LACMA looking for aspiring comic book artists
LACMA is getting into the comic book business ... sort of.
Today, the museum launched an online contest inviting fanboys and fangirls everywhere to submit their ideas for an L.A.-set comic book storyline featuring an original superhero or a villain. Contestants must send in three to five images of character designs and/or storyboards, plus a one-page synopsis of the plot.
According to the rules, the images must be in JPEG format, with dimensions up to 800 x 1000 pixels. (Each image file must not exceed 1 megabyte in size.) The deadline for the contest is Sept. 15.
LACMA is holding the contest in conjunction with its fall exhibition "Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India’s Comics," which is tentatively set to open Oct. 17. The museum says the exhibition "will draw connections between ancient Indian epics and contemporary India’s booming comic book industry."
The show will feature a total of 60 works of art drawn from LACMA’s collection of historical Indian paintings that depict gods and goddesses. Those works will be featured alongside vintage and modern-day comic books, including those on loan from Liquid Comics.
Among the comics that will be on display are examples from the popular Indian series "Ramayan and Devi."
Julie Romain, the show's curator, told Culture Monster that the contest is meant to "engage the large community of illustrators and designers who are attached to the comic book industry in L.A. and to provide students from the local art schools with a dialogue with the museum."
The winner will have his or her drawings featured on the LACMA website, but the museum hasn't ruled out other possible awards. "We're waiting to see what kind of submissions we get and then we'll go from there," Romain said.
-- David Ng
Photo: "Devi Vanquishes Bala," an illustration drawn by Saumin Patel. Credit: Liquid Comics
Can resident Indians take part in the contest?
Posted by: Reshma Iqbal | August 10, 2009 at 01:51 AM