17th June - Who's made a mark this week?

This last week I've been in exhibition overload - and there's a lot more to come this week!

Display in the Final Room of "Crisis of Brilliance", Dulwich Picture Gallery
Includes two large paintings by Stanley Spencer
(left) Christ Carrying the Cross (1920)
(right) Unveiling Cookham War Memorial (1922)

I've reviewed the 114th Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society, visited the new exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery (Nash, Nevinson, Spencer, Gertler, Carrington, Bomberg: A Crisis of Brilliance, 1908-1922) and highlighted the Call for Entries for the Annual Exhibition of the New
English Art Club. Plus I also saw the choices made by the Art Critics Circle at a small exhibition at the Mall Galleries and viewed Alastair Sooke as he and an art dealer got to grips with the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

This post will highlight images from exhibitions I've yet to write about and ones which might not get a full review from me.

I've also been dealing with problems relating to the first eye which was operated on. There's obviously something not quite right as the eye is not opening easily in the morning and also wants to close rather early towards the end of the day and feels a bit weird inbetween times. The consultant's letter to my GP came through and apparently I might have an issue with drainage in a nasal passage! But it's another reason why looking at screens still tends to be a bit spaced out and I'm still not back to normal blogging.

Artists and Art Blogs

Colour

• My second post about the Rory McEwen exhibition at Kew Gardens concerned his paint - see The Colours of Rory McEwen.  I did the nerdy thing and copied out all the paint names which I could see in the display cabinet!
• Two absolutely fascinating blog posts about colour and naming colours from last year.  
• The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains (part I)
• The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains (part II)
• I just kept thinking about the Piero della Francesca frescos in Arezzo and the fact that they very clearly have both a blue and a green paint in the frescos.  Maybe the author needs a European perspective?
• Meanwhile Nicole Caulfield Nicole Caulfield Fine Art has posted her wonderful colour drawing of vegetables in her post about Color Theory
• A nice post from Loriann Signori (Loriann Signori) about how to work with colour and tone in blocking in - consider the paper.  I love looking at the pictures on Loriann's blog they always make me want to reach for my colours.  She's has a reorganization of (her) pastel box recently.  Why not check out the way she's got her pastels?

Drawing and Sketching

• Drawn - the most popular drawing blog on the Internet closed its doors to new blog posts in May.  You can John Martz's explanation for why he's shut up shop - read more about Drawn's closing - or visit the blog which has been left up - complete with archives.  Read Charley Parker's obituary here Drawn 2005-2013 (I've just realised "Drawn" started about  9 months before Making A Mark!)
• There's a new website called The Drawing Forum  created by JD Hillberry and Mike Sibley which includes (surprise surprise) a Drawing Forum.  Doubtless it will be much appreciated by those who like pencil drawing and drawing animals and wildlife.
• I've started to post a long overdue (15 years!) sketches of a painting holiday in Bali.  So, naturally(!), I started at the end with Ary's Warung in Ubud, Bali

Painting

• Claire Ward (Drawn to Paint Nature) provides a very helpful demonstration of her technique of painting botanical subjects in gouache in Gouache Technique on the blog of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists
• The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has a fascinating account of how Jan van Os painted his Dutch Floral Still Life painting  which discusses paints, pigments and medium used.  There are some very interesting graphics in the post.

Plein Air

• I was delighted to find that Michael Chesley Johnson (A Plein Air Painter's Blog) took me back in time to one of the places I've sketched - Pemaquid Point and Lighthouse in Maine.  Here's
• his post about a place I remember so very well Road Trip: Mount Desert Island and Pemaquid Point – Day 3; and 
• here's my post back in 2006 Friday 22nd September - "Pemaquid Light - from top to bottom" (2 sketches) One minute I'm trying to peer at a lighthouse through throngs of people and the next minute there's an eerie silence until the wave breaks - explained perhaps by how close I was sitting to the sea.....

My Moleskine, pencil case and backpack, a very hard ledge to sit on
and a few waves at Pemaquid Point, Maine!

• James Gurney (Gurney Journey) features in Plein Air Magazine's July issue plus he's posted a video on YouTube of his sketch of the painters at the recent Plein Air Convention in Monterey.  If you attended see if you can spot yourself at the beginning!

Who painted this?

