International Award-Winning Philly Artist Creates Illustrated Story Tribute to Michael Jackson

International Award-Winning Philly Artist Creates Illustrated Story Tribute to Michael Jackson

Artist's Work Has Blossomed Since 2008 Recognition As Winner of Illustrators of the Future Contest

PHILADELPHIA, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- International award-winning artist and Philly resident Stephen Knox will launch an ongoing art tribute to the memory of Michael Jackson starting this Friday based on the pop star's 'Scarecrow' character from "The Wiz," a 1970s version of the Wizard of Oz. Knox will weave Jackson's character into a complete story on Friday, July 3rd to coincide with scheduled funeral services in California. The tribute can be seen on Knox's website, 7mages.com.

In addition to his tribute, Knox has begun creating an animated novel version of the Wizard of Oz called "The Warlock of Oz" and has developed numerous characters for a story-a-day illustration project.

The Philadelphia resident came to the limelight in the art world last year when he was honored as a winner of the 2008 global L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest and was published in the Contest's annual anthology.

"The L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future contest win inspired me to do this," Knox said. "I wasn't sure of my talent, but the judges told me I had something great."

Said Joni Labaqui, Illustrators of the Future Contest Director, "Stephen is a perfect example of why we started the Illustrator of the Future Contest to help along the most promising talent - young or old - in the highly-competitive field of professional illustration.

"His work stood out among thousands of entries we receive over the year."

The Illustrators of the Future Contest was initiated a few years following the 1983 creation of the annual L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest for new and aspiring writers of science fiction and fantasy. Winning artists illustrate the 13 selected short stories and their work is published in the year's anthology.

Past winners of the contests have had over 500 novels, 1,400 short stories and tens of thousands of illustrations published selling an impressive 31 million books. The contests were initiated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 shortly after returning to the field of science fiction with his New York Times and international bestseller Battlefield Earth.

For more information, go to www.writersofthefuture.com.

Source: Illustrators of the Future Contest

CONTACT: Joni Labaqui, Illustrators of the Future Contest,
+1-323-466-3310, contests@authorservicesinc.com

Web Site: http://www.writersofthefuture.com/

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