When Jazmen Richardson was told she was a winner of the Illustrators of the Future contest, she didn't believe it.
Richardson, 20, of Elbridge, paced around the art studio in her Florida apartment after a contest representative gave her the news over the phone in October. She couldn't fathom her work was picked — and on her second attempt. Others have submitted for years without getting spotlighted, she said, so she was shocked. Richardson said the honor still doesn't seem real yet.
Dustin Panzino, a past Illustrators of the Future contest winner born in Auburn and a friend of Richardson's since she was 4 years old, convinced her to try her hand. The contest, for new and amateur science fiction and fantasy artists, is held by Author Services Inc., which represents the work of science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Each entrant sends in three illustrations and their work is judged by professional artists, and three winners are selected every quarter. Richardson won $500, which went toward rent — though she wanted to spend it on art supplies, she said.
Richardson and the other winners were able to compete for another $5,000 prize by teaming up with winners of a writing contest also held by Author Services, and creating an illustration based on their work. She was last told she'll find out how she fared in March. Her work will also be featured in the anthology "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 34." Richardson and the other winners will also go to Los Angeles for a week-long intensive artist's workshop in April, and will receive another $150 for the work that will be featured in the anthology, also due in April.
Richardson is currently attending the Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarosota, Florida. She has been creating art for as long as she can remember, she said, back to when she would draw her own original characters or pre-existing ones when she was a child. Art didn't present itself as her career path, however, until Panzino's mentorship. She graduated from Jordan-Elbridge High School early in 2015 to work under his wing. He took her out of her comfort zone, challenging her to draw the real world, or "still life," instead of just working from her imagination.
"If you can't draw a real figure, you can't draw cartoons that are believable," Richardson said.
Panzino once tasked Richardson with drawing a bike, so to challenge herself, she depicted it from the perspective of being under the bike's wheel. She laid down under a bike to take in how everything lined up and how it was supposed to look. She realized she can draw still life better than "the random things that come into my head."
While Richardson hasn't figured out her exact career path after college, she is leaning toward creating book covers. She knows others have tried graphic novels, but she believes she is too impatient for that. Regardless, being a contest winner has made her feel like she has taken a step forward in becoming an artist.
"I feel like I've leveled up, in a sense," Richardson said.
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