JIA Future Artists Award

Discovering future talents globally and collecting illustrations from children all over the world.

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2025 Winner List：Age 13-18

Gold Award

Zhu Xinye

Silver Award

Ema Yamazaki , himari , Huang Hsi-Yu

Bronze Award

ine takiyama , Austen Maybee , SINMAN LI , Bemaia , Yuma Fukui , Danyi Zhang , Jiaming Zhang , Luoshengya

Shortlist

Koto Sakama , Mika , ARIA , Manrui He , Damla Iren Unluakin

General Review

Japan Illustrators' Association

In this group, many works conveyed personal inner worlds, emotions, and social perspectives. Balancing freedom of expression with technical skill, the most highly evaluated pieces showed strong individuality through color, composition, or concept.

The Gold-winning work stood out for its use of traditional techniques and nature-themed beauty, transcending age expectations. Silver winners tackled abstract themes such as dreams, memory, and life with unique artistic lenses. Bronze winners presented diverse strengths including distinctive characters, narrative storytelling, and social commentary. Honorable Mention works captured beauty in color and composition while embracing experimental approaches.

Belle Lee

Participants in this group clearly know what they’re doing. They have a solid understanding of their message. It’s like having all the right ingredients; the next step is learning how to cook them.

At this stage, many have good technical skills, but there’s still room to grow in areas such as composition, color harmony, and developing a style. With continued practice and guidance, they have the potential to become truly outstanding artists.

Victo Ngai

This group demonstrated strong technique, ambitious concepts, and a personal voice. Many pieces could benefit from clearer visual hierarchy or more intentional stylization, but overall, their storytelling depth is striking and promising.

GOLD AWARD

Zhu Xinye（China）

1. Elegant Gathering Among Flowers

Watercolor

This piece of artwork is a traditional Chinese painting that employs soft colors and delicate brushstrokes to create a tranquil and elegant atmosphere. Through the depiction of floral still life, it conveys a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature and a profound sense of life.

2. The Elegant Charm of Chrysanthemums in Autumn

Watercolor

The painting displays numerous chrysanthemums in various shapes, with a full composition and rich colors. The petals are meticulously rendered, and the layers are distinct. Chrysanthemums, which bloom in the cold autumn, symbolize resilience and perseverance. Their ability to thrive in harsh conditions represents a spirit of courage and determination, inspiring people to face challenges head-on.

3. Dance of the Carefree Butterflies
Watercolor

This painting features the graceful beauty of daylilies and the liveliness of butterflies. The combination of these two elements forms a harmonious and vibrant scene. The daylilies in the painting have slender green leaves and bright flowers, while the addition of butterflies adds a sense of dynamism and vitality to the image, filling the entire picture with a natural charm and the essence of life. The artwork not only showcases the beauty of the natural world but also expresses a longing for a beautiful life.

Sophie Blackall

The artist has refined watercolor skills and has rendered these traditional botanical studies beautifully. I would love to see their artistic talent applied to something expressive and personal!

Victo Ngai

Zhu Xinye’s work exudes refinement, grace, and a deep reverence for nature. Her patient brushwork and thoughtful compositions convey a quiet strength and timeless beauty. I’m curious to see how she might use her artistic voice and traditional techniques to explore more contemporary subject matter in the future.

Belle Lee

Beautiful watercolor work. It is delicate and graceful and really captures the spirit of traditional Chinese floral art beautifully.

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SILVER AWARD

SILVER AWARD

Ema Yamazaki（Japan）

SILVER AWARD

himari（Japan）

SILVER AWARD

Huang, Hsi-Yu （Taiwan . China）

1. The Garden

Digital

This piece visualizes a scene I often see in my dreams.

2. Yui

Digital

I drew what I thought about during the school trip.

Sophie Blackall

Ema Yamazaki’s work is bold and distinctive and memorable. I love the restricted palette and inventive compositions and can imagine their work might transition well into comic books and graphic novels!

Victo Ngai

Ema’s work is delicate and atmospheric, with a clear emotional undercurrent. I would encourage her to continue developing her own visual language—particularly through more distinctive character designs that move beyond conventional anime styles. There’s great potential for her voice to shine even more uniquely.

Belle Lee

It has a good composition to tell a story. Nice variation in the sizeds of the components. And using minimal color gives the piece a clean and elegant feel. The expression is so vivid and full of emotion.

1. A Fetus’ s Dream

POSCA pens, acrylic gouache, modeling paste

This artwork is themed around childlike innocence and the universe.

