JUNE CONTEST: A very different kind of prompt!

Chip Valecek · 2 Jun 2020, 00:14

This one is from @Will-Terry.

Assignment: Create one illustration to represent the following story:

Bongo the monkey woke up in the jungle to the sounds of birds cawing and the bright sun shining. He yawned and smiled and felt the hunger in his tummy, which was a bigger hunger than normal, so he climbed down his tree in search of breakfast. He passed the pineapples and thought, "tasty, but I'm tired of pineapple!". He came to the papaya tree and thought "tasty, but I'm tired of papaya." He passed the banana tree but thought, "cliche?...as if I'm going to be caught eating a banana!"

What he really wanted was a big juicy orange but all the orange trees were on the other side of the alligator infested river!

As he was walking and deciding what to eat he saw Clyde the Alligator floating on the far side of the river looking for his breakfast too! Bongo was so hungry but he couldn't resist teasing Clyde again, so he climbed the tree closest to Clyde. He crawled out on a branch overhanging the river and dangled his tail. Clyde's eyes looked up at the tail dangling just out of his reach, licked his lips, and slowly swam under the naughty monkey. Bongo wiggled his tail and dangled it lower and Clyde's eyes opened up more. Bongo kept lowering his tail more and more as Clyde raised his head out of the water.

Finally with one big surge Clyde exploded out of the water and gulped down Bongo whole and splashed back down into the river! Clyde got his breakfast!

But: Bongo was a particularly smart monkey so he waited for Clyde to swim back across the river. Then he started tickling Clyde's belly from the inside. Clyde did everything he could to hold in his giggles but finally he couldn't take it anymore and busted out laughing -and out popped Bongo!

Quickly Bongo climbed up into the jungle trees and found the biggest and juiciest orange to start his day off right. Now he just had to figure out how to get back!

The end.

There are multiple parts of the story that you could choose to illustrate but since you can only create one illustration this is an exercise in what to leave OUT! You cannot create an illustration that encapsulates the entire story because it happens over time. Illustrators need to develop the storytelling skills to discern between the very important, important, less important, and not important parts of the stories they illustrate.

Often you will see short stories in children's magazines and textbooks with one illustration that enhances the story be does NOT fully illustrate the entire story.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Here are some more details:

The contest is open to anyone. But the winners and runners up will only be selected from active SVS members.

Post only finished pieces here. Post WIP projects in their own thread.

Put your real name and forum name on the image somewhere (can be on a border if you like).

Good luck everyone!

sarahlash · 2 Jun 2020, 01:30

@Chip-Valecek Wow! What a great prompt! I can’t wait to get started!

Neha Rawat · 2 Jun 2020, 04:46

Woah! What a brilliant challenge! This is going to be super interesting and helpful!

carlianne · 2 Jun 2020, 07:11

Different indeed!! I'm already excited to see what people do with this

PieterVanDerBeek · 2 Jun 2020, 07:26

@Chip-Valecek Sweet! Can’t wait to see this thread overflow with monkeys and gators! :-]

Coreyartus · 2 Jun 2020, 07:30

This is awesome. I'm trying to figure out which vision is going to work best--a double-page spread with room for text on one side, a single-page with the illustrations around the text, a spot illustration, or whether I want to acknowledge the text at all and just do an illustration and let a "hypothetical art director" deal with it. This prompt has a LOT of options, all of them great learning experiences on multiple levels. Genius, @Will-Terry!! This one is very juicy.

Nyrryl Cadiz · 2 Jun 2020, 10:39

@Chip-Valecek smart

chrisaakins · 2 Jun 2020, 13:33

Interesting facts (sorry @Will-Terry the former science teacher had to investigate): The only place where alligators and monkeys cohabit naturally is around the mouth of the Yangtze River in China. You have Chinese alligators and rhesus macaques. In the alligator's native range, there would be no pineapples or papayas but they are both cultivated just south of this area now. It is a humid subtropical climate comparable to the US south, so there would not be jungles there.

Conclusion: This will have to be a fantasy world.

chrisaakins · 2 Jun 2020, 13:45

Now if he had have said crocodile or caiman, you would have been able to do this realistically AND have a nice little alliteration...

2 Jun 2020, 14:30

@Chip-Valecek Are animations allowed in these contests?

chrisaakins · 2 Jun 2020, 14:48

@gavpartridge I feel a little snarkiness directed my way...

chrisaakins · 2 Jun 2020, 14:51

@gavpartridge NO don't! I thought it was funny!

Heather Boyd · 2 Jun 2020, 14:56

This is great! I do hope he does another later in the year (fall) but I am out for a few months. Will be interested to see what people come up with for sure!!!!

chrisaakins · 4 Jun 2020, 15:58

I had this idea of a smiling alligator, because personally I was rooting for him.

Frost Drive · 4 Jun 2020, 17:11

LMAO. I'm gonna lose it if anybody illustrates the part where bongo is INSIDE THE ALLIGATOR. #VoreFetish

Chip Valecek · 4 Jun 2020, 18:43

@carolinebautista I don't see why not. The last month there was a whole puppet setup for the prompt.

5 Jun 2020, 02:23

@Heather-Boyd Why are you out for a few months?

Heather Boyd · 5 Jun 2020, 15:23

@carolinebautista oh because it generally takes me a long time to make a work (esp colour studies with gouache) and I need to catch up on finishing some classes (basic perspective and move to objects in perspective class). Also this month been working on childhoodweek -though its been postponed I have been working on it this week.

thanks for asking,

franksandovalart · 8 Jun 2020, 08:22

Hi everyone, here is my entry for the June contest: A very different kind of prompt!

Starting with a set story plot and defined characters was very exciting and challenging in a positive way, had to do some research about where do monkeys and alligators coexist, and decided to go with the Nile River Baboon and Alligator for Bongo and Clyde.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Praise God!!!

https://www.instagram.com/franksandovalart/

aprilshin · 8 Jun 2020, 21:56

@franksandovalart I love Clyde’s expression! This is so great, and I appreciate that you did some research for this image, too. Amazing work as always!