200 Best : illustrators 2016/2017

In the next few days our latest volume of the biennial series of 200 Best Illustrators worldwide will be available - the latest in our biennial series 200 Best Illustrators worldwide. As on previous occasions, the volume has turned out to be a beautiful survey comprising 312 pages of the best illustration around, featuring talent from more than 25 countries. We had about 6,500 submissions this time which we - that is the preselection jury, consisting of our Art Director Christine Thierry and myself - whittled down to some 1,300 images that were presented to the jury. Over the past six or seven years, preselection of the work to go into the jury round has become increasingly tricky. The main reason for this is the way Digital has informed all aspects of the illustrator's profession. And there is a very fine line indeed between a lot of illustrators' work and that of a CGl artists, a group for which we have our own special, the 200 Best Digital Artists. The latest volume of that - it's also a biennial - we've started to work on right now and expect to publish it towards the end of the year. So my task was also to keep the obvious "digital wizardry" that erases the borders between illustration, photography and CGI and to keep the brilliant stuff that is done in this field for our upcoming Digital special - not an easy task as quite a few CGI artists rightfully see themselves as illustrators. Still, we tried to keep the selection within the realm of what is usually perceived as "illustration", even though a computer may frequently have been involved in the creation of the work.