Fall 2026
Illustration Contest

In order to view the prompts, click on the “Artist Prompts” button above.

Choose the spread or spreads that best showcase your strengths as an illustrator. Some artists excel at character expressions and emotions, while others enjoy action, humor, environments, or color-rich scenes. Consider which moments in the story inspire you most and provide the greatest opportunity to demonstrate your visual storytelling abilities. Judges will be looking not only at artistic skill, but also at how effectively the illustrations help tell the story and engage young readers.

Yes. You may request an optional Pre-Submission Draft Review before submitting your official contest entry. After uploading a draft illustration and completing a brief self-review checklist, you will receive a two-paragraph review identifying strengths in your artwork and suggesting priorities for revision. Reviews are sent by email within ten business days.

You may revise your artwork before entering, but the draft review does not constitute an official contest entry. You must still submit your final artwork through the contest entry form and pay the applicable entry fee. Review participants receive a personal discount code for $10 off every Fall 2026 contest entry they submit, including their first. The review fee is nonrefundable, and purchasing a review does not affect the judging process.

Yes. AI-generated images or AI-assisted tools may be used as part of your creative process. However, entries must reflect significant human artistic involvement (for example, editing, repainting, compositing, redrawing, design decisions, or other original artistic contributions). Submitting an unmodified or minimally modified AI-generated image is not permitted. Contest judges will consider the extent of human creativity, artistic skill, and craftsmanship when evaluating entries.

Yes. Artists may work in any medium.

Yes. You may still enter if you’ve had a few illustrations published.

For this contest, artists are considered non-professional (early-career) if they have fewer than four published illustrations in widely distributed books, magazines, or commercial media.

Work shared on social media, personal websites, portfolios, class projects, self-published zines, or small independent publications does not count toward this total.

Dot is a small black ant; an “I Spy”–style discoverable character that appears on every spread. Feel free to make Dot hard to find!

Absolutely! We encourage participants to seek feedback from teachers, mentors, family members, friends, or fellow artists before submitting their work. Learning from others and revising your artwork based on constructive feedback is an important part of the creative process and can help strengthen your final submission.

Yes. Artists may submit more than one entry, provided that a separate entry fee is paid for each submission.

No. Entry fees are non-refundable once a submission has been made.

Contest winners will be announced 2 weeks after the contest closes.

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