By Kellie Shirk
The anticipation may have caused butterflies in two BYU student”s stomachs, but the butterflies have turned into a great honor.
Liz Benson and John Howell each won a spot in the Society of Illustrations annual book and show.
“This honor provides national exposure. It is a good reflection on the teachers and the program we have here,” said Benson, 21, a senior from Orem, majoring in illustration.
Howell, 24, a senior from Laguna Hills, Calif., majoring in illustration, won a spot in the book and exhibition for an illustration of a visual pun, “Butterflies in your Stomach.”
Howell”s piece is of a little boy burping butterflies before a test. He said the illustration is part of a book he is putting together.
“This is a pretty neat honor. A few years ago I made it my goal to enter and to have my work chosen,” Howell said.
“Hopefully, I can enter the professional contest next year.”
Benson received the honor for an illustration called “Man in the Yellow Slicker.”
Benson said she completed the work for a class project where the assignment was to illustrate the ghost of a miner from Park City when it was a mining town.
The piece has also been published in Park City Magazine, she said.
Both Benson and Howell have had a love of art since they were children.
Howell said his mother signed him up for art lessons while he was in elementary school. By the time he was in junior high he decided he wanted to be an artist for a living.
“If you get paid for it, why not?” he said.
Benson too has been interested in art since she was little girl.
She said she took art classes in high school, and when she arrived at BYU she looked into all the art programs before deciding on illustration.
The Society of Illustration is a group of illustrators from all over the nation, headquartered in New York, Benson said.
The society has an annual book and show of the best illustrations done by professionals, as well as a book and show done by students, she said.
Professor Robert Barrett said only 114 illustrations were accepted this year from 6,000 to 7,000 entries.
The student show and competition has been taking place for 20 years, Barrett said.
BYU”s program is an education member of the society, which is granted through nomination, voting, and invitation, he said.
