By Michelle Lizon
Two weeks before a competition, Jennifer Eichelberger flipped through a catalog of student illustrations. As she saw the caliber of work being produced, she immediately thought, “If I want to be competitive, I”ve got to do something right now.” She picked up her acrylic paints and recreated a memory set years ago in a Manti restaurant.
“Every morning these old men would come gossip over their coffee,” she said. “They knew everything about the town.”
This illustration not only stood out from the rest of her work but also from the work of thousands of illustrators around the United States.
Eichelberger is one of the four BYU illustration students whose work was selected from more than 4,700 illustration submissions to the 2006 Society of Illustrators National Student Competition. BYU students Justin Taylor, Bryan Beus and Nate Wilson also made it past the first cut.
Of the 78 schools entered in the competition, only 86 students from 33 schools secured a place in the society”s New York gallery. From the exhibited illustrations, judges will choose a select few to receive awards and cash prizes.
Whether the BYU students receive awards or not, the exhibition is an opportunity for them to unlock the door into the illustration industry as book publishers will view their work on display at the gallery. A catalog of all the selected competition pieces is also sent to companies around the country.
“This exhibition is the biggest and most significant national exhibition for all illustration students,” said Robert Barrett, a BYU professor of illustration and assistant dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communication.
Some top-name art schools are listed in the society”s catalog three to four times. BYU will be in this year”s catalog eight times, since four students from BYU-Idaho also won.
“It”s quite an accomplishment for BYU to have that many entries selected in the competition, for not even being an art school,” Eichelberger said.
Reflecting on the competition, Beus said just getting in was a big award to him.
“I put my stuff in the competition just to see what would happen,” he said. “I didn”t expect to ever hear back from them.”
In the uncertain world of illustration, Beus said he sometimes worries about making a career out of his passion.
“Illustration is very competitive and sometimes very nerve racking because you don”t know if you”ll be able to swim after graduation,” he said. “The biggest thing about winning is that it let me know I”m competing with other big-name art schools. Getting in the competition is a good landmark along the way to being well established someday.”
Taylor, a senior in the program, said his girlfriends” parents see his future illustration career as a synonym for “starving artist.”
Illustration has many possibilities and is more versatile than most people think, he said. Children”s books, movie production and advertising campaigns are among a few of the outlets that seek illustrators.