• Who painted this? #31? has an example of a large painting which contains lots of people.  Whatever happened to this type of painting?  Which contemporary artists do you know who paint large groups or lots of people in their paintings?
• Who painted this? #30 was revealed to be a painting of summer by John Cotman.  Barbara Jackson (Painting with Pencil) was the first person to get a completely correct answer

Art Business & Marketing 

Art Societies

• I know people think art societies are about the promoption of art - but they forget most originally formed with the idea of actually exhibiting and selling their paintings.  Something a number of societies (not all!) have managed to forget over the years.  It therefore came as no surprise to me to come acrpss Alyson Stanfield's post on her Art Biz Blog recommending 10 Reasons to Burn Your Art Group Membership Card.  The comments are worth reading too.  
• Her related post - concerning the need to beware of art societies which are not interested in marketing is Beware of Poisonous Relationships
• That's not to say you can't have great organisations which function efficiently and effectively and are genuinely reflective of their members and ALL their interests (that's including the one where they get paid!)

Marketing

• I've updated my website about How to write an Artist's Resume or CV.  If you're an emerging artist - or just an artist who's trying to make some progress with his or her career you may find it useful.  The companion site is How to write an Artist's Statement.

Copyright

• The Reigster has an account of The UK's copyright landgrab: The FAQ Everything you wanted to know about the Instagram Act, but were afraid to ask
• The Copyright Blog also has an article about the impact of the new act in the UK D-ERR. UK copyright owners no longer control the right to copy their work

Art Economy & Art Collectors

Art Collectors

• Is it possible that you might have been marketing to the wrong age group? See this article Young savers turn to art for bigger returns from The Telegraph.

Nearly a third of those aged between 18 and 34 have bought paintings, sculptures or photographs worth under £4,000 apiece in the last twelve months.

Art Exhibitions

Art Competitions

• Wildlife Artist of the Year 2013 - David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation is now over but you can read a review of the exhibition and find out who won what in my review - click the link.

Art Societies

Pastel Society - 114th Annual Exhibition - Private View

• This is my Review: The Pastel Society - Annual Exhibition 2013. The Private View gets an awful lot of people and the red stickers were going up rapidly while I was there last Monday evening.  Congrats to pastel artist and well known art blogger Astrid Volquardsen (Malerin des Lichts) from Hamburg who won the Daler Rowney award and also sold her painting. This is Astrid's blog post about her visit to the exhibition and winning the award - Daler-Rowney Award at the Pastel Society UK Exhibition. She also sold her painting later in the evening.

Winner of the Daler Rowney prize - Autumn surf by Astrid Volquardsen

• This is the virtual gallery of paintings produced by those exhibiting in the 2013 Exhibition with the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour

Art Exhibitions in London

• Here's my post about the Major Art Exhibitions in London June - August 2013
• I've also introduced a page on this blog - Major Art Exhibitions in London in 2013 - which is a one-stop bookmark listing all the major art exhibitions in London in 2013.
• I visited the 245th Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts on press preview day and had a tour of it led by Norman Ackroyd. 
• Here's my review 10 reasons to visit the RA Summer Exhibition 2013.  
• You've got one day left to watch The Culture Show episode in which Alastair Sooke looked at the art in the exhibition and also the artists who send in work to it - and why they do it - on iPlayer.
• Here's a fascinating account of The Royal Academy and the Hangmen By Helen Stewart 
• You've got another chance to see the fascinating BBC programme about printmaker Norman Ackroyd (pictured above) on iPlayer - until 25 June. I managed to have a quiet word with him at the Summer Exhibition preview and fed back how very much people had told me they'd enjoyed it first time around back in March.

RA Summer Exhibition 2013

• I recommend a visit to the Nash, Nevinson, Spencer, Gertler, carrington, Bomberg: A Crisis of Brilliance 1908-1922 which opened at the Dulwich Picture Gallery last week and I'll be writing up my review very soon.  (Blame the eyes for not having done it already).  Here's my photo of David Boyd Hancock, the author of the book and the man behind the exhibition.  If you're a fan of British painting it's definitely an exhibition worth seeing - portraying as it does the developments in British painting around the time of the First World War - and some of the work produced by some of the artists who worked as war artists.  This is a link to the Guardian review of his book which sets the scene for the exhibition.  I'm a huge fan of Stanley Spencer and it was a real joy for me to see some of his paintings and drawings - not least his self-portrait in red conte which can be seen over the should of David Boyd Hancock.

