My Composition and Design project

This year I'm going to remind people about what I've got in the archives of Making a Mark. I'm going to start with my Composition and Design Project which I started in January 2008

The future may be at the end......

Composition and Design Project - Blog Posts 

Below is a list of the various posts and a short explanation of what they're about.

Some of the hyperlinks these blog posts contain may be out of date and/or moved on to pastures new.

Fibonacci Spiral
Wikimedia Commons

• Composition and Design - An Introduction 14 Jan 2008

Design and Composition - I'm revisiting this topic to try and understand more about what different people have had to say about composition, what are the 'rules' and why breaking the rules also works. I intend to relate design and composition to specific subject matter (eg landscapes and flowers) and artists that I like and/or will feature this year - such as Degas. I'm starting the year with this topic as it underpins so much of what comes next. It will continue to run as theme throughout the year and I'll be referencing it in other areas of work during the rest of the year.
Katherine Tyrrell - "Making A Mark in 2008 - the Plan"

Singing the Blues

10" x 8", coloured pencil on Arches HP
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

• Composition - The Elements of Design 15 Jan 2008 - An overview of the Elements of Design which are Value, Colour, Shape, Form, Space, Line and Texture

It's amazing how many of us who don't have the benefit of a fine art degree seem to have managed to learn something about the different aspects of what's involved with composition and design without actually ever coming across the idea of the 'elements' and 'principles' of art/composition/design! Or at least that's my experience. I'd certainly never heard about these particular groups before starting this project. Maybe this is what they teach you if you do an Fine Art degree? ;)

• Composition - Principles of Design 16 Jan 2008 - This post focuses on balance, emphasis. harmony, movement, pattern, proportion, rhythm, unity and variety

Fire Risks for Fine Art in Los Angeles

I've seen no mention of risk to fine art in the context of the horrendous fires in Los Angeles, California - so decided to see what I could find.

It seems to me there are four main risks

• The Art Galleries housing fine art (eg Getty Museum; Los Angeles Museum of Art)
• The Security Archives holding art bought as an investment
• The Archives of individual artists with homes in the area - such as David Hockney
• The homes of very rich people who buy art - I mourn the loss of the art...

This is a resume of what I can find out so far.

Art Galleries - appear OK

I remember back in 2019, during the last really bad wildfires near Los Angeles, being extremely impressed with the precautions that the Getty Museum had taken in relation to risks from potential natural disasters.

This time the Getty seems to be in the clear again - and this is part of the reason why How LA's Getty Center built a fire-proof fortress for priceless art

I plugged in "Art Galleries in Los Angeles, CA" into Google Maps to see how close the major art galleries were to the six fires.

Fires are marked by a flickering fire motif
North: Hurst Fire
Central: Sunset Fire
West: Pacific Palisades Fire
East: Eaton Fire

It looks as if most of the main galleries (eg Los Angeles County Museum of Art) are all in built up areas which are more unlikely to wildfire - although who can tell given the extreme high winds carrying fiery embers all over the city

West of Pacific Palisades the fire seems to be burning its way along Malibu down to the coast.

News reports indicate the following

How to submit art to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art

Yesterday, the Royal Academy of Art opened for registration and submissions to the Summer Exhibition 2025.

The submission deadline is 23:59 (GMT) on Tuesday 11 February. However read the first "need to know" item below - because it's might actually be much earlier than that!

The RA Summer Exhibition is the largest open exhibition in the UK - with well over 1,000 exhibits - so you need to take the statistics around selection into account before deciding whether or not enter.

This is about

• key things you need to know about the Call for Entries
• aspects worth bearing in mind if you're thinking about submitting

IMPORTANT Things You Need to Know

How many people enter?

The cap on the number of submission entries is 18,000. Once that limit has been reached you cannot enter. So you need to register and pay your entry fee - to access an entry form - quickly if you want to be sure of being able to enter. (In 2024 it was 16,500).

In effect this means the deadline for entries is not as stated, the ACTUAL deadline for entries is when all the forms for 18,000 entries have been purchased!

You can 

• enter one or two works, 
• for a fee of £40 per work and 
• you can pay online by credit or debit card.

Once the 18,000 digital entries have been reviewed, 4,000 will be asked to submit their artwork for the final selection in front of the team of selectors.

However most people do not get selected!

Basically a LOT of people do NOT get selected for the Summer Exhibition.

• 18,000 entries reduces to
• 4,000 shortlisted - and need to submit the actual artwork for further judging
• BUT ?? from the open entry get exhibited. I'd guess maybe 1,000?

Many people overprice their artwork - including RA members!

Eight years ago I wrote a post about how pricing and sales were related for different categories and price ranges. This is it RA Summer Exhibition - a curious exercise in pricing and sales. It provides very clear guidance on pricing for all those submitting artwork via the open entry. Regular readers may be able to guess what it says! ;)

I might have another go at last year's exhibition which is still online
 

How do I know what I need to know?

The overall process - from beginning to end - is MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than anything else you apply for so you need to get it right.

