13th October 2013 - Who's made a mark this week?

Back in August I wrote about The £5,000 Bristol Art Prize and how the Bath Art Prize had changed cities - and moved to Bristol - but stayed in the south west of England.

We now have a winner.

Beating heart of Bristol by Adrian Sykes
acrylic painting, 120cm x 160cm
copyright the artist

This year the winner is Bristol-based painter Adrian Sykes for capturing ‘the spirit of Bristol in 2013’. His painting "Beating Heart of Bristol" was judged the best of over 200 works which were created in Bristol and entered in the competition during the summer.

The painting takes in a panoramic view of the city stretching from the Victorian houses of Jamaica Street and Stokes Croft past the spire of St Pauls and city centre tower blocks to the hills in the South and South East. The style is fanciful yet it includes the people and the architectural detail that makes this part of the city come alive.

As with the Bath Prize, artists who entered were each allocated one of 34 locations in the City and required to produce at least one work inspired by what they saw there. For additional entries they could choose any location in the City.

More than half of the 114 painters contributing work to the show were based in the Bristol area with others attracted to Bristol from as far afield as Northumberland, Cornwall, London and County Clare.

You can see the paintings produced on the competition website.  For the rest of this month you can also see The Bristol Art Prize Exhibition at The Guildhall Arts Centre, Small Street, Bristol BS1 1DW. Opening times : Tuesdays and Wednesdays 2pm to 5pm; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 10am to 5pm

I think the prize is a great idea. It's a pity more cities don't do likewise.

Artists and Art Blogs

Art

RECOMMENDED READ Grayson Perry being articulate again

• this time Grayson Perry’s Reith Lectures: Who decides what makes art good? which was reprinted in the Financial Times.
• you can also hear him soon on BBC iPlayer Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013 Episode 1 of 4 - which will be broadcast on Radio on 4 at 9.00am on 15 October 

In Why no Nobel prize for art? It's as eloquent as literature, Jonathan Jones discusses the case for a Nobel Prize for Art. He has a point!

edward-winkelman has an open thread which aims to work out what is the next big thing in the
art world - see A few pre-caffeinated thoughts on the next big thing | Open Thread

I recently wrote about a brand new magazine - or rather bookazine in "Discover Art" Bookazine to launch next month. My article has now made the front cover!

Latest version of cover for Discover Art
sees my article promoted to the front age!

Botanical Art

• Take a look at the botanical art of Lucy T Smith.  Back in April she won the 2nd Prize, Margaret Flockton Award 2013. She also produces proper scientific illustrations in pen and ink
• I loved Claire K Ward's (Drawn to paint nature) composite paintings of botanical subjects including one related to 'A year in the Welsh oak woods' in Getting ready
• Here's the collection Diane Sutherland made of botanical and nature paintings in the Rijksmuseum

Drawing and Sketching

• Thanks to Jan Blencowe for spotting The Secret Museum: Van Gogh’s Never-Before-Seen Sketchbooks
• I love Shih Ji Ren's pen and wash sketches which you can see on Flickr.  He's recently started coming along to the London Urban Sketchers's sketchcrawls.
• Andrew Marr: my stroke made me a better artist is an article in The Guardian in which I was surprised to find out that Andrew Marr seriously considered going to art college.  He also talks about how he's continuing to draw after his stroke.
• I'm supposed to be doing The Big Drawing Book Review 2013 however events have conspired to leave me with not much time for reviews to date - but I'm determined to make amends.  Starting with buying a new book about drawing last week which is fabulous!
• You can find my first review here Book review: One Drawing a Day (on Making A Mark reviews)

Painting

• Apparently Banksy is in New York - and has a dedicated website for the visit and exhibition 'Better Out than In'.  
• According to this article in the Guardian, some New Yorkers were not impressed and started to paint over his work - see Banksy shows up on the streets of New York for month-long residency. 
• Another article wonders Banksy makes a splash in New York – but what will become of the murals?
• David Poxon's pure watercolour painting 'In a Farmyard' has won an award at the National Watercolor Society's 93rd Annual International Exhibition (November 10th, 2013 – January 11th, 2014) in San Pedro, Los Angeles,CA USA.

