MAKING A MARK: Call for Entries: Landscape Artist of the Year 2019

If you are not afraid of painting in front of cameras AND lots of people (millions?) watching you paint a landscape for a television programme, you should consider applying to be in one of the pods for Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2019

If you are interested I suggest you read my blog post yesterday Learning Points from Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 - a summary which also provides links to the various blog posts by those who participated in 2018.

Key Points

The deadline for submission of your digital entry is 11th May 2019 - and entries are now being accepted online. Where an insufficient number of the entries received have satisfied the entry and judging criteria, the deadline might be extended - and I think this is when the programme-makers start actively looking for possibles.
You could win a £10,000 commission and £500 worth of art materials from Cass Art.
If you reach the semi-finals your artwork produced for the competition could be displayed in - and sold by - an art gallery in London.

How you are chosen to participate

A panel of Judges will review the Landscape Entry(s) and the Additional Works of Art from all the valid Competition entries and select the artists who will be invited to attend one of the Heats.

The Judges do NOT look at your website or your entry form - they only look at the works of art you submit in support of your application.

This is what the Judges have to say about the sort of landscapes they hope to see as submissions and during the course of the competition

Landscape painting is a peculiarly British fascination and this country has produced incredibly innovative artists such as Turner and Constable in this discipline. As the competition evolves and we introduce ever more interesting and complex locations, we hope to find artists who will rise to the occasion and emulate those great artists in a fresh and contemporary way. Tai Shan Schierenberg

and

Landscape painting gives artists a real opportunity to be creative and thoughtful. I'm not looking for something 'correct' or 'accurate,' rather I want to see a particular scene through someone else's eyes. Kate Bryan

and

I want to see artworks that celebrate the great, the good, the bad and the ugly of our fabulous landscapes. Landscape in the broadest and most challenging sense. Kathleen Soriano

Personally I think somebody who has a claim to some expertise in landscape painting should review what artists post online as well as it's pretty obvious that some of the artists in the pods were neither landscape painters nor had any experience of painting plein air!

When you also know there has been a selection process and it has excluded some good plein air painters - who end up as wildcards I want to:

get artists to realise the importance of their submission images
suggest to producers realise that looking at websites might tell a different story!

I know I'd much rather see a collection of top notch artists in every single Heat who can paint plein air (in 4 hours) AND paint in their own individual way.

So what do you need to know to enter?

Who can enter

The Competition is open to ALL artists – amateur, professional or hobbyists
- but there are some restrictions. (see Terms and Conditions)

This is NOT a competition where your partner, your best mate or Mum can enter you without you knowing! People can help you with the entry process but it must be YOUR ENTRY.

YOU can ONLY enter IF you:

are aged 16 or over as at 17th October 2018
are in good health
know of no reason which might prevent you from participating in the competition
hold a valid passport (worth checking if yours has run out!)
have been LEGALLY resident in the UK, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland for at least one year on 17th October 2018
can provide documentation to support all of the above (ie. birth certificate; passport, any relevant documentation relating to your immigration/residency status).

Any artist who is less than 18 years old MUST

provide written agreement from his or her parents (or legal guardian) to you entering the competition
written parental consent to you being filmed prior to filming.
be accompanied by a parent / legal guardian / a nominated adult at all filming.

Those excluded from the competition are

finalists or winners of ANY previous Artist of the Year competition run by Sky Arts - which means all previous wild card artists can apply again!
those connected to those companies or people who commission, fund or deliver the programme (the conditions spells this out in a lot more detail)
an artist is selected to appear in Portrait Artist of the Year 2020 (i.e. which is filmed in 2019 - and you can only do one in any year)

You must commit to being available to film

If you are chosen as a Shortlisted Artist or a Reserve Shortlisted Artist, you must be available for filming between 1st June 2017 and 24th July 2019.

Heats One and Two: Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th June 2019.
Heats Three and Four: Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th June 2019.
Heats Five and Six: Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th July 2019.

The Semi Final is intended to take place at a location to be decided on Wednesday 24th July 2019

The 2018 Final was filmed at the beginning of September 2018 so it's very likely that the same will apply in 2019. Worth bearing in mind if you aspire to be in the Final!

Eligible Landscape paintings - for submission

Artists are selected to attend the heats based on the artwork submitted as part of the entry.

The Landscape Entry submitted must be a painting of a landscape vista, and can be produced in any material excluding photography, video, sculpture and all forms of digital media. Collage and mixed media works are all allowed. The work may be abstract or expressive as long as it is recognisably a representation of a landscape that has been produced within the last five years.

Sky Arts has some advice about how to photograph your art

Images of landscape paintings that are eligible for submission are defined as follows:

MUST be a painting of a landscape vista
MAY be may be abstract or expressive
MUST be recognisable as a representation of a landscape
MAY be produced in any media - including collage and mixed media works - except those not allowed
MUST NOT include photography, video, sculpture and all forms of digital media.
MUST be produced in the last five years.
MUST be no bigger than 1220 x 914 mm (48” x 36”) unframed
MUST each have a file size of at least 800 KB and ideally no more than 1.5MB.
Additional Work(s) of Art submitted can be any size, and can also be in any material other than photography, video, sculpture or any form of digital media.

How to enter

The emphasis on YOU means that only YOU can enter unless you are under 18 in which case your parents need to complete and submit the entry. (You can help them!)

