Freelance Job Art Competition

THE LAST UNICORN - Freelance Job Art Competition



Following its critically acclaimed premier, Ed Rutherford's adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's much-loved fantasy classic THE LAST UNICORN will shortly be released for publication by Next Gen Publications. Next Gen are looking for artists to depict two images:



1) A poster / cover image for scripts.

2) Three separate "teaser" images to appear vertically on one third of an A4 page... one of the Last Unicorn / Lady Amalthea (accompanied by the text "Myths..."), one of Schmendrick the Magician (accompanied by the text "Magic...") and a final image of either the Harpy Celaeno or the Red Bull (accompanied by the text "...and Monsters... and that's just the first Act!"... leaving enough space on the final panel for company contact information and logo).



The winning pieces of art will each receive payment of $550.00 (U.S. Dollars).



TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The terms and conditions for entering the competition are as follows:

. Art must depict a situation or characters from Peter S. Beagle's novel, THE LAST UNICORN, and comply with the Art Guidance below.

. Art must not have been professionally published.

. Art must be presented and formatted ready for publication in TIFF and PDF format, including text requested by Next Gen Publications to be inserted.

. Artists must hold copyright for all elements of their art. Next Gen Publications accepts no liability if artists ignore these rules and artists agree to indemnify fully Next Gen Publications against any claims by a third party arising from any breach of these terms and conditions.

. Art will be judged anonymously by a judging panel of Next Gen Publications, Conlan Press and Peter S. Beagle. We regret that it will not be possible to offer individual feedback on any art submitted. The judging panel's decision as to the winners is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

. Artists must in an accompanying e-mail supply their full name and contact details (including postal address), along with a brief career summary.

. The winners will be announced within one month of the closing date. Next Gen Publications reserve the right not to award the prizes, if, in its opinion, suitable pieces of art have not been received. Copyright in art submitted will transfer from the artist to Next Gen Publications upon payment of the fee of $550.00.

. All types of art considered (digital, painted, manipulated photography etc.).

. Closing date for entries is midnight on 20th May 2010.



Art should be submitted to info@nextgenpublications.com



ART GUIDANCE



THE UNICORN (as a unicorn)

From the book: "She did not look anything like a horned horse, as unicorns

are often pictured, being smaller and cloven-hoofed, and possessing that

oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had, that deer have only in a

shy, thin imitation and goats in dancing mockery. Her neck was long and

slender, making her head seem smaller than it was, and the mane that fell

almost to the middle of her back was as soft as dandelion fluff and as fine

as cirrus. She had pointed ears and thin legs, with feathers of white hair

at the ankles; and the long horn above her eyes shone and shivered with its

own seashell light even in the deepest midnight."



From "Two Hearts:" "They don't look anything like horses. I don't know where

people got that notion. Four legs and a tail, yes, but the hooves are split

like a deer's hooves, or a goat's, and the head is smaller and more pointy

than a horse's head. And the whole body is different from a horse, it's like

saying that a snowflake looks like a cow. The horn looks too long and heavy

for the body, you can't imagine how a neck that delicate can hold up a horn

that size. But it can."



THE UNICORN (as the Lady Amalthea)

As Amalthea, her hair is soft and fine, and almost white. Her eyes are the

Unicorn's eyes, dark and endless; her body is deceptively fragile and

flowerlike -- she is actually quicker and stronger than she ever has cause

to show. Her beauty is equally deceptive: feature for feature, there's

nothing drop-dead gorgeous about her, nothing of the movie star or the

model, but she moves with a kind of flowing grace that is almost hypnotic --

and that inevitably betrays her origin to King Haggard. There is no

adjective that suits her look, except unworldly.



SCHMENDRICK THE MAGICIAN

Tall and thin, his body and too-young face all angles. Not handsome -- he'll

never be that -- but it's a face that will age over time, once he attains

his true power, into something quietly authoritative and commanding. His

eyes are green, his hair dark and permanently unruly. He has big feet, long

knobbly hands, and a rather big nose. There's a sense, as with an adolescent

(which, in a certain way, he is), that he isn't in full control of his body

-- at times it seems to be running away with him. All this begins to change

by degrees, first when he summons Robin Hood and his band of outlaws...then

when he changes the Unicorn into a human woman...and finally when he turns

her back to herself to fight the Red Bull. His nose and feet are still big,

and his hair won't ever be really manageable - but he knows who he is now;

and with that knowledge has come, not only power, but a dignity that he

never had before, and that should be reflected in his depiction.



