Global Talent Search

This year I decided to participate in the Global Talent Search (GTS) held by Lilla Rogers Studio. I guess this is the second year that the competition has been running. The winner will receive representation from Lilla Rogers Studio for two years, which means the artist/illustrator will receive many  opportunities for licensing their work with decor, stationary companies, and textile factories.  Of course, it is a dream of many artists! The competition has several rounds. On August 26^th the semi-finalists will be announced. I cross my fingers!
 

Assignment. The theme for the first round was ‘little terrarium’ for the wall art. We could interpret that topic in any way we would like to, to use any materials, and to work in any style we want. At least one word should be written on an illustration. The assignment gave us a lot of freedom, and we were given two weeks for that round – which is great.

I just published my second post  here about terrariums about a month ago. I made them not for the competition but just for my personal project. Honestly, I was a little bit surprised and disappointed by the theme, but I guess terrariums are trendy! But my GTS project turned out absolutely in a different way and I am so happy with the little illustration!

Idea. Terrariums remind me of a small world. They are so whimsical. Or they could be whimsical. I decided that a terrarium is a good place for a fairy tale, especially a fairy tale which happens in the woods. I have chosen the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, or known also as Little Red Cap (yes, that brutal story where a mean wolf swallows a grandma...). I tried my best – I changed the plot: the wolf is charmed by a little girl and changed his mind to swallow a sick grandma and... happy ending! I placed a terrarium on a book to show the connection between the book and a magical world in the terrarium. Also, it solved the problem with the text – I just added two words FAIRY TALES on a book binder. Here is my work:

Process. This time I made my illustration digitally. I made a couple of sketches by hand just to develop the idea. That’s why I completed the illustration pretty fast. 

Submission. The requirement was to submit the work as low as 72 dpi. Honestly, my illustration lost some sharpness, some details and textures. I think it is too low resolution to present a work. I don’t know how other people dealt with that to improve the quality of the image and at the same time to stay within the 72 dpi limit. 

Feedback. I think the competition is really very interesting. I am looking forward Tuesday not just to know my result but to see the work of other artists. It gives a lot of inspiration and also helps me to grow, to compare your work with other awesome artists. It would be so nice to be at least in the second round to have one more assignment to work on.

Lilla Rogers Studio is offering an online course Make Art That Sells (Part A&B). I guess, most of the participants of the GTS are the students of that course. I heard very good feedback about the course but unfortunately this is very costly. 

UPDATE: Nope, I didn't make a cut. Will try next year again.  Here you can enjoy the top 50 and the gallery of all 999 is here. So many wonderful works entered the competition this year!  Congratulations on semi-finalists and good luck everyone! XOXO