2010 Original Art: Celebrating the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration October 24, 2010 21:29

I went to the Society of Illustrators 2010 Original Art Show opening reception last week and it was AMAZING! I urge all of you to check out the exhibit which is running to November 24th. There are about 130 original pieces on display. It was fascinating to see up close all the little details like brush strokes that the printing process doesn't always pick up. Some of the collage pieces also caught my eye because you could really see all the work that went into cutting all the layers of papers used in the piece. The highlight of my evening was meeting Eric Carle! We talked about his museum, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, in Amherst, Massachusetts, a place I have been dying to check out since I first heard about it. It was mentioned in his introduction that his book The Very Hungry Little Caterpillar has sold over 30 million copies worldwide - now that's mindblowing! He was at the show to accept a lifetime achievement award - I am still gushing!

 

 

Gold and silver medals were awarded to three chosen books representing a wide variety of medium and technique. Renata Liwska received this year's gold medal for her illustrations in The Quiet Book. Silver medals were awarded to Carson Ellis for her book Dillweed's Revenge and Dan Santat for Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World).