Call for Entries - CPSA 2011

The Colored Pencil Society of America's prospectus calling for entries for its 19th Annual International Exhibition was supposed to be available Nov 30, 2010 on the CPSA website and this was supposed to be my blog post about it.

But it isn't.

[UPDATE (10th December 2010):  Here are the links to:

• the CPSA End of Year 2010 Update on Colored Pencil Society of America News (I've reported that the link in the post to the prospectus is currently returning a 404 error)
• the 19th Annual Exhibition Prospectus which is now available from the CPSA website.  The deadline for entries is 31st March 2010]
  

Click this link to see the CPSA Award winners 2010 (right)

I try do one every year which amounts to a reoganisation of the information so it makes sense to me - which I then share.

Except I note that last year it all became complicated by opening up nominations for the Making A Mark Awards (see yesterday's post - Making A Mark: End of Year Review 2010 for this year) - and the 'call for entries' post never happened.

So I was particularly pleased when they said that this year the announcement would be at the end of November.....

.....which it now isn't.  C'est la vie - best laid plans etc!

What can I tell you?

Instead of which I can tell you that:

• the announcement by CPSA is delayed (ie it's not lost in the post!)
• the prospectus is now in production - the website now says so (so I guess it wasn't only me who emailed to ask where the link was!)
• CPSA recommend that everybody who is interested in getting hold of a prospectus should subscribe to their blog Colored Pencil Society of America News.  To do that put your email in the box at the top of the right hand column and the blog posts will be automatically delivered to your inbox 
• for details of deadlines and venue see below

Now, if you are absolutely desparate to know what it's likely to say, why not have a read of a past call for entries as these things typically don't change very much from year to year except in relation to venue, juror and timetable/deadlines

Plus (unless these have been changed!) I do know and can tell what the important dates are where the exhibition is being held!

19th CPSA Annual International Exhibition

Please note that the Convention for 2011 is earlier than usual: July 12-16, 2011.

Charles W. Eisemann Center Gallery in Dallas, TX.

• Entries will be accepted starting Dec. 15, 2010
• Deadline for Entries: Mar. 31, 2011
• Prospectus available at CPSA.org after November 30th

CPSA News August 2010

The important point to note here is that the exhibition is earlier than usual but the deadline for entry has not changed.

In the meantime here are some tips for entering art competitions from a previous blog post - the last one of which is particularly relevant to CPSA!  Be under no illusion about how little time you have to get your image across to the juror - I've added in some bold italics to highlight this point.  All those who have been to the slideshow display of all the entries at the CPA convention will understand exactly what I mean.

Tips for entering competitions

Last year I provided some tips for entering competitions which I repeat below:

• make sure you read the competition details in the prospectus
• make sure you read the competition details AGAIN slowly. People who produce good work can be rejected because they don't take the time to read the details of how to submit. With the numbers that tend to get entered in national/international competitions anybody not complying always gets put aside straight away.
• make sure you submit a good image. Prepare according to the specification. Crop to exclude all framing and anything else in the background but don't exclude any of the image. Make sure it is well lit and has no glare. I have to say you can always tell an image which has been lit by an expert! (See the tips on the website)
• works which project well (in my opinion) tend to be ones with strong simple compositions, saturated colours and good contrast which produces a clear focal point. Competitions which attract a lot of entries have to restrict time for viewing - based on previous years that means they may well get c.800 entries (and 800 minutes = 13.5 hours with no bathroom or meal breaks!) . I'm guessing but initially you maybe have 15 seconds max to get your image across. Could be more like 10. If you want to check what is a strong simple composition reduce your digital image down to a thumbnail and see if it still makes sense.

If you want to read some more Entering Art Competitions: Tips & Challenges visit my art competitions website

Here also is

• the History of previous CPSA International Exhibitions
• my post about last year's exhibition Making a Mark: CPSA 18th Annual Exhibition: selected artists and work and the previous one Making a Mark: 17th Annual CPSA International Exhibition 2009 - successful entries
• plus who was selected for last year's exhibition - Making a Mark: CPSA 18th Annual Exhibition: selected artists and work 
• My Coloured Pencils - Resources for Artists website which includes information about the past exhibitions in the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA) section 
• You can even have a go at being a juror and vote in the POLL - The People's Vote: Which is the Best International Exhibition? !