2026 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize: INPRNT Digital Art Award Winners Announced!
“It’s always an honour for us to be able to participate in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize. The submissions this year were excellent, and the voting process is always a challenge. The imagination and craft on display were remarkable, and we’re thrilled to congratulate this year’s winners.” ~ Joshua Zika, founder of INPRNT
Thank you & Acknowledgements
Once again, we would like to thank all of the artists that entered and shared their work and their artistic passion with us. It was such a pleasure to immerse ourselves in the work of so many creatives, working across varied mediums and styles, and reading their stories.
The below winning entries have been run through various AI Detectors, as well as checking extensively with the artists, and the analysis show that they are all original works and have not used AI their creation. As per the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize Entry Criteria: Art created using Ai image generators of any kind will not be accepted. Whether entirely made by Generative Ai, or partly made by Generative Ai – this work is not eligible to enter.
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Danijela Krha Purssey has the pleasure of curating each issue of the magazine and our exhibitions. The Art Prize entries will continue to give her a plethora of new ideas and choices to pursue in future. So thank you again for your interest in the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, we very much hope to see how your work has grown and developed in next year’s Prize.
We would also like to sincerely thank the 2026 Digital Art jury members Joshua Zika, founder of INPRNT and digital artist Bastien Lecouffe Deharme for their time and expertise. Additionally, we warmly thank the artist Jury Panel: Brad Kunkle (Painting juror), Ed Binkley (Drawing juror), Matthias Verginer (Sculpture juror), Franz Szony (Photography juror), along with Co-Founder of IX Arts Patrick Wilshire, Vicki Fox, Owner of Quirky Fox Gallery (Emerging Artist Category Juror), April Carter, Curator at PoetsArtists and 33 Contemporary Gallery; and Co-owner & Director of Modern Eden Gallery, Kim Larson.
To our major sponsors: RAYMAR President & Creative Director, Emilie Dietrich; the team at MPB; Owner & Art Director of BearWolf Books, Catherine K. Gyllerstrom; Didi Menendez, Founder of 33PA and Gallery Director of 33 Contemporary Gallery, and Joshua Zika, founder of INPRNT – our deepest gratitude for supporting this year’s Prize. It is through your support and generosity that the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is able to acknowledge and uplift so many incredible artists and photographers from around the world.
As always, a huge thank you also to the Beautiful Bizarre team for their dedication and hard work on behalf of the prize and winners all-year round.
Our sincere thanks to this year’s INPRNT Digital Art Award sponsors. It is through their support and generosity that the Digital Art Award Winners will be able to advance their creative practice, and receive the recognition they deserve.
INPRNT Digital Art Award
The INPRNT Digital Art Award 1st prize winner will receive:
- $3,000 USD cash generously donated by INPRNT, printers of high quality art prints. INPRNT is run by artists, for artists.
- Kamvas Pro 24 (Gen 3), the latest flagship model generously donated by Huion, features a 23.8″ immersive 4K display, dual-pen support powered by PenTech 4.0, and Canvas Glass 3.0 for enhanced performance, with a factory colour calibration report included.
- Creative Package Pro (containing Rebelle 8 Pro, Flame Painter 4, and Amberlight 2) and Creative Mix Bundle (16 art surfaces for Rebelle) worth $380, generously donated by Escape Motions. Empower your artistic skills with Rebelle painting software, known for its true-to-life wet and dry media behaviour. Accompanied by Flame Painter painting software offering exciting particle systems, and Amberlight, a unique art tool that creates beautiful computer-generated images and animations.*All software comes with a perpetual license, but Rebelle offers 1 year of updates for free. Then, there is a possibility to either pay a fee for another year of updates or keep the current version.
- A beautiful, specially commissioned glass art award trophy.
- The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, USA, alongside 100+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
- Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
- 3 month social media advertising package (Beautiful Bizarre Magazine: 2 million+ followers across all social platforms).
- Winning artwork printed in the December 2026 issue of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, as part of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize editorial.
- Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
- Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
- A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
2nd prize winner will receive:
- $1,000 USD cash generously donated by INPRNT, printers of high quality art prints. INPRNT is run by artists, for artists.
- Kamvas 16 (Gen 3), generously donated by Huion, optimizes its size to 15.8 inches and upgrades the resolution to 2.5K QHD from its predecessor, offering incredibly sharp details. With revolutionary PenTech 4.0 technology and exceptional colour accuracy, it delivers a highly responsive and immersive drawing experience.
- Rebelle 8 Pro, Flame Painter 4, plus 1x Rebelle full-colour paper generously donated by Escape Motions. Paint digitally with Rebelle, an award-winning, hyper-realistic painting software with phenomenal oils, acrylics, watercolours, and other wet and dry media. Or pick up Flame Painter and paint with life-like particle brushes. Its groundbreaking Particle Systems open a whole new world of possibilities, nowhere to be found in other software.*All software comes with a perpetual license, but Rebelle offers 1 year of updates for free. Then, there is a possibility to either pay a fee for another year of updates or keep the current version.
- The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, USA, alongside 100+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
- Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
- Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
- Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
- A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
3rd prize winner will receive:
- $500 USD cash generously donated by INPRNT, printers of high quality art prints. INPRNT is run by artists, for artists.
- Kamvas 13 (Gen 3), generously donated by Huion, offers comprehensive features and continued affordability, making it the first choice for beginner artists seeking a high-quality drawing tablet.
- Rebelle 8 Pro, worth $150, generously donated by Escape Motions. Rebelle is an award-winning, hyper-realistic painting software with phenomenal oils, acrylics, watercolours, and other wet and dry media. Paint pigments colour mixing, oil thickness, watercolour diffusion, and NanoPixel technology, convincingly mimic the way natural media interact with the canvas and itself. *All software comes with a perpetual license, but Rebelle offers 1 year of updates for free. Then, there is a possibility to either pay a fee for another year of updates or keep the current version.
