IlIustrator Ben Hill of Mims to be Honored During L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards in Hollywood
By Space Coast Daily // February 7, 2020
Hill has a love for experimenting with movement, texture and pattern
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – Twelve winning writers and 12 illustrators from around the globe—including Ben Hill of Mims, will be honored during the 36th Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood on Friday, April 3.
Born in 1996, Hill did not start pursuing art seriously until he was 18. Without any local schools or classes, he chose to be a self-taught digital and traditional artist.
Now living in rural Florida on the Space Coast, over the last three years he has focused on studying with online resources and taking SmArtschool mentorships.
Inspired by artists like Alphonse Mucha and Arthur Rackham, he draws creativity from old fairytales and art nouveau.
In his work, he has a love for experimenting with movement, texture, and pattern, and he tries to learn something new with every piece.
The highlight of the ceremony will be the announcement of the year’s two Grand Prize winners who will each receive $5,000. Quarterly winners also receive cash prizes from $1,000 to $500. Their winning stories and illustrations will appear in the annual anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future Volume 36 (Galaxy Press, April 2020).
Participating in the ceremony will be best-selling authors Kevin J. Anderson (Dune prequel series), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Eric Flint (1632), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Tim Powers (On Stranger Tides, which Pirates of the Caribbean IV was based on), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series, Stormlight Archive) and Robert J. Sawyer, referred to as Canada’s Dean of Science Fiction; as well as award-winning artists Bob Eggleton (11 Chesley Awards and 7 Hugo Awards), Larry Elmore (Dungeons & Dragons book covers), Rob Prior (art for Spawn, Heavy Metal comics and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ciruelo (Eragon Coloring Book), who will all serve as presenters.
Throughout the Contests’ 36-year history, over 774 writers and illustrators have been recognized as winners. “What’s amazing to me is that a good 60 to 70% of winners go on to successful careers,” says New York Times’ best-selling author Anderson. “You could call it ‘The American Idol’ for writers—long before there ever was such a show.”
The Writers of the Future writing contest was initiated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 to provide “a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.”
Based on its success, its sister contest, Illustrators of the Future was created five years later to provide that same opportunity for the aspiring artist.
The intensive mentoring process has proven very successful. The 428 past winners of the Writing Contest have published 1,150 novels and nearly 4,500 short stories.
They have produced 32 New York Times bestsellers and their works have sold over 60 million copies.
The 358 past winners of the Illustrating Contest have produced over 6,000 illustrations, 360 comic books, graced 624 books and albums with their art and visually contributed to 68 TV shows and 40 major movies.
For more information and to see the awards ceremony online, CLICK HERE.
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