Last weekend I was really pleased to fly out to Valladolid, Spain to spend a couple of days at IlustraTour, the illustration festival. If you've not heard of IlustraTour before, then you are exactly who I wanted to write this post for, because while the festival has already been running since 2008 and is growing in size each year, it feels to me like it's also on the cusp of becoming something even more significant and exciting. People say the most effective way to raise awareness is by word of mouth. So here goes . . .
I was in Valladolid for two reasons. The first was that Mark Mills, founder of illustration agency Plum Pudding, invited me along to help him judge the third Plum Pudding Illustration Prize. This was one of the highlights for me, and allowed me to get a first look at all of the artwork, which was a real treat. With The Wizard of Oz as the theme, and each entry being vastly different from the next, it was a joy to go through all of the submissions. When Mark and I sat in a crowded lecture theatre on the morning of Saturday 5th, I was struck by how much enthusiasm was in the room with us. That was my first taste of the illustrators' untapped potential, bubbling away under the surface.
The results of the competition were:
First place Clara Gosálves Silva
Second place Brenda Figueroa
Third place Esther Burgueño
Later on that day, I saw the first half of my IlustraTour Network appointments. The Network event is a brilliant way for illustrators to showcase their work to people within the publishing industry. There was a mix of professionals giving advice and comments - those working both in Spain and internationally, encompassing books, magazines, and digital - almost 60 of us in all, which I found really impressive. Each of my meetings felt positive and exciting. It was a great chance for me to meet illustrators I wouldn't normally have the chance to meet, and they were all very talented and passionate. Here's a little taster of what I saw on both Saturday and Sunday:
Whenever I look at artwork, I find that my mind flits between my personal taste, which area of publishing I can imagine a particular artwork style working for and which publisher I can imagine wanting to commision that style. I think that's something illustrators don't often realise at first - that each publisher has its own identity which leads them to commission particular types of books. That's why it's so, so important for illustrators to research publishers and look closely at the books they're publishing right now, to see if they show signs of responding positively to a certain style of illustration or type of book. (Of course, I would also be the first to tell someone to take a chance and just send your artwork to a publisher even if you're not sure. Everyone loves a wildcard!)
As well as the illustrators I met at IlustraTour, I was amazed by the people who were working hard behind the scenes. The team at IlustraTour did a brilliant, brilliant job and were always in control, always on-hand with help or advice (or directions, in my case, for when I got lost!) and above all were always simply lovely people. I felt honored to be involved in the event alongside them, and I hope that I can continue to help IlustraTour grow and flourish in the future.
Before I sign off, here's even more of what I saw during the weekend.
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