David Boyd Hancock, author of Crisis of Brilliance with the exhibition about the artists

• The BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2013 opens to the public on Thursday at the National Portrait Gallery
• I've got the list of selected artists - and there'll be a post tomorrow with links to their websites
• Then Sophie Ploeg (Sophie Ploeg) and I are at the Awards on Tuesday evening - with a quickie post on my return about the winner
• Press View with the prizewinners on Wednesday morning - and a more in-depth review of the exhibition
• and then a review of the BP Travel Award - of which I've had an early sight and it's amazing - and news of the 2013 Prizewinner
• Collecting Gauguin: Samuel Courtauld in the '20s opens at the Courtauld Gallery on Thursday and I'm getting an early viewing Wednesday afternoon.
• The big Lowry exhibition - Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life - opens at Tate Britain on 26 June.  There's a slideshow of 11 photos of Lowry on the Tate Facebook Page 
• This is an interesting post in The Independent about Charles Saatchi (recently in the news unconnected to art and now under caution from the Police!).  Is Charles Saatchi, at 70, the hero of contemporary art?   The contributors were Brian Sewell art critic for the Evening Standard and David Lee, editor of The Jackdaw

As the YBAs' champion notches up another decade, we asked two leading critics whether he has been good for artists and audiences

RA Summer Exhibition Preview 
the chap with the satchel on the left is David Lee,
the Editor of Jackdaw and one of the judges on Show me the Monet.
I wanted to ask him what he thought of the exhibition! 

Art Exhibitions in the UK

• Unseen Lowry is an exhibition of 100 works at The Lowry Gallery in Salford - most of which have never been seen by the public before.  It opens on 22 June and continues until 29 September.

Privately owned, these paintings and drawings were in the Lowry’s home at the time of his death in 1976 and include some of his earliest sketches as well as paintings completed in the early 1970s

• The Natural History Museum at its Tring outpost have an exhibition of interest to botanical artists.  Blooming Marvellous includes drawings by Sydney Parkinson produced during his time with Captain Cook's voyage on the Endeavour to the South Pacific 

a glimpse of the Museum's extensive collection of botanical art including watercolours, pen sketches and drawings, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.  

• There's an exhibition of Margaret Thatcher cartoons which has to have one the best ever titles for an exhibition.  The Eyes of Caligula and the Lips of Marilyn Monroe is at the Chris Beetles Gallery in London

Art Exhibitions in the USA

• The 2013 Exhibition of the National Watercolor Society has opened at the NWS Gallery at 915 S. Pacific Avenue San Pedro CA 90731. It continues until 18 August 2013.

Art Bloggers

• I've previously mentioned Victoria Evans (Victoria Evans Artist) on this blog (re Day 1 - 28 Days of Being a Painter) and she's recently written to me to tell me she has her first major solo show opening on June 21 2013. The exhibition continues until 19 July at 1873 Hall, The Briggait, 141 Bridgegate, Glasgow, G1 5HZ

Standing Stones is an ambitious installation of new large scale oil paintings, arranged in the manner of stelae, or standing stones, in The Briggait's stunning 1873 Hall.

If you have a solo exhibition coming up or a group exhibition AND you are an art blogger(this last bit is very important) do let me know when you're having your show and I'll mention it in this weekly post. See How to highlight your exhibition - for artist bloggers ONLY for information about what you need to do. Please note, as stated, this is an art blogger ONLY deal! If you don't have an art blog please do NOT send me your press release!

Art History

• The Lost Photographs of Edouard Manet by Alexi Worth is well worth a read.

Art Exhibitions - Call for Entries

Art Competitions

• Artists now have less than One month left to enter £30,000 Threadneedle Prize 2013 for figurative painting and sculpture.
• Artists & illustrators are asking for submissions for their Artist of the Year 2013 - entry closes 12 September and there will be an exhibition at the Mall Galleries in January 2014.

Art Societies

• The Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club doesn't open until the end of the year - but the Call for Entries has now been published and it's time to start thinking about creating an entry - see New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2013 - Call for Entries.  Digital registration opened last Thursday.

Art Supplies

I've done a pricing review - immediately following a rather large debit to my bit of plastic - see
Luminance 6901 Coloured Pencils - comparative prices for open stock but most of all admire the colours!

I do love choosing new colours!
Luminance 6901 Coloured Pencils
(6901 means they're accredited to an industry standard as lightfast)

Techies

Two posts about Facebook

• Facebook has introduced Hashtags.  Facecrooks tells you what you need to know about the privacy aspects in this article Hashtags Officially Come to Facebook, But Be Careful How You Use Them!
• This post went viral - in a big way.  This is Gary Moyers (Gary Moyers) on The Secret Behind the “Like” Button or what really happens when you press that "like" button

I have long held suspicions that the Like button on Facebook is not your friend.

and finally......

I know there's a lot of Harry Potter fans out there.  You might like to review Graphic art inspired by Harry Potter - courtesy of The Telegraph.