Blog

We are delighted to announce our latest competition: From Seed to Table–Summer Surprises! It is taking place over August and there will be two competitions. The winner of each competitions will receive a prize of £1,000. More details about the competition, including how to enter.

We are delighted to announce our latest competition – Hello, Spring! – which is taking place over April. There will be two competitions on the theme of Hello, Spring! and the winner of each competitions will receive a prize of £1,000. Click on the image/link to find out more details about the competition, including how to enter.

We are delighted to announce our latest competition – Winter Comforts – which is taking place over December and January! There will be three competitions on the theme of Winter Comforts – and each competition will have a different focus. The winner of each of the three competitions will receive a prize of £1,000. Find out more details […]

The work of the illustrator is key to inspiring our first love of books. We all know and love many picture book characters from their image alone.  Picture Hooks are proud to announce a new, bi-annual award, The Invisible Prize, which will acknowledges the quiet reach and huge influence that the illustrator offers. This year, The […]

Thank you to everyone who entered our four From Seed to Table competitions. We were so pleased with the response. You sent us some fantastic entries and gave the judging panel a hard time selecting the winners and the runners up! You may have seen some of the winning submissions on Instagram – but, in […]

The deadline for our mentoring scheme is fast approaching! Six mentees will be matched with six mentors for nine months. It’s rather like working closely with an editor for a year and previous mentees have found it immensely helpful in developing their work and contacts within the industry. There’s a small admin charge – but, […]

Kirsti Beautyman is a Newcastle based illustrator, who graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2016. Her jungle-strewn, ethereal illustration earned her the title of Picture Hooks illustrator of the year for 2017-18. She was mentored by Helen Stephens. Now that applications are open for the new mentoring scheme, we thought it was time to […]

APPLICATIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED FOR THE 2018-2019 MENTORING SCHEME. THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT APPLIED! We are now taking applications for our 2018-2019 mentoring scheme. Please make sure you have read the guidelines thoroughly before submitting your application. The deadline for applications is midnight (GMT) on 30th September 2018. Applications should be submitted via our online […]

Congratulations to Kirsti Beautyman, Picture Hooks Illustrator for 2017. Kirsti was mentored by Helen Stephens (How to Hide a Lion, Fleabag).

And congratulations as well to all five of our illustrators for 2016/17. You can read more about all of them and find their portfolios here.

How do you set yourself apart from other illustrators? Robert Frank Hunter and his publisher Zoë Aubugeau-Williams discuss drawing techniques and innovative marketing.