Student Exhibition at the Society of Illustrators

I know it's easy to say that the student exhibit at the Society of Illustrators is the best night in the building, but, truly, that is not lip service. The exhibit displays just 130 paintings chosen from 6,000 entries -- by the numbers, it's harder to get into this show than any of the professional illustration annuals. The work is fantastic.

The opening was last Friday. Many professional illustrators were in the audience, soaking in the good will, energy, and enthusiasm from what, in one month's time, will be their colleagues and competition. As Terry Brown noted, these young people are, "Talented, scared, and ready." Peter Hamill was there to speak on behave of Burne Hogarth, winner of the Distinguished Educator award. A second Distinguished Educator's award went to Vincent di Fate. Vin was not only one of the first people I worked with, he also took a lot of time to guide and help me learn what the heck my job was all about. I guess it should come as no surprise that a man who has spent a lifetime painting the future is so dedicated to nurturing the next generation of artists.

Congrats to Vin and the Hogarth family, and a huge congrats to all the students in the exhibition. And a hearty "thank you" to Scott Bakal for working tirelessly to put it all together.

All the paintings in the exhibit can be seen here.

PAINTINGS:
Jane Radstrom, Albert Ramos Cortes, Francis Vallejo, Tony Mantano, and Nicholas Heiny.

PHOTOS:
Vincent Di Fate. Pete Hamill. Francis Vallejo receiving his award. Jeremy Enceio by his painting. (Keep an eye on both Francis and Jeremy -- these guys are crazy good.)