MOLLY GRUE

Somewhere past 35: thin and slatternly and weary and angry when we first

meet her, after fifteen or so years living in the greenwood with Captain

Cully. Molly has no illusions, and no hope; her bitter rage is all that

sustains her. It has made her look older than she is, unlike Schmendrick.

She was probably pretty when she met Cully -- now her hair is the color of

straw that's been trodden on a lot, and her wiry frame has a constant wary

stiffness about it. She is an emotional desert when she meets the Unicorn,

but her change begins almost from that moment: on their journey into King

Haggard's barren realm she flowers, exactly like a desert that hasn't known

rain for years. Her instant unconditional love for the Unicorn -- and for

the Lady Amalthea -- leads her to an increased tolerance for Schmendrick

that gradually becomes respect, and in time a tenderness that surprises her.

In the perpetual winter of Haggard's castle, she grows into the woman she

was always meant to be: wise and loving, and very brave. And beautiful.





KING HAGGARD

Tall and powerfully built, Haggard could even be considered handsome, in a

bleak, stony way. His presence overwhelms that of his son; you hardly look

at Prince Lír when Haggard is in the room. His eyes are a pale, utterly

empty gray, the same color as his still-thick hair, and his mouth is a

nearly-lipless slash above a jaw like a hammer. There is nothing in the

least tentative about his movements -- except, on occasion, when he looks at

the Lady Amalthea, suspecting what she is before she ever enters his castle,

yet not entirely certain...He is not an evil man, in the classic sense, and

should not be depicted in that fashion. Rather, he is so unhappy that his

unhappiness hardened very long ago into something truly terrible. He knows

it himself, and is far, far past caring. He is heartless by old choice -- a

heart is a hazard and an enemy to Haggard -- and the only thing that has

ever slipped past his guard and laid him open to vulnerability was his first

sight of unicorns. King Haggard being who he is, the vision led him, not to

wonder and generosity, but to a ferocious hunger to possess every bit, every

trace of such beauty. And so, eventually, to his doom...





PRINCE LÍR

Blonde and blue-eyed, he is almost as tall as his father, and -- when we

meet him -- good-looking in a vague, characterless, rather doughy style.

He's an innocent, a good bit like Schmendrick in a couple of important ways,

having no real ego, and no sense of who he truly is. But unlike King

Haggard, his first sight of the Lady Amalthea rouses in him a passionate

yearning to do something -- anything -- for her, to make himself useful to

her in any way he can. To be useful (and, certainly, to court her, however

clumsily) he has to become a hero: a quester, a dragonslayer, a savior of

damsels in distress. The process not only affects him physically -- he grows

notably buffer and leaner through the course of the story -- it makes him

wiser as well, while imbuing him with the sadness that all heroes need to

teach them understanding of other people's sorrow If it has made him a fit

companion for a woman he can never have, it also makes him fit to be a king.





CAPTAIN CULLY

He's in his forties: stocky, red-haired and freckled, looking as though he

were meant for a prosperous greengrocer -- which he probably was -- instead

of an outlaw. (In fact, he'd have loved to be an actor.) He's somewhat

better-dressed than the rest of his shabby gang, and you'd have to kill him

to get that hat with the jaunty feather off his head. A broad face, at once

good-humored and anxious; not really a merry man, no matter how much he

insists that he's merry twenty-four hours a day. The red hair is graying at

the temples, and there's a distinct nervousness to his body language. If it

weren't for his stubborn loyalty to his self-image - and the songs he's

devoted to that image - he'd most likely get out of the freebooter business

altogether. He's not cut out for it, and down inside he knows it, as do

Molly and most of his men. But he's bound and determined to be an epic

figure, whatever it costs him. A likeable, hopeless





JACK JINGLY

A "Little John" figure, Captain Cully's lieutenant: huge and dark and shaggy

as a grizzly. He takes his nickname from the rings, bottle caps, and other

metallic gewgaws sewn to his ragged jerkin. He's not stupid -- he's

definitely smarter than Cully -- but he's genuinely devoted to his leader,

even knowing what he is. Black eyes and a thick black beard, which he's

constantly scratching; he probably bathes every other week, whether he needs

it or not. J. K. Rowling's Hagrid, without the social graces. http://bit.ly/arF2A4