- They caught my eye on my first turn around the gallery - from a distance of some 6 feet+.
- Then kept it on my second go round - when I'm looking more closely at the paintings.
- Then survived the cull as I went around for the third time to work out my.....
10 Best Paintings - Sunday Times Watercolour 2019
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| These three looked good together. The two on the left made it into my top 10. |
The judges will be looking for work that makes the most imaginative or otherwise impressive use of a water-based medium. (ArtOpps: Sunday Times Watercolour 2019)My criteria for my best paintings has nothing to do with imagination.
I find it difficult to remember the last imaginative artist who lacked skill in painting make it as an artist - with the possible exception of Tracey Emin.
The criteria used by the Judges of the Sunday Times Watercolour 2019 was, in my opinion, entirely the wrong way round.
In my view:
- impressive use of watercolour in a competition like this MUST be an imperative and an absolute - if you don't understand the properties of watercolour, if you don't know how to use a brush and if you don't know how to exploit watercolour properties to the max then you don't make it on to my list! (and you shouldn't make it on to the walls of this exhibition either!)
- innovative is good - I'm always interested in seeing new ways of working with watercolour. Back in 2010 when reviewing this exhibition I said
My recommendation to those thinking about putting in for this exhibition is to be genuinely innovative and display what watercolour can do. I suggest that all those people whose talents lie in the direction of the use of transparent glazing and mixing colours which granulate should step up and have a shot - because you've got a lot of space to make an impact!
- great painting must be 'an absolute given' - ie people who know how to use a brush and create a design / composition
- well presented must also count for something - why are paintings being hung which are frankly scruffy? How do paintings where the artists have failed to keep their paper clean (where left unpainted) make it on to the walls of this exhibition?
In other words in my criteria "Imaginative" is for the fairies! By which I mean it ranks fairly low on my criteria for what makes a painting worth exhibiting. I'm not saying it doesn't have a place in art - but it certainly should not be the premier criteria for a watercolour competition!
My criteria is entirely about impressive use of watercolour - and making "a good picture".
I've tried to work out how to order them - and decided the prizewinners were very definitely not going first as you've seen them more than once. In the end I plumped for something akin to reverse alphabetic by surname - with the prizewinners at the end.
I've tried to work out how to order them - and decided the prizewinners were very definitely not going first as you've seen them more than once. In the end I plumped for something akin to reverse alphabetic by surname - with the prizewinners at the end.
That's because those with surnames in the second half of the alphabet always get a raw deal when it comes to the display of paintings in an exhibition!
SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
The first two paintings demonstrate why sometimes something really simple can have a lot of appeal.
1. Christopher Wallbank - Frozen Heather
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| Frozen Heather by Christopher Wallbank watercolour £700 |
This painting by Chris Wallbank SWLA is very definitely one of my favourite paintings in this exhibition. I immediately recognised the humpy splodges before I read the title (on my second turn arund the gallery). This is mostly alla prima watercolour painting. You put the brush in the paint - and create a shape - and then you leave it well alone except for a few small marks. It actually takes quite a lot of skill to paint clumps of heather in perspective under snow - and to let the paint drain to create a deeper shadow! Plus the fact he's painted it in purple reminds us of the colour when the heather is in bloom and also the very odd shadow colours you can get in snow in certain light.
Very simple and very effective and beautifully presented - with care. It's a painting I wouldn't mind having hanging on my wall.
As an artist he's also had previous mentions by me on this blog. I'm actually rather pleased that I picked him without remembering his name - although it is a bit embarrassing too! That's because I well remember talking to Chris about his wonderful drawing of a Loomery which was exhibited in 2015. I also gave his "The Urban Black Kites of Delhi" project and his drawing of the Macaques of Modnigar a feature within my blog post about last year's annual exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists.
This is an artist who is skilled in using watercolour plein air. He's an artist who is going places and I commend his work to you!
As an artist he's also had previous mentions by me on this blog. I'm actually rather pleased that I picked him without remembering his name - although it is a bit embarrassing too! That's because I well remember talking to Chris about his wonderful drawing of a Loomery which was exhibited in 2015. I also gave his "The Urban Black Kites of Delhi" project and his drawing of the Macaques of Modnigar a feature within my blog post about last year's annual exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists.
This is an artist who is skilled in using watercolour plein air. He's an artist who is going places and I commend his work to you!
Website: Chris Wallbank https://www.chriswallbank.com/
2. Sara Lee - Departure
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| Departure by Sara Lee Gouache and Japanese woodcut £1,150 |
Those of us who have spent time sketching around the streets in Cannareggio in Venice - and ended up on the Fondamente Nove will know this view of the island of the dead - of the Cimitero di San Michele on the island of San Michel (where both Igor Stravinsky and ezra Piound are buried) in the lagoon around Venice.
I'm a complete sucker for artwork of places I know - particularly when they don't shout it and instead indicate in a discrete way for those who will recognise.
The painting/print also has very refined and gradated washes in the background - for the sky and the lagoon - in colours one might not expect - unless you've not seen Venice in different seasons.
It's only when I saw what I assume is the woodcut element that I knew exactly what the painting was about as the separation of colours is very discrete and easily missed. The lighter colour is the wall around the island and the darker colour are the trees which grow around the cemetery.
I admire this one - and would love to know how it was created.
Again I am more than delighted to read her bio on her website - which I found five seconds ago! I didn't know her work at all before seeing this work yesterday - but will be looking out for it in future. She is very obviously a lady who is absorbed by the meeting of the sky and the sea.
Sara Lee predominantly works with drawing, film and print, including woodblock in the ukiyo-e tradition. Her practice involves working from site-specific landscapes, followed by extended studio-based work. Her images are a response to the ephemeral nature of landscape and question our emotional and physical relationship to an evolving environment.Website: Sara Lee http://www.saraleeartist.co.uk/
She exhibits widely and her work is held in public and private collections internationally. She has written for Tate and has advised and spoken on print processes for various individuals and institutions including The Art Fund, Dulwich Picture Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.
Sara Lee trained with Master Printer Hugh Stoneman and together they developed a photogravure practice and co-published, under the imprint Print Centre Publications. Over many years she has worked closely on etching and relief print projects with Eileen Cooper RA, with whom she shares a print studio space and the imprint Blackbird Editions.
Born in Wales, she lives and works in London. She studied Fine Art at Ravensbourne and Postgraduate Printmaking at Central School.
