Thanks for the mention! It’s really nice to see that my post inspired you to ponder the subject of jealousy. And I totally get it: I have also entered various competitions and have always been heartbroken when I didn’t even make the longlist which (up until this year) has been: always.
And I totally agree with you that certain competition seem to favour certain styles.
For example, I’d say Picturehooks tend to go for a very lose, simplistic style. I remember making an illustration for the competition once that was quite detailed and very ‘tight’. Of course, it wasn’t selected and when I later looked at some of their winners, I totally got why.
At the same time, I have always thought of the World Illustration Awards as very focused on digital art, so when I entered this year, I felt like my pencil drawings stood zero chance. Imagine my surprise when I got the message that they had been longlisted.
Full disclosure though: in the same week that I found out I was longlisted, I got rejected by an agent even though I had sent her the very illustrations that got me longlisted.
*Sigh* Art - it’s so subjective.
@Rubywright actually wrote a Substack on competitions a while back which was really interesting. She actually listed all the times she was rejected which provided a good reality check.
I also recently watched an interview with a former WIA winner and she said she had been rejected lots of times and it was only when she made something that was super close to her heart that she was ‘finally chosen’. Now, I’m not saying that your entries weren’t close to your heart, but I can definitely say that this has also been true for me.
In any case, I hope you do keep submitting things because who knows, next year might be your lucky year. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you in any case.
First of all, congratulations, Chantal! So excited for you, along with the mentorship. You got longlisted because your work is good (and coming from your heart). Hope you didn’t get me wrong on that when I said “not winning doesn’t mean I’m not good”. Actually I was shortlisted for WIA in 2019 :) But it never happened again since and I don’t think my illustration got worse since (I hope not 😂). Awards are a funny thing. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll enter paid competitions ever again.
Winning an award definitely helps to raise your visibility (and book sales to some extent) but I think it’s dangerous to focus on winning awards. As Tilda Swinton says “that stuff’s breakable. That’s shatterable.”
And thanks for sharing your experience (re agent). Art is a tricky business 😭
Comparisonitis is a terrible affliction! This is a lovely thoughtful look at why these things just don't matter...
Hi Momoko,
Thanks for the mention! It’s really nice to see that my post inspired you to ponder the subject of jealousy. And I totally get it: I have also entered various competitions and have always been heartbroken when I didn’t even make the longlist which (up until this year) has been: always.
And I totally agree with you that certain competition seem to favour certain styles.
For example, I’d say Picturehooks tend to go for a very lose, simplistic style. I remember making an illustration for the competition once that was quite detailed and very ‘tight’. Of course, it wasn’t selected and when I later looked at some of their winners, I totally got why.
At the same time, I have always thought of the World Illustration Awards as very focused on digital art, so when I entered this year, I felt like my pencil drawings stood zero chance. Imagine my surprise when I got the message that they had been longlisted.
Full disclosure though: in the same week that I found out I was longlisted, I got rejected by an agent even though I had sent her the very illustrations that got me longlisted.
*Sigh* Art - it’s so subjective.
@Rubywright actually wrote a Substack on competitions a while back which was really interesting. She actually listed all the times she was rejected which provided a good reality check.
I also recently watched an interview with a former WIA winner and she said she had been rejected lots of times and it was only when she made something that was super close to her heart that she was ‘finally chosen’. Now, I’m not saying that your entries weren’t close to your heart, but I can definitely say that this has also been true for me.
In any case, I hope you do keep submitting things because who knows, next year might be your lucky year. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you in any case.
First of all, congratulations, Chantal! So excited for you, along with the mentorship. You got longlisted because your work is good (and coming from your heart). Hope you didn’t get me wrong on that when I said “not winning doesn’t mean I’m not good”. Actually I was shortlisted for WIA in 2019 :) But it never happened again since and I don’t think my illustration got worse since (I hope not 😂). Awards are a funny thing. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll enter paid competitions ever again.
Winning an award definitely helps to raise your visibility (and book sales to some extent) but I think it’s dangerous to focus on winning awards. As Tilda Swinton says “that stuff’s breakable. That’s shatterable.”
And thanks for sharing your experience (re agent). Art is a tricky business 😭