’t) to enjoy the podcast. Karina Longworth writes, produces and narrates the show. The only fault I can find is that she speaks veeeery slowly, so you might want to speed it up by 1.5x.
I suggest you start with the episode about Vanessa Williams and Whitney Houston, I’m sure it will hook you in.
You can follow my illustration and graphic design work here.
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