Recently, the 2021 Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award Original Illustration Exhibition kicked off, this year is the 40th year of Mr. Chen Bochui's establishment of the Children's Literature Award, and the seventh year of the establishment of the Illustration Exhibition
At the opening ceremony, the annual awards of this year's illustration exhibition were announced – the series "Journey to the Mysterious World" created by German illustrator Sonja Danowski won the award. Every illustration has a story. Today, we will share with you the stories behind the winners of this year's illustration exhibition.
2021 Awards of the Year
Journey to a Mysterious World series by Sonja Danowski (Germany)
2021 Awards Winner Video
Journey to a Mysterious World series depicts a mysterious world of bizarre plants, rugged stone houses and a community of magical creatures. Some of these creatures have an accordion-like neck that can flexibly stretch and contract the fruit plucked from the tree; some are short and lean, living in cocoons; and some can fly. Although they are different in size and have different skills, they know how to help each other in times of crisis, generously donate money, and work together to create a wonderful and interesting livable home.
Sonia Danovsky:
When I was a child, my bed was right next to the window, and I could always see the stars twinkling in the night sky, and I was always curious about what was in the sky, imagining a group of magical creatures living in a mysterious world. When I grew up, I painted the world I dreamed of with paper, pencils and watercolor paints, which is the biggest source of inspiration for my work. In the picture book, I recorded the elements of extraordinary significance in the fantasy kingdom: fast-growing mushrooms, plants of different shapes, strange shapes of stones...
For coloring, I use ink and watercolor. Because the planet is a mysterious, surreal, and somewhat gloomy place, I reduced the colors on the palette to: British red, tan, ochre, translucent blue, and a variety of mixed colors. It took me a long time to find the protagonist of the work: it was weird like an alien, but it was too cute to be frightening, and the creatures were in shape to fit their environment.
What I love most about illustration is that when inspiration suddenly drops, it follows me closely, and everything around me takes on a whole new meaning. During the painting process, I immersed myself in it for hours, which was a state that I enjoyed very much. Illustration takes me on an exciting journey again and again.
About the author
Sonja Danowski
German picture book artist
After graduating, Sonia worked as an illustrator and picture book creator, translating her work into more than 20 different languages and distributed around the world. The partners include the Spanish Kalandraka Publishing House, the German Centennial Publishing House, the Swiss North-South Publishing House, and the China Children's Press and Publication Corporation.
She has created illustrations for the children's literature works of veteran children's literature writers Cao Wenxuan and Fang Suzhen, and her realistic and meticulous realist illustration style has been praised by Cao Wenxuan. She said that she enjoyed the process of creating the famous Chinese writer Cao Wenxuan's excellent works "Grass House" and "Goats Don't Eat Heavenly Grass", cao Wenxuan's description of nature and urban life gave her a lot of inspiration and deepened her imagination of oriental beauty.
Sonia's picture books and illustrations have won many internationally renowned awards. His illustration of the Chinese children's literature work "Grandma Lives in perfume village" won the "Nami Cup" Golden Island Award in South Korea. The book was translated into English after publication and was named "The Most Outstanding Children's Book" by the American Library Association. Her picture book work has also won awards at the Sharjah Book Reading Festival. In terms of illustration, Sonia's work has been selected for the Bologna Children's Book Fair Illustration Exhibition four times. In 2020, her illustrations were also selected for the "Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award Original Illustration Exhibition".
In her spare time, Sonya enjoys reading for the children in the library and school, playing with them in the studio and creating.
After exploring the story behind Sonia's Journey to the Mysterious World and her path of illustration, do you also want to embark on this mysterious journey with her? Then hurry to the Shanghai Baoshan International Folk Art Expo Museum to see the world of illustration.
The exhibition will run until January 16, 2022.
Source: Baoshan, Shanghai