Thursday, January 6, 2011

2011 Tomie dePaola Award Winner Announced!

SCBWI received more than 150 entries from illustrators for the 2011 Tomie dePaola Award. This year's contest asked illustrators to create an original piece interpreting the opening of Johanna Spyri’s HEIDI. "I want to see an image, a style, a vision that I’ve never seen before!" Tomie said. "I want to be surprised, excited and--VERY jealous that I didn’t think of that way to illustrate it."

The winner, chosen by Tomie dePaola himself, is Katia Wish. Katia wins a $1,000 gift certificate for art supplies, plus full tuition, transportation and accommodations to the SCBWI Annual Winter Conference. Her winning piece will be featured at the exhibition in New York.

"The composition of Katia's piece is very striking, as is the point of view," said Tomie. "I like her painting style and the figure of Heidi is full of life. I also like the way she placed Heidi's face against the black skirt of the adult figure. The vertical shape of the illustration gives the viewer a real sense of the mountains and I love the way Heidi is being 'pulled' into the picture."

Congratulatins, Katia Wish! Here is her winning entry.


Here are three other entries that Tomie dePaola found noteworthy with commentary from him. They are the work of Julie Phillipps, Bradley Cooper, and Nancy Davis.

The piece submitted by Julie Phillipps stands
out because of her fabric collage technique,
incorporating the landscape into the coat. Very nice.

Bradley Cooper's piece is more realistic. Very nice
rendering of Heidi's face, full of emotion.
This style would be very suitable for an older
child or even an adult book.

Nancy Davis used a cut paper technique,
but it is her very simple stylized interpretation
that caught my eye. Very child-like and perky.


The illustration challenge for next year's Tomie dePaolo Award has not yet been announced--check SCBWI.org for updates.
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20 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2011 at 5:22 AM

    Congratulations, Katia!!...!

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  2. Jed AlexanderJanuary 6, 2011 at 5:32 AM

    Congratulations Katia! I entered as well, but I think he made an excellent choice!

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  3. atlanticmoJanuary 6, 2011 at 5:47 AM

    Congratulations to Katia. I wish I could see more entries. It's fun to see the different interpretaions.

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  4. Carolyn Dee FloresJanuary 6, 2011 at 5:54 AM

    The winners are beautiful. Way to go - Bradley!!!!

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  5. CarlaJanuary 6, 2011 at 5:59 AM

    Wow! Congrats Katia.To have Tommie dePaola declare your illustration to be the best is a reward by itself. Have fun at the Winter conference!

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  6. Jonas_IllustrationJanuary 6, 2011 at 6:52 AM

    A wise choice for first place. Beautiful perspective. I also love Julie Phillipps character. Congratulations to everyone who entered, everything looks marvelous!

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  7. Phyllis HarrisJanuary 6, 2011 at 7:55 AM

    Congratulations, Katia!!

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  8. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2011 at 8:14 AM

    Congrats Katia! I love it!

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  9. UnknownJanuary 6, 2011 at 8:18 AM

    Ooooh, I especially love that Bradley Cooper piece. Gorgeous.

    What fun, Alice! Thanks for sharing this.

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  10. Michelle HenningerJanuary 6, 2011 at 8:42 AM

    Congratulations to all of you! Beautiful work!!

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  11. Ginger*:)January 6, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    Congratulations katia! The image is so wonderful. And congratulations to all the other wonderful artists. Many thanks to Tomie dePaola for the opportunity, the idea, and the recognition.

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  12. Lee Wind, M.Ed.January 6, 2011 at 10:56 AM

    Oh - this was so much fun! What a great challenge, and I LOVE the winning entry! Congrats to Katia for winning and Tomie for selecting so well and being able to articulate WHY it was so great! I also liked seeing the three runner-ups, it's fascinating to see how many ways the "same" scene can be interpreted!
    Namaste,
    Lee

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  13. KATIA WISHJanuary 6, 2011 at 11:49 AM

    Thank you, everyone!!!

    I'm so honored and excited to receive the award. I got the call from SCBWI yesterday and I'm still recovering from the shock. I'm happy that you liked the piece. See you at the conference!

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  14. Laurie L YoungJanuary 6, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    Congratulations to Katia and all the runners-up! I love each one and am impressed by all the imaginative ways each artist came up with to interpret the scene.

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  15. Loni EdwardsJanuary 6, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    Congratulations, Katia and to the runners up also! Lovely pieces. That was a very fun contest to enter :)

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  16. Lisa YeeJanuary 6, 2011 at 6:39 PM

    Wow, those all look fabulous. Congrats to all!

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  17. R.M. RiveraJanuary 7, 2011 at 3:40 AM

    Congratulations Katia! Beautiful and engaging piece.
    And congratulations to the runner ups and everyone who entered

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  18. UnknownJanuary 7, 2011 at 7:42 AM

    Fran said...
    I think that all the illustrations are very talented but I think that the Bradley Cooper one is more age appropriate for the 'Heidi' novel. The illustration and colors are just beautiful and depicts the story well.

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  19. Richard Jesse WatsonJanuary 7, 2011 at 8:07 PM

    Congrats Katia, Julie, Bradley, and Nancy! Gorgeous work. Makes me want to go to Switzerland, buy a goat, or eat some yogurt. Seriously, nice work.

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  20. marcia harmonJanuary 11, 2011 at 6:38 AM

    Kudos to Brad for his great insight of Heidi's feelings. It is a very down to earth intrepretation of the characters and one which is quite pleasing to my reading pleasure.
    I'm very proud of you Brad!!!

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