In a Farmyard by David Poxon
 a prizewinner at the National Watercolor Society's 93rd Annual International Exhibition

• There's very little information on the Internet about painting on vellum. Dianne Sutherland (Dianne Sutherland) recently published a really informative post about Painting on Vellum in which she compares the different types of vellum and provides tips for those wanting to give it a try.  This is in addition to the page on her website in which she has Notes on Painting on Vellum.  Both are included in my website about Fine Art Paper & Vellum for Artists
• Pamela Curry Greene is writing about her experience on a Julian Merrow Smith painting workshop in Provence on her blog pamela curry greene art.  Meanwhile Julian's wife Ruth is also posting pics of the painters on the Postcard from Provence blog.  Sounds like this bunch are fast workers and are giving the vines a good workout!
  

Pastels and Pencils

• If you've not yet taken a look at Tanja Gant's website of portraits in coloured pencils you should.  These are not just technically good - they're portraits with attitude!
• Gayle Mason's (Fur in the Paint) second article about drawing animals and wildlife in coloured pencils can be found in the November edition of 'Leisure Painter'. 
• I was very struck by Julie Podstolski's coloured pencil drawing of a Geisha in the Pencil Art Society's first Online Juried Exhibition.  I love the juxtaposition of the very traditional dress and everyday life. I have a theory which is that people who have an eye for producing an interesting perspective on well known visual images take great photos.  So I took at look at her blog juliepodstolski - and she's added more evidence to my theory.

Who painted this?

• Who Painted This? #48 - this time the winner will be the person who provides the best answer about artist and/or painting.  
• Who Painted This? #47 - a new twist asked for the best answer about the artist

Art Business & Marketing

Art Marketing

• Letter to an artist - was my post about what to focus on when trying to market your art online - and who gets featured on this blog!
• This is an excellent post on Artsy Shark about why Effective Art Marketing is Not About You
• What is niche marketing is a generic post about niche marketing by The Design Trust however the principles and points made are ones which are applicable if you're trying to think from a marketing perspective of ways to differentiate your art and what you offer in the marketplace.  
• Barney Davey has a post which outlines 15 Ways to Make Your Art Career More Successful
• Bookmark me!  I've made an about.me page . This is it http://about.me/katherine.tyrrell. It has links to all the other places you can find me online. I have to say it might be an old bit of social media but it was just what I was looking for - all the main bookmarks on one page!

Selling Art

• A couple of very interesting posts for artists keen on selling their art on Alyson Stanfield's ArtBizBlog
• First Tara Reed did a guest blog post about Five Realities of Art Licensing 
• Next up, another guest blogger Rani Garner talks about why her Vacation Leads to Quadrupling Art Sales
• Eric Maisel continues the theme with his post about Turning Tourists into Art Customers

Art collectors & art economy 

Art Auctions

• Financial Times - These are the October art auctions in London

Art Collectors

• Collecting artists, not art - Delfina Entrecanales is a legendary art supporter who is still feisty and breaking new ground at 84

Art Fairs

• Fair crop: life beyond Frieze Week The autumn is awash with events selling emerging, affordable and editioned art

Art Competitions

• It's so sad that £10,000 Threadneedle Prize People's Choice Award didn't go to an artist who was making their career as a fine artist producing figurative art. To see who won go to my review of the exhibition, go to the end and note the piece which I indicated I was afraid would win - because (1) the artist works very, very hard at their marketing and (2) the rest of his work is just "titillation art" with a gimmick - although I think he's cleaned up his website since he won the prize. I shall in future be an advocate of the notion that the winner of a prize should NOT be the subject of a public vote. Interestingly I can't show you what this work looks like as I never even took a photo of it.  
• The Artists & Illustrators Magazine Artists of the Year competition is an annual search for the best undiscovered artists.  I have to say its shortlist for the prize Artist of the Year 2013 includes some artists who I would not describe as 'undiscovered'!

Art Exhibitions

The New York Times has commented on what appears to be a current trend in Europe - a breakout of birthday suits! With Money Tight, Museums Embrace Nudes - referencing:

• Musée d'Orsay - Masculin/Masculin (24 September 2013 - 2 January 2014) is getting 4,500 visitors a day.  Its YouTube Video initially attracted an X rating!
• British Museum - Shunga sex and pleasure in Japanese art (3 October 2013 – 5 January 2014)

Plus there's a new exhibition coming up at the Wallace Collection - The Male Nude: Eighteenth Century drawings from the Paris Academy (24 October 2013 - 19 January 2014)

Anybody who has ever doubted the Facebook Policy on "no nudes" should try referencing them!

Art Society Exhibitions

• This is my review of the Pencil Arts Society Annual Exhibition - Selected Artists and Award Winners.  That's a jolly good first exhibition for a brand new art society.