You've only got one chance with your entry to this competition. This is what you need to do:

Read the terms and conditions (LOTS of small print). Then read them again. Then read them again before you upload your entry. I cannot emphasise too much how very easy it is to miss or misunderstand an important point - and you'll be kicking yourself if you do! It's one of the reasons I do this type of post!
YOU MUST complete/submit the online application form
YOU MUST upload digital images (low-resolution JPEGS 1.5MB max. file size) of:

a landscape painting created by you NOT including any frame. See further notes on what the landscape should and should not be
One passport-style photograph of yourself. (max size 500KB)
Note you should NOT manipulate your images (using Photoshop or other digital image software) so they look better than they are.

The images of the Landscape Entry and the Additional Works of Art must not be manipulated in any way and must be of the work of art entered.

You MAY upload digital images (low-resolution JPEGS 1.5MB max. file size) of:

an additional landscape.
a third artwork which does not have to be a landscape

You will also be asked to

describe yourself as an artist and your background,
detail whether you have entered or won any other art competitions - and how far you got.
state details of any television programme you've been on before
explain why you painted your landscape and how you painted it

Who knows how much difference the text makes. Treat it as if it matters a lot and you can't go far wrong. But be yourself but don't boast and don't undersell yourself.

You MUST bring your original landscape entry and any additional works of art (submitted as part of your entry) to (and potentially from) the Heat IF you are

shortlisted
(or added to a List of Reserve Shortlisted Artists),
Paintings must be unframed, and substitutes cannot be accepted.

Wildcard artists at Loch Fyne in Scotland on a very wet day in June 2018

So bottom line that means you have to be able to get

your entry artwork
plus all painting gear
plus overnight 'stuff'
to a Heat which might be located anywhere in the country.
which probably means driving for most people!

More wildcard artists trekking to take up position at Studley Royal Water Garden in Yorkshire in 2018

If you are shortlisted you are also required to supply high-resolution quality images of your Landscape Entry for marketing and publicity purposes - which you need to arrange and provide promptly.

There are various reasons why you may be disqualified - one of which is not responding within 48 hours when contacted.

The aim is to notify applicants or or shortly after 30th May 2019

Your original Landscape Entry and Additional Works of Art, on request, must be given to the Producer on loan until the all episodes of the Series have been first broadcast by Sky or if an Exhibition is staged and if Your Landscape Entry and Additional Works of Art are selected for the Exhibition, at the end of the Exhibition.

Heats / Filming open to the public

You may be invited to ANY heat at ANY location. If you are a Shortlisted Artist, you can indicate a preferred Heat, but it might not be possible to accommodate your preference.

There are six heats in the first stage of the Competition which will take place intended to take place in three locations in 2017 across the UK and Ireland on the following dates. Dates are provision and locations have not been confirmed.

Heats One and Two: Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th June 2019.
Heats Three and Four: Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th June 2019.
Heats Five and Six: Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th July 2019

The pods at Broadstairs produced the 2018 winner!

Further conditions include:

Each Heat Location/Date will have a Reserve List of standby artists who can take the place of a Shortlisted Artist who is no longer able to take part (eg forgot to bring their artwork with them!)
You have to paint the Vista allocated - whether you like it or not! (Personally speaking, this is what would eliminate me - I can't abide people telling me which view to paint! I've also been filmed painting for television and I can tell you that it this condition is quite simply OTT. By all means, indicate an area in which artists have to sit or stand - but do NOT tell me which view I connect with. I can't produce a good artwork unless I find a view appealing! But that's me - I've done the television thing and am not desperate to repeat it!)

The Shortlisted Artists will have a maximum of 4 hours over a 6 hour period (or such other period as the Producer at its discretion may determine) to complete their Heat Artwork. Your painting is judged on the results produced at the end of heat, whether you think the artwork to be finished or not.

Judging

The Judges - Kathleen Soriano, Kate Bryan and Tai Shan Schierenberg

The panel of Judges may take the Shortlisted Artists’ Landscape Entry(s) and their Additional Works of Art into consideration during this judging process, and all of the criteria for judging and the decisions of the Judges shall be at the discretion of the Judges and the Producer and shall not be not open to dispute or discussion.

See yesterday's post for what I think the Judges are looking for.

Semi Finals

The Semi Finalists will consist of the winners of each of the Heats and will take place on Wednesday 24th July 2019.

The Finalists will be asked to complete a further two landscape artworks - one as a challenge painting in a location specific to each artist and one landscape at the Final.

The 'Wild Card' Competition

If you're unsuccessful at getting selected for a Pod, you might be successful at getting selected for the 'Wild Card' competition.

See yesterday's post for advice for wildcard artists. Everybody seems to enjoy themselves - but there are ways of helping yourself to enjoy it even more by being well prepared!

TIPS for potential applicants

READ yesterday's post which summarises the learning points from the competition in 2018.

DO NOT apply IF:

you don't like having your photo taken - you'll freak when you see what you look like through a camera lens
you've never ever done any plein air painting. This is a landscape competition and it's not exciting watching people paint from photos or iPads - so IMO you MUST be prepared to paint the landscape in front of you from observation (but that's me - it's not in the rules and people do take ipads with them so they record the landscape they started painting before the weather and the light changed!)

When you apply, DO

submit landscapes which you have painted plein air.
explain clearly where the place was
how you painted it - ideally while painting plein air - because that's what this competition is all about!

Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year Competitions: Other Posts

2018

2015-2017

You can read more about Art Competitions on my dedicated webpage on this blog Major UK Art Competitions 2017-18

MAKING A MARK

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Thursday, December 13, 2018

Call for Entries: Landscape Artist of the Year 2019