Boekie Boekie stArt Award
Participating Artist | 2017
Project Summary
The annual stArt Award is an international competition that challenges up-and-coming illustrators to contribute original illustrations of beloved classic tales. The award is organized by Dutch illustrative magazine Boekie Boekie, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
I submitted four original illustrations inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and contemporary poetry based on The Jungle Book’s themes. I strove to create illustrations that would resonate across cultures, and that would be welcoming to a child’s imagination without watering down the intimidating themes and characters in The Jungle Book.
Stylistically, I drew creative inspiration from Indian and even Thai folk art, and in particular from the paper cuts sometimes found in those artistic traditions. I achieved the desired effect through a combination of hand-drawn sketches and digitally-scanned felt scraps.
In contrast with the illustrations vivid and plush look, the themes portrayed in my illustrations are darker and more complex. For instance, my reimagining of The Jungle Book’s cover art portrays the jungle itself as not only alive, but out to get Mowgli.
While my pieces weren’t selected for publication, Boekie Boekie featured my work prominently in their social media campaign for the 2017 stArt Award.