Opening this week at the Mall Galleries are the Annual Exhibitions of:

• The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers - the exhibition dates are 15 - Sun 27 October 2013.  Tracy Hall highlights her paintings in the exhibition in her post Royal Miniature Society exhibition 
• Royal Society of Marine Artists' 68th Annual Exhibition - featuring around about 300 paintings and sculptures is opening 16th October until 27th October.

Major Exhibitions in London

• National Gallery (Sainsbury Wing) - Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900 (9 October 2013 – 12 January 2014) - Portrait paintings by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka
• my Review: Facing the Modern - The Portrait in Vienna 1900 (8 October 2013)- I recommend it for portrait artists and those who enjoy art by Klimt, Schiele and Kokochka
• Hothouse of the vanities Jackie Wullschlager takes the National Gallery to task over its new show of Viennese modernism.  She articulates what was for me an unspoken niggle at the time.
• National Portrait Gallery - Elizabeth I & Her People (10 October 2013 - 5 January 2014 ) This explores the remarkable reign of Elizabeth I through the lives and portraiture of her people.  This is my Review: 'Elizabeth I and Her People' at the National Portrait Gallery

Opening next week is

• Paul Klee at Tate Modern 16 October 2013 – 9 March 2014. Paul Klee is one of the great innovators among twentieth-century artists
• An American in London: Whistler and the Thames at the Dulwich Picture Gallery (16 October 2013 - 12 January 2014). I'm really looking forward to what will be a major about Whistler's paintings, drawings, pastels, watercolours and prints of Chelsea and the Thames River including his iconic Nocturnes 

Exhibitions in the UK

• In Margate the Turner Contemporary has Turner and Constable: Sketching from Nature. Works from the Tate collection 5 October 2013 - 5 January 2014.  The exhibition has over 75 oil sketches, watercolours and finished oils from the Tate collection by JMW Turner, John Constable and their contemporaries. shall be making a trip!

Exhibitions in Europe

• Velázquez and the Family of Philip IV (October 8, 2013 - February 9, 2014) at the Prado

Exhibitions in the USA

• Museum of Modern Art: ‘American Modern: Hopper to O’Keeffe’ (until 26 January 2014).  It's essentially a review of the works in the MOMA Collection which belong to the period 1915 and 1950. Artists represented include George Bellows, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Sheeler, Alfred Stieglitz, and Andrew Wyeth, among many others. Here are the reviews:
• New York Times - Slideshow - plus review Comfortable Old Friends ‘American Modern: Hopper to O’Keeffe’ Opens at MoMA
• Wall Street Journal - A New Look at American All-Stars
• The New Yorker - American Modern: Hopper to O'Keeffe
• Color! American Photography Transformed - an exhibition showing at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Texas until January 5 2014.  Here's an example of one of the photographs on show - it recreates the look of an impressionist painting - Snapshot: Still Life with Peaches, 1912, Laura Gilpin

Art History & Museums

• A new Brueghel has come to light - for the first time in 400 years - see Pieter Brueghel the Younger: ‘The Census at Bethlehem’ in the Financial Times
• Another surprising story suggests that Velázquez portrait has pride of place in Prado – but original may be in Dorset!  Next month the painting which currently lives in a National Trust property at Kingston Lacy in Dorset will be shown in Spain for the first time, alongside an exhibition of Velázquez's portraits at the Prado.
• Keiran Long was an architecture journalist (currently to be seen on the television commenting on architecture) before being appointed to curate design, architecture and digital at the V&A last year, - Here's his opinion on contemporary museum curation
• The Smithsonian Blog has highlighted the view that Ancient Women Artists May Be Responsible for Most Cave Art

Opinion Poll

The Making A Mark Poll this month is about paint - see POLL: Who is your favourite artists' paint manufacturer?

Techies

Facebook and Blogs

• Facecrooks explains the major change which happened this week - All Facebook Users Will Now Appear in Search.  
• However note that you can still block individual users from seeing your Facebook Account.  
• Otherwise you need to use your settings to control how you share the information on your account. 
• My personal account is limited to friends and family - with all blog and other art information on my Makingamark Facebook Page which is always public

and finally......

Thanks to Sophie Ploeg for spotting this one - QUIZ: Can You Tell The Difference Between Modern Art And Paintings By Toddlers?

I got 7 out of 11 right but must confess haven't been looking at too much toddler art of late.