2. Longing to Return to the Womb
POSCA pens, acrylic gouache, modeling paste

I created this piece with the themes of childhood innocence and the universe.

Sophie Blackall

It is great to see the different materials this artist is experimenting with in their work. The candy colors pop off the canvas making for an interesting juxtaposition with the complex themes of growing up and loss of childhood innocence.

Victo Ngai

Himari’s layered, textural work is both whimsical and philosophical. Through themes of innocence, the cosmos, and longing, she creates a richly imaginative visual space that feels both tactile and expansive. I admire the ambition and depth of thought behind these pieces, and encourage her to use stronger value contrast and visual rhythm to enhance hierarchy and deepen the storytelling impact.

Belle Lee

Very whimsical and fantasy vibe. I like how saturated color makes the artwork really pop. It brings energy.

My childhood is Smiling Bay

Acrylic paint

G10 (High school student)

Sophie Blackall

This artist is evidently very confident painting in their chosen medium of acrylics. The viewer’s eye travels straight to the figure, then follows the floating toys to the radiating light behind the leaves. I’m not entirely sure what it means, but I’m intrigued!

Victo Ngai

Huang Hsi-Yu’s work is infused with nostalgia and sunlight. The warm acrylic tones and confident brushstrokes evoke not only a physical landscape, but an emotional one—a cherished memory made tangible through paint.

Belle Lee

It has a good technique of acrylic painting. I like the mix of tropical background and nostalgic childhood objects.

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BRONZE AWARD

BRONZE AWARD

Mine takiyama（Japan）

BRONZE AWARD

Austen Maybee （USA）

BRONZE AWARD

SINMAN LI （China）

Bubbles Reflecting Me

Quarter-size drawing paper, Copic pens, alcohol markers, colored pencils

I created this work based on ideas that popped into my mind or visions that appeared when I closed my eyes. I incorporated my own original character into the artwork to express myself as fully as possible. The title comes from the image of what I want to draw now—my true self—being reflected like a mirror in a soap bubble. By drawing the character on circular drawing paper and layering it on top, I aimed to make it look like the soap bubble is floating. This expresses my desire to travel freely like a soap bubble, seeing many different landscapes. I also wanted to send my message far and wide, just like a soap bubble drifting through the air. For the colors, I used a wide variety of bright, saturated hues to create a vivid, joyful impression for the viewer.

Sophie Blackall

There is so much detail in this unusual self portrait of overlapping layers and bubbles, that poses many questions about identity and how we are reflected back to ourselves.

Victo Ngai

Mine’s “Bubbles Reflecting Me” sparkles with vibrant imagination and self-expression. Her original character, floating on a soap bubble, feels symbolic of freedom, hope, and introspection. The circular composition and layered construction add to the dreamy effect.

Belle Lee

Different myself drawn in each bubble is a fund idea. The rich colors add a joyful and lively mood. Also it captures the happy atmosphere.

1. Quan Hongchan

Pencil

This pencil sketch captures the highlight moment of diving champion Quan Hongchan on the Olympic podium. While creating the piece, I studied the light and shadow in the reference photo, as well as her facial expression, and used pencil to recreate that instant.

2. Dream

Acrylic, markers, acrylic pain

This work is a children’ s picture book cover created for the “Dream” theme, presenting an imaginative story of space exploration. The main character, “Meatball,” is inspired by Chinese diver Quan Hongchan. I have retained her iconic facial features and reimagined her as a 12-year-old astronaut (120 cm tall/60 kg). This round and adorable character wears a spacesuit incorporating doughnut elements and stands on a surfboard decorated with traditional Chinese flame patterns, symbolizing the romantic imagination of China’ s younger generation towards space exploration.In terms of creative concept, I attempted to inspire the imagination of the child audience and convey the core value of courage in pursuing dreams through the playful concept of “space surfing.” In terms of technique, the work combines impasto acrylic painting (to depict the texture of planetary terrain) with a flat painting style (for character creation), drawing on the vivid color language found in Eric Olson’ s work. By layering acrylic markers and pigments, I created a visually appealing effect that is both artistic and suitable for children’ s aesthetics.

Sophie Blackall

This artist’s work ranges dramatically across mediums and subject matter. They are able to draw realistically, with faithful representation of their subject, and also to explore fantasy. Their hand-lettering is also fun!

Victo Ngai

SINMAN’s work shows impressive versatility—from a moving portrait of Quan Hongchan to the vibrant, narrative-rich “Dream.” The latter bursts with color, joy, and storytelling flair. A slightly quieter treatment in the upper left corner could help strengthen the visual hierarchy and allow the main elements to shine more.

