Faber-Castell’s Young Artist Award 2022 ─ a platform for young talents to showcase their creativity ─ received over 20,000 submissions for its biggest colouring contest. Back for a second year, students aged between 5 to 8 years old (Category A) and 9 to 12 years old (Category B) across Malaysia competed in three colouring rounds ─ with the Grand Winner becoming the Young Artist Ambassador of Faber-Castell Malaysia.

With the aim to instil creativity in Malaysia’s young talents, the nation’s most prestigious colouring contest for children, themed “A Greener Nature, A Better Future”, encouraged the participants to grow and learn in both creativity and sustainability through colouring sheets and virtual workshops surrounding various topics from wildlife, flora, and fauna preservation to ocean conservation. The children were provided with invaluable knowledge, tutorials, materials, and tools by art experts who imparted their wisdom by utilising a holistic learning syllabus in mini masterclasses’. The top finalists also took a field trip to Aquaria KLCC to enhance and inspire their creativity.

Mr Andrew Woon, Managing Director of Faber-Castell Malaysia delivering his speech.

Mr Andrew Woon, Managing Director of Faber-Castell Malaysia said, “At Faber-Castell, we will continue to play our role in nurturing creativity from an early age. Over the last two years, the Young Artist Award has reached more than 3,000 schools and 700,000 students.

As a leading company in sustainability, we want to give these young talents the space to showcase their creativity while contributing to something meaningful. Awareness of forest and wildlife preservation is crucial for a sustainable future. We need to expose our children to information about this topic, support their interest and provide them with a platform to express creativity. With the support of the Ministry of Education, the participating students will also earn marks for their Assessment of Co-curricular Sports Physical Activity (PAJSK).

Seeing the success of this year’s award with over 20,000 submissions – students and parents can look forward to another edition next year.”

Finalists creating their artwork during the final round of the Young Artist Award.

Throughout the programme, which kicked off in June, the participants were guided, inspired, and equipped with creative skills through different colouring techniques such as blending, spatter, outlines, brush strokes and more. The students then demonstrated these techniques during the Young Artist Award colouring contest, with three different topics on sustainability:

• Round 1 – “Wildlife Preservation”, which resulted in the shortlisting of the Top 200.
• Semi-Final Round – “Flora and Fauna Preservation”, which resulted in the shortlisting of the
  Top 80.
• Final Round – “Marine Life Preservation”, where the children were introduced to the creatures that live beneath the ocean surface and a field trip to Aquaria KLCC ─ allowing them to express their creativity and arouse their curiosity.

The top 10 students for both age categories received fabulous cash prizes, trophies, product hampers and certificates of participation. Apart from walking away with a RM2,000 cash prize, Faber-Castell products worth RM500, exclusive product giveaways and discounts as well as the opportunity to showcase their skills and artwork, both the Grand Winners will have first-hand experience for Faber-Castell’s new products and continuous learning and up skilling through workshops and educational activities in the upcoming Young Artist Award programme.

This year’s contest was judged by an expert panel of four judges. Bringing his unique perspective and creative insights to the contest,

Professor Ts. Dr. Ruslan Abdul Rahim said, “What I look for is how the visual narratives are conveyed. Coming from young minds, the visual narratives are powerful, and the message is there. The participants incorporated not just what they saw in the colours and the drawings but, most importantly, all the elements of what I call ‘mother earth’ ─ land, sea and air, the critical elements of the environment. Their awareness of the environment is very high, and it is translated into their artwork. This is where the message shines through a lot more.”

When 12-year-old Kaden Yap Kai Tehn from SJK (C) Yuk Chai was revealed as the Grand Winner of Category B, his mother shared, “We support Kaden with the right materials for him to explore and compose his artwork. Throughout this journey, he has been determined and didn’t give up, regardless of how many times he needed to practice. As his parents, we encouraged and coached him on his time management. As a result, he is more disciplined and able to solve problems creatively. The competition has also brought him closer to topics around wildlife, flora & fauna and marine life preservation. Thanks to his research for this competition, he is now a nature lover.”

Mr Andrew Woon, Managing Director of Faber-Castell Malaysia with (left) Lee Hao Xuan, the Category A Grand Winner and (right) Kaden Yap Kai Tehn, the Category B Grand Winner.

Returning Young Artist Award participant Lee Hao Xuan from SJK (C) Chio Min A emerged as the Category A Grand Winner, and he said, “Last year, I won the third place and this year, I’ve put in a lot more hard work, practising intensely for this competition with more than 20 drawings. I enjoy the overall process of exploring the different materials and techniques. Arts has been my passion since I was four years old, and I’m happy that I can use the knowledge for something more educational and meaningful.”

Ms Lee Ee Fern, the Head of the Art Department at SJK (C) Choong Wen Kuala Lumpur, was overjoyed when her students submitted over hundreds of submissions, making it the highest number of submissions in Malaysia.

“Our school believes that learning is beyond activities inside the classrooms and exams, which is why we encourage our students to participate in the Young Artist Award. Teaching art is not just about guiding students to become artists, but it is a journey to impart skills such as creativity, collaboration and problem-solving. This year’s theme is meaningful to us as we have emphasised environmental sustainability in our school,” she said.

For a list of complete winners, log on to https://youngartistaward.my/