The RA have been doing this for a long time and have LOTS of information for you - and you do need to read it. 

So if you're not a fan of reading get a friend who is picky about details to do it for you. 

The RA provides some 

• helpful guides (see below) plus 
• lots of answers to the very many FAQS (see next item)

How to Enter - The Basics

You must first register and buy your entry form. Next you complete it before the deadline for entries. 

• Terms and Conditions of Entry - Why they can't make this a PDF I do not know. I recommend you "print to PDF" and save it as it's something you'll be wanting to use as a checklist. Do NOT rely on reading it just once!
• Instructions for Entering Work - Ditto, this also needs to be a PDF
• Exhibition Schedule - this lists all the dates for what happens when
• Suggested Transport Agents - list of recommended art couriers. None list their prices - which will vary depending on how far they are transporting. Remember their prices will include the time for packing and unpacking.

Very Useful Things to Know 

Making A Mark is 19 years old today!

 Making A Mark was born in December 2005 but first went public on January 7th 2006

Which makes it 19 years old today. 

The actual first post Making a Mark said

This is a new journal which will reflect on how my paintings and drawings are created.

It will also introduce small works of art which will be available for sale from my website from the New Year.

That was the idea at the time - but was soon revised! I subsequently decided it was probably a better idea to learn more about art - and my Making A Mark blog started to transform.

In December 2005, I started learning how to use Blogger (in private!) and so, that first post was followed in December, by a few which became much more typical of what I used to post at the beginning.

• Two of my favourite occupations
• Drinking Tea and Drawing People
• Drawing and Flu

Drinking tea and drawing people - in the RA Friends Room
(Who remembers the big black chesterfield sofas?)
drinking tea and drawing people became a perennial theme for sketches
- which subsequently transferred to another blog
Travels with my Sketchbook in....

Drinking tea and drawing people at the RI Exhibition at the Mall Galleries (2010)

on Travels with a Sketchbook in....

This sketch subsequently appeared on page 103 of my book Sketching 365
I can even remember that those blue paintings on the back wall
were by Bob Rudd
Sadly this blog was knobbled by my growing mobility issues

However, in terms of birthdays, I always count the day it first went public as it's actual birthday. Making A Mark went public to the world at large after I'd recovered from flu and got through Christmas 2005.   

So the actual FIRST PUBLIC POST was Catnapping on January 5th 2006.

Catnapping #2
Cosmo sleeping on the lap of JR (he loved his Daddy!)

I've been pondering about whether I've opted for the right blogger software and whether, if I need to change, I need to do it sooner rather than later. But every time I look at all the alternatives I get a headache. And as the flu bug has only diminished rather than disappeared I think I'll leave that for when I'm feeling a bit more invigorated and generally up for a bit of cyber thingummies. Especially as I've just managed to lose all my refinements of the basic template because I fancied looking at what it looked like in blue! Grrrrrrr!!

What I now value very much is I have a complete record of a lot of my life over the last 19 years - where I've been, what I've seen, who I've met and all the art along the way. If I get bored or cannot get out I just start to look through my archives in the side column - year by year and month by month. 

In the lead up to Making A Mark's 20th birthday, I think I might start regular reminders of posts from the past - because they're useful or a visual feast.

Then there's all my photographs of art and exhibitions........

NEW BBC Art Programme about buying and selling art

I'm not sure what I think about this new BBC Art Programme but what follows is what I've found out so far!

From Facebook

A NEW BBC Art Programme about buying and selling art

I've seen other approaches for people to get involved in television programmes which look way more professional than this one.

There's 

• an individual on Facebook called Cara Doré (the name makes me suspicious to start with!) 
• who posted the following on the Art Teachers UK Facebook Group (why are they asking teachers?) 
• just before Christmas (who would post anything they want a response to on 22nd December?!!)

I'm currently casting on a brand new BBC art show and we are keen to here from any art teachers or retired art teachers to take part.

We’re looking for competitive pairs to take part in a new BBC Art show. Whether you are a pair of best mates; mother and son; nan and granddaughter; stepsisters or a couple… if you reckon you make the ultimate dynamic double act, we want to hear from you!

To apply email – takepart@stellifytv.com

The notion is that is a new BBC programme where you:

• put your sales skills to the test (so why are they asking teachers to participate?)
• play the art market (really?)
• try to win a life-changing amount of cash (this has got daytime written all over it so the definition of "life-changing" might be up for debate)

So the facts are:

• somebody is touting for participants 
• who has a very unusual name (name change for the media maybe?) 
• who doesn't appear to be very media savvy and/or professional (dreadful image)
• but is apparently a Casting Researcher at Trilogy Casting
• far too little information as to what the programme is about e.g. what are they actually going to DO?
• stellifytv.com does not exist as a website - so how can that email work?

HOWEVER Stellifymedia is "an award winning multi-genre unscripted production company" set up as a joint venture with Sony Pictures Television.

and that's the ONLY this bit which finally led me to publish this post.

It all sounds VERY WEIRD to me. If anybody finds out what it is do let me know. I just know somebody out there will want to know more....