An illustrator and graffiti artist from Norfolk has won a top UK illustration competition, beating out some of the country’s best artists to be ranked number one in the country.
Si Mitchell, 35, from Fakenham won the UK Illustration Championships, held in London from June 9 to June 11, earning him the top spot in the UK’s competitive illustrator rankings and prize money of £1,750.
Mr Mitchell was competing against some of the biggest artists in the country, including some that he considered personal heroes.
He said: “When I went into the competition I didn’t even think I’d make it into the first round, and then I won the first round. Then I thought I definitely won’t win the second round because the guy I’m up against is one of my favourite artists and somehow I beat him.
“The next round I thought I’ll never beat this guy because he is an amazing artist as well and some how I beat him too. There were another couple of rounds then the final, and I was just thinking how is this happening? Then I ended up winning.”
He added: “It was the first competition I ever entered and the first competition that has ever been against my peers so it feels like an amazing achievement to actually be against people like that and come out as the winner so I’m really proud of that.”
The competition was a high pressure live tournament where the artists sat in a busy event area and participated in four rounds with only 60 or 90 minutes to create their piece.
They were allowed only eight pieces of stationery and were required to use a greyscale colour palette and just one colour. Each piece was then judged on interpretation, technical ability, narrative, personality and social score.
Mr Mitchell is now heading to festivals across the country where he will work on a number of new pieces, including designing a skater-inspired bar for sports and music festival, Nass. He is also working on a television cartoon series and preparing to launch his own brand of clothing.
With all his recent achievements he said he was pleased to have had support from his family despite taking a career path that was pretty unusual for someone who grew up on a farm. Speaking of his parents he said: “I feel really proud of how proud they are of me.”
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