My last Chance! Part 1
I have no arts background and the only time someone told me, how to hold a pen and draw was in primary school during art education. I’ve always enjoyed drawing and scribbling though , but was never confident enough to dare making it my career or even applying at art schools. So I am at the moment finishing my undergrad in Psychology and deciding to go a complete different way. To start in the business I will need exposure, this blog and my website (which I will have to work on a bit more) are my first steps. Another good way (or so I read) is participating in competitions.
One of the biggest in the UK is going on right now, the Macmillan Prize for Children’s books, which is awarded every year around this time to a student. It is aimed at art students and they are the ones who know about it first, because their teachers and tutors are most likely supporting them. I stumbled upon it by chance last year, but by then it was too late with the deadline only two weeks away and me working full time. You have to be non graduated student to participate, so being in my final year, this is my last chance. I know I do not stand a chance against all the brilliantly talented and well trained art students, but at least I put something together that I am proud of showing off and maybe get some professional feedback – which I wouldn’t know where else to get.
The conditions for the Macmillan Prize are that one has to design a children’s book cover to cover as a dummy and hand in at least 3 double spreads of artwork and the cover or 4 double spreads. I went for the later. The story can be invented by one self, created in collaboration with a writer or a fairy tale. Again I went for the later one. I chose one of the most loved German fairy tales (in Germany), which is almost unknown in the English speaking world. It is probably one of the oldest tales in the Brother’s Grimm collection. In German it is called “Frau Holle” (Ms Holle) and in English it is known as “Mother Hulda”. For my book I will call her Mother Holle – a compromise, because I don’t like the name Hulda very much :) I also changed a few bits, which I don’t think are pc anymore.
Today I finished my last of the four double spreads and will post one each day with the story as far, as the picture with it tells it. At the moment I’m trying to fix my dummy (which should be “well produced” – but well…, never bound a book in my life), getting the files ready for print and mount and then off with it to the Macmillan office in London. It has been tough (especially since I should be studying for exams) and I had no one to turn to, to ask for advice and got all my knowledge and skills out of books (and youtube), but I feel like I learned so much! Ha, even though my chances are tiny (just googled other people’s entries – a discouraging thing to do), I can be certain that I’m the only one participating from my Uni :) Wish me good luck everyone – I need it!!! And please give me some feedback, if you have time!
Mother Holle
by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; Retold and Illustrated by AriHoMa
Once upon a time, a widow had two daughters, Maya who was kind hearted and hard working and Mara, who was rude and lazy. And as Mara was her own daughter, the widow loved her much the best, and Maya was made to do all the work, and be the maid of the house.
Every day the poor girl had to sit by a well by the road and spin so much that her fingers bled.
Now it happened that one day the spindle was completely bloody, so she dipped it in the well, to wash it off, but it slipped out of her hands and fell in.
She cried, ran to her stepmother, and told her of the mishap. She scolded her harshly, and was so merciless that she said, “Since you let the spindle fall in, you must fetch it out again.”
Maya went back to the well, and did not know what to do. Terrified, she jumped into the well to get the spindle. As she fell, she became unconscious.
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