November second week marked this year’s Illustration Week which takes place in New York City every year. This year MFA Mentor and editorial illustrator Ryan Peltier ushered his 3 mentees to the Illustration Week for a professional field trip. The highlight of the visit was the Illustration Week Party that is celebrated for its high caliber networking and socialising potential for illustrators and photographers from around the world. The Party is organised by American Illustration (AI) and American Photography (AP) that brings photographers, illustrators, art directors and all creatives together to celebrate the launch of the new annual books and honor the winning AI-AP, Latin American and Motion images and artists.
Mentees Xintong Yang, Qian Chen and Roshan Ganu accompanied Ryan Peltier to the party where they met and interacted with well-known illustrators and creative directors from varied fields of illustration such as editorial, children’s book, advertising, etc.
Qian Chen said, “It was so great to meet Lisk Feng and Yoko Shimizu at the Party. I love their work.” When asked about the experience itself, Chen added, “I learnt a lot about the NYC market and the working conditions of freelance illustrators. As an international student, it also opened my eyes towards the hardships foreign artists face in the competitive domain.”
Roshan Ganu said that she felt inspired by the Party and the trip in general. “Stepping into the heart of the illustration world was incredibly inspiring for me. The hustle is real and it was motivating to see so many talented illustrators working so hard to make it in the industry,” she said.
Besides the Party, the mentees visited other well known sites for illustrators such as Books of Wonder (Children’s bookstore), Desert Island (Comics bookstore), American Museum of Natural History, a culture walk through Chinatown, among others.
Field trips are an integral part of the MFA program where mentors, students and faculty are encouraged to include off-site visits in their learning process. Visits can be within the region as well as across the country. Partial financial aid is provided as well.
Photography by Roshan Ganu
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Qian Chen
AI-AP Illustration Winners Exhibit at the Party NYC
AI-AP Illustration Week Party NYC
Mentor Ryan Peltier with mentees at Desert Island Comic Bookstore, Brooklyn
Interacting with NYC based editorial and Children's books illustrators
Mentees at Books of Wonder NYC
