Our 2026 Shirley Hughes Sketchbook Award Winners!
Following on from announcement of our shortlist, we’re thrilled to announce the winners for the 2026 iteration of the Shirley Hughes Sketchbook Award!
Winner - Signe Torp
The judges absolutely loved Signe’s drawing - particularly the range of different characters she observed, and the interactions between them. The judges enjoyed the limited colour palettes and mark making within the work - from the closely observed patterns on the swimwear to the really playful use of pinks and greens. Signe manages to capture the people, a sense of feeling and a story between them. You can imagine the conversations these characters might be having.
Signe stood out as the winner because of the quality of her observational drawing skills, combined with her beautiful mark - making, line, colour and material choices. There is such a playful energy that makes her work feel like magic. All of the drawings so full of story - just like Shirley’s work!
Signe wins £1000 and an Orange Beak tutorial. Congratulations!
You can find more of Signe’s work here
Runner Up - Lucia Para
Lucia’s drawings feel as though they could have come right out of the world of Shirley Hughes - filled with small, but important, moments of children chatting, playing, exploring and sharing. The beautifully observed body language and interactions between the characters impressed the judges, we loved the lean of the bike and the little hands placed on the floor at what might be story time - wonderful observation! Drawing children is by no means easy, and the judges were so heartened to see this work.
Lucia wins £250 and an Orange Beak tutorial. Congratulations!
You can find more of Lucia’s work here
Highly Commended - Baljinder Kaur
The judges loved Baljinder’s drawings, and were impressed to see the use of full colour, whilst still managing to capture the characters and their interactions. There is a wonderful confidence in her brush and line which the judges admired. Additional details in the scenes around the characters told us more of the story - the picnic food, the items at the market stall and the baby bottles with what looks like a big cup of juice - all these things further helping transport the judges to being in that moment. The quiet cuddle and tired faced toddler a lovely end note to a wonderful body of work.
Baljinder wins an Orange Beak tutorial. Congratulations!
You can find more of Baljinder’s work here
Congratulations to all three winners! And of course to all those shortlisted. It goes without saying that it was incredibly hard to pick our winners from the wonderful selection shortlisted and it involved a lot of discussion and deliberation.
If your work wasn’t selected this year, we just wanted to say, there was so much talent across the board, and we saw a lot of beautifully observed pieces - and glimpses into people’s daily lives, friends and families. It’s a real joy and a privilege to get to see all of the work. Please do enter again, and keep up your drawing.
It’s an honour to run this award in memory and recognition of the wonderful work of Shirley Hughes and to celebrate the sketchbook and the habit of drawing from the life you see around you - thank you once again to all that entered.