Illustrated World Series 2023

Last month, in a land far far away (London, UK. It’s far for some) the IWS World Series Championships took place. Some of the Worlds best classic creators and digital illustrators battle head-to-head for the title of World Champion.

What is IWS you ask? This is an annually organised event that puts top illustrators in a tournament-style competition, competing in head-to-head knockouts until two winners are announced; An illustration Olympics if you will. This year’s three day tournament was streamed live for the world to see via Twitch, and saw a total of 32 brilliant artists (16 x digital and 16 x classic) competing and demonstrating their talents to a widespread, international audience.

As always, this year’s event was a curated showcasing of some iconic and extraordinary artwork and our very own ScrawlrBox founder, Chris Lambert, was amidst the action as part of the judging panel. So, if you didn’t get a chance to watch the live stream or if you are just interested in hearing what happened, we’re here to give you the low-down on the action, as artists battled head-to-head in 60 minute art-offs to create an A2 illustration inspired by a recent news headline.

The final for the digital artists saw @Createdbyimrie and @Kingtrou in a creative technological battle for the champion title. The headline for their battle was “Almost 'No One On Earth' Escaped Global Warming In The Last 3 Months” Of course, both creators were outstanding but ultimately the talented @KingTrou took home the digital champion title. The final classic round was a clash of styles between previous rivals @Ewainagain and @Lawrence.Hugh.Burns. The headline for this dynamic duo was “Tweets That Completely Sum Up Being The Only Single One In Your Friend Group” with some fantastic imagery from the pair, including a touching moment between Ewan and Lawrence… Whilst two sensational artworks were created, the beautifully weird and wonderful illustration by @EwanAgain came out trumps and he was crowned Classic Champion.

The IWS Championships will be back in December where they will host the UK Illustration Championships. Who will be crowd with the UK title? Stay tuned to find out.

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