Tag: Children’s books

MA student wins Penguin Design Award

We would like to congratulate our MA student Ailsa Johnson, who has won this year’s highly competitive Penguin Design Award in the Children’s book cover category.

The task was to illustrate and design a book cover for ‘Emil and the Detectives’ by German author Erich Kästner, a classic novel for Children set in 1930’s Berlin. To see the original brief and the shortlisted entries and to read the judges’ thoughts please follow this link. Here is what one of the judges, acclaimed writer and illustrator of children’s books, Anthony Browne, had to say about Ailsa’s entry:

‘The design conveys a real sense of story, inviting us into the book – making us want to find out what’s going on. Very clever and very funny. Beautifully designed, this would attract attention on the bookshop shelves. I’ve never seen a cover that looks like this before’

Ailsa will be graduating from Edinburgh College of Art with an MA in Illustration this August and while we wish her best of luck for her future we have no doubt that a busy and very creative time awaits her!

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Maisie Shearring wins the International Award for Illustration!

A huge congratulations to 2013 Alumni Maisie Shearring, winner of the 7th edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair – Fundación SM International Award for Illustration.

Maisie was selected from more than 3000 participants from 70 countries, while the judges examined over with 15 thousand works. As the winner, Maisie will be given the task of illustrating a book to be published by the SM Group. The book will be presented at the 2016 edition of the Fair, where Maisie Shearring is also due to hold a personal exhibition of her work. The Bologna Award for Children’s Book Illustration is a highly prestigious prize and an incredible and well deserved achievement.

After studying undergraduate Illustration here with us at Edinburgh College of Art, Maisie underwent an MA in Children’s Book Illustrationat Cambridge School of Art. She has thrived throughout her academic career with her strong sense of style, engaging characters and unique talent for storytelling. In October 2014 Maisie was also selected to be part of the Picturehooks Scheme, with personal mentor Nick Sharratt. We are eagerly awaiting the exhibition of her Picture Hooks work in the National Gallery of Scotland, November 2015 .

The Bologna International Award for Illustration is a fantastic initiative with the aim of encouraging and supporting new talent by bringing the work of young illustrators to the attention of the publishing sector. The panel of Bologna Judges noted that “This young artist has huge potential to evolve and to develop an original voice within the current panorama of illustration”. We couldn’t agree more and cannot wait to see Maisie go from strength to strength in her Illustration Career.

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Check out more of Maisie’s work here: http://www.maisieparadise.co.uk

Friday Talk – Patrick Benson

So this Friday is our LAST professional practice talk of the year! We hope our students have enjoyed the series and will refer to them often throughout their own illustration careers.

This week we will be joined by award winning children’s book illustratorPatrick Benson. Check out some of his work and short bio below. Patrick will also be offering valuable one-to-one tutorials with a selection of our flourishing children’s book illustrators.

Patrick studied classical drawing in Florence, and continued studying Art at Chelsea Art School and St Martin’s School of Art. He worked for a while in the fashion business before embarking on a career as illustrator.

In 1984 he won the Mother Goose Award, given annually to the most promising newcomer in children’s book illustration, for his illustration of William Mayne’s Hob Stories. He gained further acclaim for illustrating Owl Babies, written by Martin Waddell, The MinPins by Roald Dahl and since has illustrated many other titles, including The Little Boat by Kathy Henderson and The Sea-Thing Child by Russel Hoban, both shortlisted for a Kate Greenaway Medal.  The Little Boat also won the 1995 Kurt Maschler Award.

 
To see Patrick’s full bibliography visit:
As sad as we are to wave farewell to another brilliant year of Professional Practice Lectures, we cannot wait to hear Patrick’s words of wisdom and look forward to the next generation of the Friday Talk Series.

15 Things Not To Do With A Baby

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A huge congratulations to Alumni Holly Sterling on the release of her new children’s book ’15 Things Not To Do With A Baby’. Her playful and vibrant illustrations sit perfectly with the text by award-winning author, Margaret McAllister. ’15 Things Not To Do With A Baby’ gives light, loving and humorous advice to new parents and siblings, for instance ‘don’t lend your baby to a kangaroo, plant your baby in the garden, or take to school with you – and definitely don’t send your baby to play with an elephant!’. This exciting collaboration is currently ‘Book of the week’ with the UK’s leading independent children’s book magazine, Books for Keeps. 

Read the shining review from Ferelith Hordon below:

‘Her cheerful illustrations emphasise the underlying closeness of this family, turning what could be very difficult emotions into ones that can be handled with laughter. This effect is enhanced by her soft palette and chunky shapes. Her baby and his older sister bounce off the page with an endearing cheerfulness that demands a positive response. Here is an artist who, like Sarah Garland, is portraying a recognisable family with a freshness that is immediately attractive. The topic may not be new but the presentation is lively and engaging and establishes Sterling as an illustrator to watch.’

Holly Sterling has seen many successes during and following her time with us at ECA, achieving a Highly Commended for the Macmillan Illustration Prize and winning the Seven Stories/Frances Lincoln Illustration Competition in 2013. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Holly’s flourishing illustration career.

Find more of Holly Sterling’s work below:

http://hollysterling.blogspot.co.uk/

Seamonsters of Portobello

Last Friday our department welcomed a group of pupils, teachers, parents and grandparents from Towerbank Primary School. The children from Portobello had been working with our Second Year students and the author Vivian French to create a picture book about a sea monster.

Our students incorporated the children’s drawings into a large book, as well as creating little sea monster books of their own, both of which they presented to the pupils on Friday.

Quite possibly Edinburgh's longest book!
Quite possibly Edinburgh’s longest book!
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Early masterpieces by aspiring young artists.
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Peony and her book, with sea monster cake in the background.

It was fun to have visitors in our department, a big thank you to everyone involved!