- The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, USA, alongside 100+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
- Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
- Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
- Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
- A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.
The Winners in each Award category and the Grand Prize Award Winner will be invited to participate in the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine curated exhibition ‘Glimmer’ at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, CA, United States later this year, alongside 100+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists!
A glimmer is the exact opposite of a trigger. Glimmers are small, everyday moments that make you feel joy, happiness, peace, or gratitude – which can help cue your nervous system to feel safe or calm. [The term was coined by Deb Dana.]
From the 200 Finalists across all Award categories, the Jury Panel will select the Grand Prize Award Winner.
Congratulations to the 2026 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, INPRNT Digital Art Award Winners: Susitse, Myriam Wares, and Yueming Li!
3rd Prize Winner
Susitse
Currently resides: Finland
“Autopilot” (Apple iPad Pro 11-inch & Apple Pencil 2 / Procreate)
Finland-based artist Essi Välimäki (Susitse) has built her career organically through social media. She creates illustrations and comics featuring surreal, horror-inspired wolves, working with an Apple iPad Pro, Apple Pencil 2, and the Procreate app. Essi began drawing canines as a child, inspired by various 2D animated films and series featuring animals. She has also always loved horror as genre in many forms. Drawing on these interests, she has developed a colorful, detailed oriented style that showcases her grasp of wolf anatomy and her ability to capture powerful, emotive expressions. However, the true power of Essi’s art lies in her ability to address and bring to life themes related to mental health and emotions in a profound and touching way. She brings these themes to life through raw yet beautiful visuals, carefully chosen color palettes, and subtle details that may require more than one viewing to notice. Essi’s work stems from her own emotions and mental health challenges. She began sharing her art and writing online in the hope of feeling less alone, but soon discovered that people were drawn to her work. Her audience found her brutally honest art and writing relatable—and, in turn, comforting. Over time, Essi has built a large, loyal community on social media. After quickly gaining widespread attention online, the artist founded their art business in 2021 alongside their studies. Since then, she have worked professionally with the aim of healing wounded hearts.
“Autopilot”: You have made it through another day. You have taken care of your chores and obligations. You have breathed, walked, and worked hard. Now it is time to rest, so you can start all over again tomorrow. Good for you. But are you truly alive, if autopilot is running your life for you? The artwork Autopilot tells the story of the “autopilot mode” we often slip into to cope with life’s mandatory duties and the daily grind. The piece’s vintage electronics represent the deeply ingrained habits that steer us toward this kind of behavior. Towards the mindsets we are taught: that we must simply keep going. That work is paramount. That hard work eventually pays off. The work’s vivid color palette and the deranged expression of the multi-headed wolf illustrate the absurdity of the system.
2nd Prize Winner
Myriam Wares
Currently resides: Italy
“Domestication” (Adobe Fresco & Adobe Photoshop)
Myriam Wares is a French-Canadian illustrator currently based in Turin, Italy. Working between commercial illustration and personal studio practice, she creates richly detailed imagery influenced by symbolism, mythology, nature, and historical painting traditions. She has been freelancing full-time since graduating from Dawson College in 2018. Alongside her career, she pursued additional studies in art history at Université de Montréal to deepen her understanding of the artistic world. She has since worked with clients around the globe on projects such as packaging design, editorial illustration, publishing, and advertising. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, World Illustration Awards, Communication Arts and 3×3 Magazine, and featured in publications such as Colossal, Nautilus, Taschen and Radio-Canada. She has also served as a juror for Illustration Québec and recently gave her first guest lecture at Université Laval. She works fluently in French, English and Italian.
“Domestication”: This artwork was created as a personal exploration of the themes unfamiliarity, mostly in regards to being away from home. It was done during a period of my life when I lived nomadically and had no clear idea of when, or if, I would return. I wanted to translate in an image what it feels like to search for a new home in an unfamiliar place, and the bittersweetness that comes with it. In the end, I never did come back to my home country, and instead built a life abroad. This piece remains as an account of a very strange period of my life.
1st Prize Winner
Yueming Li
Currently resides: United States
“Ashes of the Illusion” (Adobe Photoshop)
Yueming Li is a visual artist whose practice focuses on the narrativity of images and the visualization of inner world through metaphors and symbols. Drawing inspirations from the fleeting moments in everyday life, she creates visual narratives that invite a moment of pause, feeling, and reflection. Having lived across different countries, Yueming embraces visual language as a universal bridge that transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries. Her work creates a contemplative space where poetic imagery evokes shared emotion. With her visual language, she fosters encounters between the inner self and the external world, turning familiar moments into timeless narratives. Yueming’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Art on Loops in London and Athens and the Guangzhou Illustration Art Festival. She has also received multiple international recognitions, including the Winner title from the Applied Arts Awards; Silver Medals from the Japan Illustrators’ Association Illustration Awards and the Guangzhou Illustration Art Festival, and Merit Awards from the Three x Three Illustration Awards and the iJungle Illustration Awards.
“Ashes of the Illusion”: This illustration explores the Buddhist concept of the “Three-Thousand Great Worlds” while reflecting on my perceptions of dream, illusion, and reality. As a fleeting flash within the vastness of eternity, life often captures only the appearances of the world, which are, in truth, the projections of the inner self. I translate these dual philosophies into a visual meditation.
All three Winners have confirmed that AI image generators have not been used in the making of these artworks and relevant checks have been made.
The 2026 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is proudly sponsored by:
PLATINUM SPONSORS
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
MEDIA PARTNERS
ACADEMIC PARTNERS
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