Belle Lee

Beautiful pencil drawing. The Portrait was well captured and the facial expression is nice. Overall it has a nice depth and good shading.

1. Forget-me-not

Procreate

Forget-me-not is an art nouveau inspired piece with the flowers that bloom in my home town in the spring, forget-me- nots and poppies, surrounding a cat and nature loving young woman.

2. Zodiac Doodle Diary

Procreate

The Zodiac Doodle Diary

3. Cosmic Pickles

Procreate

Cosmic Pickles

Sophie Blackall

This artist has a clear facility for illustration and mastery of procreate. Their work seems to be a kind of portal that possibly allows the creator, and maybe the viewer, to transcend everyday reality.

Victo Ngai

Austen’s works demonstrate clear technical skill and stylistic elegance. I suggest refining the posture and hands in “Forget-me-not”, which currently feel slightly workmanlike, to better complement the overall sense of feminine beauty. Alternatively, if the contrast is intentional, pushing the dissonance between character and environment could heighten the drama and narrative tension.

Belle Lee

The artist understands art nouveau style very well and created the wonderful piece. Strong understanding of humans and animals. Decorative floral pattern and character is well described.

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BRONZE AWARD

Bemaia（Japan）

BRONZE AWARD

Yuma Fukui （Japan）

BRONZE AWARD

Danyi Zhang（China）

1. Swaying World

A4 paper, black stencil, black ballpoint pen, ruler

The theme is today’ s information society, where what you see isn’ t always the whole truth.

2. To the Earth That Once Was Colorful

A4 paper, black stencil, black ballpoint pen, ruler

I believe the Earth was once full of color. But due to environmental destruction and war, I feel that color is gradually being lost.

3. The Invisible Mask

A4 paper, black stencil, black ballpoint pen, ruler

The theme of this piece is the emotional struggle between one’ s true self and how they are perceived by others. At school and on social media, we often feel pressure to be seen a certain way or to behave as we think we should, which can make it hard to understand our true feelings.

Sophie Blackall

Precise black and white marks, patterns and lines create arresting images in this artist’s work. I would be curious to see what would happen if they tried painting with a large brush, or made looser marks, whether they might find a way of using repetitive forms in a new and exciting way.

Victo Ngai

Bemaia’s work is visually engaging, and I truly enjoyed reading the thoughtful symbolism and narrative she wove into each piece. However, without the accompanying description, some of the message may be difficult to access. Introducing a few more recognizable metaphors within the symbolism could help bridge that gap and make the storytelling resonate more immediately.

Belle Lee

In general, this artist knows how to create a wide variety of patterns and it shows complex and diverse. It has nice details.

Beyond the Fram

Drawing paper, acrylic paints

I focused on using vivid colors and creating a powerful composition.

Sophie Blackall

Bold shapes and colors make this piece stand out; the gorilla looms large in such a magnetic way, we can’t help but be drawn in to the image.

Victo Ngai

Yuma’s “Beyond the Frame” bursts with vibrant color and bold perspective, and the frame-within-a-frame concept is executed with confidence. Refining the anatomy and pose of the gorilla—perhaps with the left arm striking outward—could heighten the sense of movement and add even more power to this already dynamic composition.

Belle Lee
The color is very vibrant and saturated and it helps to capture the viewer's attention.

Dining Table Moment

2B, 4B and 8B sketching pencils

This is a pencil sketch of a dining table. The main subjects are a ceramic pot, a rose, and some vegetables. The drawing captures a harmonious still life scene.

Sophie Blackall

This still life is very nicely drawn and has one especially compelling detail: the end of the daikon that seems to suggest a flurry of movement. What is happening? Is it alive? It’s my favorite corner of the image!

Victo Ngai

Danyi’s still life drawing, “Dining Table Moments,” is peaceful and skillfully observed—an impressive achievement for her age. I’d be curious to see how she might carry her strong visual language into more imaginative or narrative-driven subject matter in the future.

Belle Lee

IA good still life drawing. Each object is well expressed. But it looks a bit unfinished.

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BRONZE AWARD

Jiaming Zhang（China）

BRONZE AWARD

Luoshengya（China）

Cat Planet

Colored pencils, gouache, watercolor

My cat passed away this year, and I was very sad. People say it has gone to the Cat Planet. Cats are said to have nine lives. Will the cats that go to the Cat Planet come back? This is the inspiration for this painting. The transparent soul of the little cat is on the fish-shaped Cat Planet, where it learns various skills it is interested in, picks a fur coat, and then returns to Earth. If all nine lives are used up, it becomes a cat immortal and stays on the Cat Planet forever. What I painted is my imagined Cat Planet.

