Celebrated author and illustrator Nadia Shireen, whose children’s books from Good Little Wolf to The Bumblebear and Billy and the Beast have inspired and delighted young readers, is going to judge this year’s Big Issue Kids Cover Competition. And there’s still plenty of time to enter.
So if you are a young person who loves to draw, or if you know one, or if you teach a class full of artistic youngsters, it’s time to get creative and get Christmassy.
“I’m so pleased and honoured to be judging this year’s Big Issue Kids Cover Competition,” said Nadia.
“I know there are absolutely loads of fantastic young artists out there and I can’t wait to see what you come up with!”
Sorry to interrupt. But Big Issue vendors need your help now more than ever. More than 1,000 vendors are out of work because of the second lockdown in England. They can’t sell the magazine and they can’t rely on the income they need.The Big Issue is helping our vendors with supermarket vouchers and gift payments but we need your help to do that.Pleasebuy this week’s magazine from the online shop ortake out a subscription to make sure we can continue to support our vendors over this difficult period. You can even link your subscription to your local vendor withour new online map.If you need inspiration, take a leaf out of Nadia’s book. Her illustrations and characters are bold and full of joy, colour and wit. Here are top tips for designing a cracking cover:
- “It sounds obvious, but draw something you like. If you find drawing reindeers difficult, don’t decide to draw loads of reindeers!”
- “Experiment! Use paint, felt tips, crayons, torn-up bits of paper. There’s no right or wrong way to make a picture.”
- “If drawing on blank white paper makes you feel a bit nervous, paint a few sheets in different colours first and pick the one you like the most to draw on top of.”
- “Have a look around you for inspiration. Notice if there are particular colours you like seeing together, or certain patterns you enjoy. Then borrow them!”
- “Don’t forget to add the words ‘The Big Issue’ and make sure your image is portrait, not landscape.”
How can you enter?
This year we want to keep it simple – so we are asking you to draw whatever makes you feel Christmassy. Whether that is Santa, a reindeer, a decorated Christmas tree, building a snow person (or dog, or cat), your favourite dinosaur, or something magical and out of this world.