9:25 a.m., Feb. 27, 2009----Eric Sailer graduated from the University of Delaware in May 2008 with a degree in visual communications, concentrating in illustration. It wasn't until mid-February 2009, however, that he received a surprising e-mail from David Brinley, assistant professor of art, informing Sailer that he would be competing in one of the most respected art competitions in the country.

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“I was surprised by his e-mail for two reasons,” Sailer said. “One was that my work actually got into a very competitive and prestigious competition. Two was that I never planned on submitting my work from senior year to the competition. It was a pleasant discovery to find out that David took the time to submit all of the artwork by graduates and current seniors.”

The competition is conducted by the Society of Illustrators, a widely respected organization created to promote art and the appreciation of illustration.

The student competition is highly competitive; judges select a small number of entries to compete from a pool of thousands of submissions. In years past, roughly 120 submissions were selected from more than 4,000 entries.

Sailer may have been surprised to hear about his acceptance into the competition, but Ashley John Pigford, assistant professor of art, was not. Pigford, who instructed the class in which Sailer produced the competition-worthy poster, commended the piece of art as a “union or integration of analog and digital art.”

“It's not a surprise,” Pigford said. “Eric is quiet, reserved and a hard worker. He is a good example of a good student; he is willing to accept criticism, listen and ask questions.”

Sailer created the poster for one of Pigford's class assignments. Pigford said he asked the students to create a poster based on a statistic, to integrate and interpret “real world” information with each individual's artistic skill.

“I decided to do a fact-based work on recycling, since I find the amount of trash that society produces incredible,” Sailer said. “The vibe, I think, is in the colors. The color green lends itself to being fresh or to being rotten and decaying. I think that with the terms 'sustainability' and 'going green' floating in the air, I wanted a progression of sustainable green decaying to turn into that murky green trash color.”

Since graduation, Sailer has occupied himself with editorial assignments with the Philadelphia Inquirer and promotion of his work to magazine and children's book markets, he said. He has also been advertising his work via interviews with art directors and plans to begin sending out promotional mailers soon.

“As an aspiring syndicated cartoonist, I have been working on a Monday-Friday web comic called 'A Glass of Merlo' that I started back in December,” Sailer said. “Enough to keep busy.”

While the Society of Illustrator's student competition will not require much more work on Sailer's part, it will provide an excellent opportunity for exposure and a chance at a variety of awards.

Article by Quentin Coleman