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Jessica Ciccolone has won the Sebastian Walker Award for Illustration with her "strong and stylish" designs.
The prize is run by Walker Books in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University’s Cambridge School of Art MA in children’s book illustration, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. The award was presented on 17th February at a private viewing of the course exhibition, held at the Candid Arts Trust Gallery in London. Kate Rolfe and Deborah Hocking were highly commended for their artwork.
Ciccolone is an Italian illustrator, living in London, who has a background in graphic design and digital illustration, often mixing digital with traditional media. She has illustrated several children’s books with Caramel Publishing, Sassi Junior and Gruppo Editoriale Raffaello. Her artwork is inspired by everyday life and what surrounds her, including the city and its inhabitants.
She joins the ranks of many successful previous winners and shortlistees who have since published, or have books in the works with Walker Books, including Gill Smith, Erika Meza, Birgitta Sif, Rachel Stubbs, Daisy Hirst, Jenni Desmond and Flavia Z Drago, among others.
Walker Books’ picture books art director Audrey Keri-Nagy and executive art director Ben Norland said: “We love judging this prize. It’s a pleasure to commemorate Sebastian Walker, and to recall his support for new and emerging illustrators. Every year, there is always a wealth of new talent bubbling up through this amazing MA course, and this year our eye was caught by the wonderful illustrations of Jessica Ciccolone.
"Her work has a strong and stylish graphic language, a great sense of pattern and form, but above all that, it’s simply full of fun, humour and joy. Almost all picture book illustration needs a little bit of humour in it, but Jessica’s work and characters are overflowing with playfulness."