Sophie Blackall

Cat Planet is one of my favorite images in this entire competition! I love the way the artist rendered the fish in soft, muted gouache wash, and the interior scenes of the cat’s posthumous adventures in line work. And then the streak of paint in the background is different again, but all three work together beautifully!

Victo Ngai

Jiaming’s “Cat Planet” is a beautiful and imaginative tribute to a beloved pet. Though the background is dark and the theme touches on loss, the piece glows with whimsy and tenderness. I love the contrast and combination of soft watercolor with comic-like linework—it gives the piece a unique charm. I’d be interested to see how these two elements might be more seamlessly integrated to create an even more cohesive visual language.

Belle Lee
The idea of the cat planet is creative. Very imaginative and detail oriented. I enjoyed finding the small details.

The Perfect Dinner

Colored pencils, pastels

The composition is divided by a wall in the foreground and a street scene behind it. The central characters are a homeless man enjoying a hamburger and his loyal dog. Around the corner, a girl appears, holding a bag with the same hamburger packaging.The warm glow and shadows cast by a streetlamp not only divide the visual space but also create a contrast between warm and cool tones, highlighting the two figures and drawing attention to the main subjects.

Sophie Blackall

There is lots to explore in this nicely drawn vignette, and I appreciate that some of the details are ambiguous and nuanced. We can imagine what might be going on, but it’s open to the viewer’s interpretation.

Victo Ngai

Luoshengya’s “The Perfect Dinner” is a poignant narrative, thoughtfully composed using dividing elements like walls and shadows. The homeless man and dog are full of character and warmth. I would love to see the girl portrayed with a more distinctive look, moving away from a generic anime style to better match the emotional depth of the scene.

Belle Lee

The use of colored pencil and pastel brings a soft, vibrant feel to the piece. Also the storytelling really comes through.

SHORTLIST

SHORTLIST

Koto Sakama（Japan）

Boundary

Drawing paper (A4), Colored pencils

I aimed to depict two different worlds divided by a red ribbon, with the main character existing in the space between them.

SHORTLIST

Mika（Japan）

The Girl Who Paints the Light

Digital

Though the piece is composed in dark tones, the girl’ s drawing alone is bright, symbolizing the power to create hope in the darkness.

SHORTLIST

ARIA（Japan）

Light

CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO

I used colors that symbolize hope, freedom, and individuality. I also added gems and flowers that represent hope and freedom. As I painted, I put my heart into it, wishing that anyone who sees this piece might feel even a little more positive.

SHORTLIST

Manrui He（New Zealand）

Robot in the Sea

Medibang Paint Pro

Technology is powerful.

SHORTLIST

Damla Iren Unluakin（Turkish）

Small-Town Summer

Procreate

A place where a seaside town and dreams blend into each other. The boundaries and colors merge, depicting the memory of a warm small-town summer. With each step, you explore new possibilities in a familiar environment.

To Check Out More Winner Groups

Age 6-8

Gold Award

Ikkei Harada

Silver Award

Yuhang Yuan , Elyse Ma , Zhuang Yize

Bronze Award

Ann Sunaga , Qingran Chen , Zimu Zheng , Qiaozhi Zhou , SU WEN , Sun yueyao , wang ning , Zhang Xirui

Shortlist

Zhu Zhiye , Murat Gabidullin , Chen zhe xi , Du Yinuo , Fang Xima , Ho Wanshu , yangziyu , CHEN JO HSI , Jinxuan Sun , Maggie

Age 9-12

Gold Award

Lo Hsin Ni

Silver Award

Xiaomi Han , gen sunaga , zhanghajing

Bronze Award

Fan Yi , XUE JINGTIAN , koto tanaka , Lucia Tsai , Chunxi Jia , Xi Chen , Runyi Long , Zishu Zhou

Shortlist

Emma Zhang , Zitong Ye , Chloe Ho , Shiyuan Yang , Hongyu Ye , Zhuoxiao Zhang , Camille Fu , Zou Jianing , Freya Luo , Ju Jiayu

Age 19-22

Gold Award

Li Ruen Shin

Silver Award

Suzu Ito , zeronull , NIHONBASHI UKIYO

Bronze Award

Shao Ruofei , Jiajun Li , CHERRY FAIRY , huangyuxuan , Minatsu YUI , Yang Jingyi , Zhan Chaoming , chenxinsheng

Shortlist

Ala Sersniova , aruto Kihara , Aaron Gao , Yi Xuanchen , Daiki Ikukawa