What Are You Like? Competition

9 September – 9 December 2008

The exhibition

The idea is taken from a Victorian game of describing yourself with images of your favourite things: like a self-portrait. 45 people in the public eye have been asked to illustrate their 8 favourite things from a list of 12 – their favourite animal, book, clothes, comfort, food, pastime, place, possession, music, shoes, weather and pet aversion (the thing they love to hate!) They have been encouraged to use their favourite medium. The artists’ names will not appear on the artworks, to give visitors the chance to have fun guessing who they are. But there will be a definitive list available just in case they need some help…
Join in!

Be inspired by the What Are You Like? exhibition. Make your own What Are You Like? artwork. See it on the web and – if you win – hanging in Dulwich Picture Gallery!

How to enter

All you have to do to enter the competition is read the terms and conditions and make your own ‘What Are You Like?’ artwork. Find out how to enter.

Our judges

Quentin Blake is one of Britain’s best-loved and most successful illustrators and children’s authors. He has illustrated over 300 books by writers such as Roald Dahl and Michael Rosen, as well as classic books for adults. Quentin Blake also writes and illustrates his own books. He has donated his collected work to the House of Illustration. For more information see Quentin's website.

Emma Chichester Clark studied Graphic Design at Chelsea School of Art and illustration at the Royal College of Art. From 1983-86 she taught illustration and produced illustration for magazines. She has illustrated over 100 book covers. In 1986 she published her first children’s book, ‘Listen to This’, which won the Mother Goose award. Since then she has worked in collaboration with many authors, including Michael Morpurgo and Adrian Mitchell, as well as illustrating her own stories.

Claudia Zeff is the curator of the exhibition and Deputy Chairman of the House of Illustration Board of Trustees. She started her career in children’s books publishing and was Art Director for William Heinemann from 1982-89. She then worked as freelance Art Director for Fourth Estate and Random House. She art directed magazines at John Brown Publishing. From 2003-7 Claudia was Project Director at the House of Illustration.

Mella Shaw is Acting Head of Exhibitions, Dulwich Picture Gallery. She studied Anthropology at the University of Dulwich, specialising in the Anthropology of Art, and has an MA in film-making. She works on her own painting and ceramics in a studio in South London.

Closing date: 9 December 2008. On 15 December we’ll announce the final winners!