Jillian Tamaki, along with her partner Sam Weber, are among the most respected and successful designers/illustrators working today. I discovered their work while taking Illustration classes in art school, and quickly fell in love. Today, I continue to follow their work because they are the kind of artists that motivate me while I doggedly pursue my own dreams of doodlin’ for a living.
A few weeks ago Jillian announced she was holding a contest in which anyone could submit a drawing (or donate to Unicef) for a chance to win, either a bag of goodies or a copy of Irish Myths & Legends, which Jillian illustrated. This was a no-brainer! I submitted a drawing.
The drawing contest theme was Summer Myths, and to tell you the truth guys, nothing came immediately to mind. I mean, nothing I wanted to draw. Vague fuzzy things of pools and jellyfish, but zero compositions. So I did a little research.
I rediscovered the old tale of seeds sprouting in your stomach if you swallowed watermelon seeds. Thumbnails ensued.
I played with the idea of a collection of summer-ish vignettes.
But I went back to the “seed” myth, and I liked this concept.
Pencil draft. (Uhh..yeahhh….sorry for the not-so-great photo.)
The drawing was made with India Ink, watercolor, pastels, charcoal, AND my trusty Sakura White Gelly Roll pen (♥♥♥). I scanned it in for a bit of light Photoshop magic.
And the final piece! I sent off my contest entry last week and crossed my fingers.
There were to be three winners: one randomly selected from the pool of donations, and two of the best drawings: one pro, and on non-pro. Jillian announced the contest winners today, and, dudes – I WON!!!!
Not only am I super excited to receive my copy of the Irish Myths & Legends book, filled with Jillian’s luscious illustrations, but a nod from the lady herself is quite the honor for me.
I was in good company too, as evidenced by the selection of honorable mentions and fellow Pro-winner Andrew Schick. Please pay a visit to the results page and see for yourself.
Thanks to Jillian! And I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend; I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect ending to mine!
