Babies of wire confetti, a crowned rabbit, little girls watering topiary, a vet mechanic, and skeletal love, are among the themes of the eight FIT student illustrations selected by the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Competition. The field was narrowed from 8,700 entries. According to the Society, the judges made their choices based on “quality of technique, concept and skill of medium.”
“The work was enormously diverse–pen and ink, egg tempera, oil, gouache, digital, traditional. And what great individuality of themes with strong fundamentals!” said Illustration Assistant Chair Kam Mak who has organized the competition for 16 years.
Our Illustration professors offer their comments on the work:
Title: Babyshambles!
Artist: Naya Cheyenne Diaz
Medium: Acrylic, Gouache and Digital
Instructor: John Nickle
“Babyshambles!” is from Naya’s series of Surreal album cover illustrations inspired by a literal interpretation of the band’s name, says Professor Nickle. “Naya first painted in acrylic and gouache then scanned the painting and completed the illustration digitally.”
Title: A Black Man’s World
Artist: Alejandro Bonilla Jr.
Medium: Pen and Ink/water color on board
Instructor: Richard Elmer
“Alejandro Bonilla is a creative, young gentleman who has an artistic sensibility balanced with curiosity,” says Professor Richard Elmer who had Bonilla in his Mentor class. “He had a pretty good idea of the direction he wanted to explore, conveying conflict as he himself experienced it through contrasting color and medium. I am very glad his work was recognized.”
To see some of Alejandro’s Vines go to: Alejandro Bonilla Jr.
Title: Year of the Rabbit
Artist: Jennifer Lynn Vasquez
Medium: Oil Painting
Instructor: John Nickle
“’Year of the Rabbit’ was part of Jenifer’s series of Chinese New Year images,” says Professor Nickle. “In this piece, Jennifer balances humor and tradition. She used a classic painting method with a lot of finely rendered detail, and decoration.”
Title: Topiary Pattern
Artist: Jennifer Talkachov
Medium: Digital
Instructor: Daniel Shefelman
“Jennifer has a delicate traditional pen and ink style and is interested in creating patterns,” says Professor Shefelman. “For this assignment she chose to work in pen and ink, then scan into the computer to change and add color. It’s worth a zoom in on her images to see the meticulous detail lovingly drawn on the topiaries.”
Title: Vet Mechanic
Artist: Nicolette Pasumbal
Medium: Digital
Instructor: John Nickle
“‘Vet Mechanic’ is part of Nicolette’s series of curiously offbeat, imagined characters in their environments,” says Professor Nickle. “She first rendered ‘Vet Mechanic’ using an additive and subtractive method with ink on scratchboard. She then finished the piece by digitally adding colors and textures.”
To see more Nicolette’s “Greed” from Pandora’s Box go to: Misery loves company in the Pomerantz Center
Title: Falling
Artist: Daniel Scanno
Medium: Pencil, Photoshop
Instructor: Stephen Gardener
“I have to give all the credit to Danny on this one,” said Prof. Gardener. “We discussed the project and I gave a little direction and told Danny to look at the recent paintings by Greg Manchess who was working with a similar theme. Danny came to class with the project fully worked out; I could only be impressed.”
Title: Sisters
Artist: Meagan Meli
Medium: Egg tempera
Instructor: Eric Velasquez
“Meagan Meli was in my Book Illustration class last year. She has a keen interest in medical illustration specifically medical oddities. She wrote the text and illustrated the images with beautifully rendered drawings for her book project ‘Atlas Obscura: Medical Oddities.’ In Book Illustration II she painted 11 of the interiors including ‘Sisters’ (above). The interior illustrations are meticulously painted using egg tempera. I feel very fortunate to have had such a talented and ambitious student like Meagan. Her dedication set the tone for the rest of the class.”
Read more about Meagan Meli’s work here: In Meagan Meli’s portfolio: A Forest Princess, Cyclops & Valentine
Title: Waiting for the 1
Artist: Eduardo Cuba
Medium: Photoshop
Instructor: John Nickles
“Waiting For the One” was done for the Aliens Underground show that was in the Pomerantz Center lobby here at FIT. “Eduardo plays on a double entendre meaning of the word ”aliens” as he depicts space aliens waiting for the 1 train at the 28th St. subway station,” says Professor Nickles. “Eduardo manages to capture the urban grit and grime of the subway.”
FIT student illustrations will be on display in the Society’s museum from May 10, 2016-June 04, 2016. For information about the opening repetition on May 13, go to: Society of Illustrators 2016 Student Scholarship Competition reception
For more information on our Illustration major go to: BFA Illustration
Art work used with permission