One UMass Dartmouth student's journey to becoming Illustrator of the Future

Josie Moore’s imagination has been filled with ideas of fantasy worlds ever since she was a kid and her mind was bursting with ideas.

It wouldn’t be until 2020 when the UMass Dartmouth sophomore and illustration student began taking her art seriously and illustrating the ideas that filled her imagination.

“Covid hit me hard, so I basically would spend pretty much all hours of the day drawing,” Moore said, “and I just decided, ‘Okay, I’m doing this.’”

Now, Moore has been awarded the title of Illustrator of the Future for the artwork she submitted to the 37th L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest.

“I’m very interested in dark fantasy, and I have a personal project that I’ve been writing and working on, and I always have new pieces for that, so I just figured I would submit a few of that,” Moore said.

According to Moore, there were over 1,000 submissions to the contest from over 100 countries, but she said it felt more like an individual project.

“It felt so straightforward that I hadn’t realized just how much of a big deal [winning] was,” she said.

L. Ron  Hubbard, author of science fiction novels such as “Battlefield Earth,” established the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest 42 years ago as a way for aspiring writers to break into the scene of speculative fiction. Five years later, the Illustrators of the Future Contest began to offer similar opportunities for artists.

Even now that nearly a month has passed since she learned that she won, Moore said it still hasn’t fully processed that she has.

“It’s just more like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s cool,’” she said. “I’m sure at some point it’s going to hit me.”

Besides earning the title of Illustrator of the Future, Moore’s artwork will appear in the anthology “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 42,” which will be published in April 2026. 

She will also be flown out to Hollywood in April for an awards event, a week-long master-class workshop and an opportunity to meet top names in the illustration industry, including some she’s familiar with.

“[They’re] people that I take a lot of inspiration from or have admired since I was a kid,” Moore said.

Moore submitted three pieces of her digitally drawn artwork in August to be judged on their visuals, storytelling and overall artistry.

The artwork Moore sent in comes from her own work and her own world that she’s created. In one, Moore drew the faces of 12 characters; in another, a man lays in a patch of flowers, his rib cage is exposed, his golden heart glowing in the space where his lungs should be; and in the third, a figure named Coco holds up a wanted poster meant for them.

Moore said that her favorite was probably the piece that featured the 12 characters because it took the most effort and she was happy with how it turned out.

Moore takes inspiration for her artwork and character designs from animals, with her characters taking on animal-like characteristics such as pointed ears.

“I always find it fascinating what I can do, whether it be symbolism or overall biology stuff,” she said.

For some of her artwork, including the pieces she submitted to the contest, Moore will also turn to music for inspiration.

“When I go to a very serious piece, especially the ones that I submitted to the contest, I mainly will hear a song,” she said.

She called the imaginative and creative aspects of art her favorite, as well as knowing that the artwork that lies before her is something that she made.

“This is all coming from my heart, and especially using aspects of my own life and taking some of the rougher aspects of it and turning it into something interesting or meaningful,” Moore said.