3rd Prize Winner

Brodie Colbourne

“Psychedelic Dreaming”, Vector (Illustrator & Photoshop).

Brodie Colbourne is a self-taught illustrator based in Thornbury, Victoria, Australia. He enjoys drawing dreamy characters and storytelling, always using strong and vibrant colours. Brodie draws his inspiration from trips down the coast, sunrise surfs, and his love for animation and cartoons. He has painted murals around his local community and has featured work in group shows and exhibitions. Brodie aims to pursue animation and storyboarding with his illustrations in the near future.

“Psychedelic Dreaming”: My illustration ‘Psychedelic Dreaming’ features characters in different worlds that, while separate, blend into one another. My aim was to create a fun psychedelic inspired illustration full of wonder and bright colours.

2nd Prize Winner: Elizabeth Wakou

2nd Prize Winner

Elizabeth Wakou

“The Evirato”, Digital Painting & Drawing (Wacom Intuos Pro & Photoshop).

Elizabeth Wakou is a classically trained painter based in New York City. She studied English and Visual Arts at Columbia University. Her works are distinctively modern in methods, but staunchly classical in taste. Her inspiration is mainly sourced from “grand style” portraitists such as Anthony Van Dyck and Joshua Reynolds. Her subjects are always presented as their larger-than-life personas: brilliant, timeless, and detached. Some may view it as a dated view of portraiture, but she unapologetically clings on to what she sees as classical beauty. However, she is not so much of a traditionalist concerning methods. Her works are painted with graphic programmes in a way that is intensely aware of elements of real oil paint. She strives to bring a taste of classicism into the modern world of digital painting.

“The Evirato”: This is a portrait of an evirato – a male singer whose heavenly voice is preserved by the cruelty of castration. His fair, contemplative complexion is troubled with a hint of moroseness carefully adorned with flamboyance and grace.

1st Prize Winner: Jisu

1st Prize Winner

Jisu

“DruGz”, Digital Painting & Drawing (Photoshop & Blender).

Jacqueline ‘Jisu’ Choe is from the Midwest of the United States. A high school-dropout turned young aspiring illustrator, now residing in southern California. She takes inspiration from her experiences to add a certain edge, and strives to enact real social change through commentary and critical analysis of certain topics through her work.

“DruGz”: This work was created at a very difficult time in my life when I was prescribed very strong SSRIs (antidepressants), which caused terrible side-effects, including suicidal thoughts and actions. I immediately went off the drug, but sadly turned towards other substances. The result was a feeling of overwhelm and chaos, which inspired this piece. I am very grateful that this period in my life is over, because self-medicating is not the answer! I thankfully now have the help I need and see a therapist regularly. I am now in a much better place, and hope that my story, experience and art can inspire others who are struggling with depression and other mental illnesses, to take steps towards a healthy recovery.”

Thank you & Acknowledgements

Congratulations to the 2021 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize iCanvas Digital Art Award Winners, Jisu, Elizabeth Wakou, and Brodie Colbourne!

Once again, we would like to thank all of the artists that entered, sharing their work and their artistic passion with us. It was such a pleasure to immerse myself in the work of so many creatives from all corners of the globe and read their inspirational stories.

As Beautiful Bizarre Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief I have the pleasure and honour of curating each issue of the magazine and our yearly exhibitions. The many wonderful and talented Art Prize entries we received have given me a plethora of new ideas and choices to pursue in future. So thank you again for your interest in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, I very much hope to see how your work has grown and developed in next year’s Prize.

I would also like to sincerely thank the 2021 Jury Panel, particularly the Digital Art Category Judge Stanley Artgerm Lau , who gave his time and expertise to the panel, the other Category Judges: Gerald Brom (Traditional Art juror), Kristine Poole (Sculpture juror), and Ingrid Baars, (Photography juror) and Directors of Haven Gallery, Erica Berkowitz and Joseph Weinreb. I would also like to thank our major partners: INPRNT, RAYMAR, Yasha Young Projects and iCanvas; the Beautiful Bizarre team for their dedication and hard work on behalf of the prize and winners, and of course to my partner, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine‘s Co-Founder Richard Purssey. The judging process was extremely difficult with many noteworthy entries, so thank you again!

Our sincere thanks to this year’s Digital Art Award sponsors listed below. It is through their generosity that the Digital Art Award Winners will be able to enrich their practice.

iCanvas Digital Art Award

The iCanvas Digital Art Award 1st prize winner will receive:

US$3,000 cash, generously donated by sponsor iCanvas, printers of high quality canvas art prints, priced for every lover of art.
Receive a beautiful, specially commissioned glass art Award trophy
The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery [Long Island, New York] alongside 70+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists
Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work
An annual ArtStation Pro subscription + a US$100 gift card. ArtStation provides you with a simple, yet powerful way to show your portfolio and be seen by the right people in the industry. Host your website, sell your products and learn.
3 month social media advertising package (Beautiful Bizarre Magazine: 1 million+ followers across all socials platforms)
A Wacom One, Creative Pen Display. It comes with all the essentials to spice up your digital life. There’s the natural pen feel on the 13.3” screen, the included creative software – even the ability to connect to certain Android devices.
Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared on social media
A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
+ most importantly, receive worldwide exposure!

2nd and 3rd prize winners will receive:

The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery [Long Island, New York] alongside 70+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists
Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work
2nd Prize: Wacom Intuos Pro Medium which offers you more natural creative control than ever before. Combined with the super-sensitive Wacom Pro Pen 2, Wacom’s sleek new tablet looks and feels amazing.
3rd Prize: Wacom Intuos Medium with a light, super-accurate pen and free downloadable software to suit your style; Wacom Intuos is built to bring your wildest ideas to life.
Annual ArtStation Pro subscription + a US$50 gift cards. ArtStation provides you with a simple, yet powerful way to show your portfolio and be seen by the right people in the industry. Host your website, sell your products and learn.
A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
An exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites.
+ most importantly, receive worldwide exposure!