California: Los Angeles County

2015 Mentorship Contest

Illustrators or Authors/Illustrators

PRIZE:
Six-month mentorship with Deborah Nourse Lattimore and free tuition to SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator’s Day (Fall 2015). The mentorship includes six-months of critiques, phone calls and one-on-one meetings, plus a visit to Children’s Book World and a working illustrator’s studio.

ABOUT THE MENTORSHIP:
Lattimore will help the winner to get the most out of various art techniques, to discover which media are the best fit, and to work on character design from all angles, including:

– Developing environmental spaces
– Changing light sources
– Adding variety of style and design
– Pacing action including “pause pages” and acceleration
– Pacing vignettes that spill over several pages
– Adding tension and variety to dummy and full-color art
– Pacing text and fonts for best effect
– Seeing ways to fix problems

Assignments will be tailored to the winner’s timetable, current projects and goals, and identified areas for improvement.

“Mentoring is as individual as the person coming in the door.”
– Deborah Nourse Lattimore

DATES:
Submissions: March 1-March 31, 2015
Winner announced: April 25, 2015
Mentorship: May-October 2015
Illustrator’s Day: Fall 2015

ELIGIBILITY:
1. You must be a member in good standing of the SCBWI-L.A. region.
2. Associate or Full members may apply. (No PAL members).
3. Limited to one entry per person.

SUBMISSIONS:
To ensure fairness for all, no questions will be answered.

CONTENT
Your submission will consist of two parts:

I. Written responses to the following questions:

– What are your goals?
– What are your favorite stories, both from childhood and into the present?
– Which one of your projects – whether the seed of an idea, a work-in-progress, or a work in your “some day” file – would you most like to see published? In essence: What is your dream project?

II. Digital images of your best work

Provide up to 10 images of your best work: sketches, full color, ink, pencil, computer art, 3-D pieces, fabric, clay or construction. “I want to see whatever the artist feels is her or his best, and whatever interests them most. I’ve worked with artists on very young picture books all the way up to graphic novels. Everything interests me. And I have taught all these areas as well.” – Deborah Nourse Lattimore

RULES
Submissions not in compliance with the following rules WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

1. DO NOT contact Deborah Nourse Lattimore directly.

2. Your submission must be emailed with the subject line MENTOR CONTEST to: scbwilacontests@gmail.com

3. In the body of your email include:

– Your current SCBWI member name
– Address
– Phone numbers
– Email address

4. Provide your written answers to the questions in Roman numeral I (above) as a PDF attachment. Name your file: LAST NAME_ANSWERS. Example: Seuss_Answers.pdf

5. Your digital images should be 300 dpi, TIF or JPG files and no larger than 5 MB per image. Limit 10 images. Name your files with your last name and a short description: LAST NAME_SHORT IMAGE DESCRIPTION. Use numbers for multiple images with the same description. Example: Seuss_3D clay construction1.tif, Seuss_3D clay construction2.tif and Seuss_Ink sketch for graphic novel.jpg

6. Entries must be received by midnight on Tuesday, March 31, 2015.

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