Call for Entries: ING Discerning Eye 2024

I've been covering the ever popular and unusual ING Discerning Eye 2024 exhibition for years. 

In 2024, the exhibition will be 

• at the Mall Galleries from Friday 15 to Sunday 24 November 2024 and 
• unsold work will remain online until the 1 January 2024 - making it available for all those looking for small artwork presents for Christmas!

ING Discerning Eye 2023
small 2D artworks on the wall and small 3D artworks on the plinths

About the ING Discerning Eye

Like most decent art competitions, it has 

• a reputable backer 
• The Discerning Eye is a visual arts focused educational charity. Its principal activity is to hold a rather unique annual exhibition 
• the exhibition is sponsored by ING Bank. Hence it is known as the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition.
• offers prizes - including the ING Purchase Prize, worth £5,000. Awards will be given out to the winners in a prize giving at the start of the exhibition.
• been running since 1999.

I've been covering it since 2007. (You can find blog posts - and sketches - on this blog going back to 2007 - see below!) In that time, I've also seen artists who have done well in this exhibition do well subsequently e.g. gallery representation! It's a really great way of getting noticed.

Visual language 
(some may recognise the model - at the 2007 ING Discerning Eye exhibition)
8" x 11", pencil and coloured pencil in sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

So what makes it different?

What's different about the ING Discerning Eye Competition and Exhibition?

The three key differences are:

• ALL the artwork is small
• the six selectors change every year AND each selector curates their own exhibition. In effect, there are six small exhibitions across the three galleries at the Mall Galleries by:
• two artists
• two curators
• two collectors

The selectors are solely responsible for their own selection; selection is not by committee.

• Selectors can also invite artists to exhibit as well as selecting artwork via the open entry BUT the selectors must choose at least 33% of their section from the open submission.

The exhibition comprises both publicly submitted works and works independently selected by six prominent figures from different areas of the art world: two artists, two collectors and two critics. Each section is hung separately to give each its own distinctive identity. The impression emerges of six small exhibitions within the whole.

I'd add a fourth difference. The implication of artwork being small is one might expect it to be also more affordable.  Artists who price high, for no good reason (eg having sold at that price regularly in the past being the best one) will just incur costs and are unlikely to sell.

You can see the standard of the artwork included in last year's exhibition in albums on my Facebook Page

ING Discerning Eye 2023

• Artwork chosen by: Eliza Gluckman Chris Levine Ian 'H' Watkins
• Artwork chosen by: Julian Wild, Tony Adams

Who can enter?

The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition is open to artists resident in the UK only.

What can you enter?

All works must be 

• an original creation by the artist
• within the maximum size limit of 50cm including frame.
• for sale.

Acceptable artwork/media includes paintings, drawings prints (including prints from i-pad drawings), photographs, and sculptures.

Work previously submitted is inadmissible. 

How to enter

Call for Entries: Royal Society of Marine Artists

You might think the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists is just for artists who paint boats - and hence a very niche marketplace - but you'd be wrong. 

Indeed, in my opinion, it's well worthwhile checking out what sort of artwork is acceptable in this exhibition - which attracts a lot of collectors.

The Call for Entries for the next annual exhibition closes at 12 noon on Friday 26 July - so plenty of time to check out whether any of your artwork fits with their criteria and get an online submission completed!

You can check out my review of the last annual exhibition here - Review: 78th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. It includes links to my albums of photos of the exhibition on my Making A Mark Facebook Page

The RSMA leads the way by being:

• the OLDEST marine art society
• the BIGGEST marine art society - in terms of members
• the ONLY marine art society with an online exhibition which opens before and continues after the gallery exhibition.

This is an exhibition which generates a decent level of sponsorship of various awards valued at £10,500.  
 

What is the criteria for entries?

What's the scope of subject matter?

It's NOT just about boats!

The Royal Society of Marine Artists seeks submissions of art inspired by the sea and marine environment, including harbours and shorelines, traditional craft and contemporary shipping, creeks, beaches, wildlife - in short anything that involves tidal water.

• Subject matter MUST be: 
• essentially marine in nature, 
• relating in some way to tidal waters of the world; 
• Subject matter MAY be: topographical, historical, still life, and figure painting are all welcomed.
• Works relating to non-tidal rivers, inland lakes and waterways etc. are NOT ACCEPTED. 

The RSMA Annual Exhibition in 2023 - in the East Gallery

What can you submit?

In reality, most are paintings with some drawings and sculpture and few prints.

• Number of artworks: up to six works - but note that a maximum of four might be selected. Typically it's more often one or two for people new to the exhibition
• Size of artwork: Works should be no larger than 2.4m along the longest dimension.
• Acceptable media: 
• Paint: Oil, acrylic, watercolour, 
• Prints: original prints of any media, 
• Drawings: eg pastels, graphite, charcoal
• 3D/Sculpture
• mixed media, textiles
• Age of artwork: submit new work not previously exhibited
• Essential: All works must be an original creation by the artist
• Sales: 

• All works must be for sale. 
• There is a minimum price per work of £600 - which I said was a BIG mistake last year - and I believe sales were reduced as a result
• Prices for prints should start as 
• framed £325, 
• unframed £200.

In 2021, the vast majority of sales (80-85%?) are artworks were priced at less than £1,000. There were a LOT of buyers for small artwork priced at less than £500.

Last year, 419 artworks were listed in the catalogue. Of these 354 remain listed as unsold on the online website for online sales.

Who can submit entries?

Portrait Award 2024: Artists with their paintings

Two portraits in the HSF Portrait Award 2024

If your portrait IS selected for the Portrait Award 2024 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, you can expect the following might happen

• your portrait will be seen by over 200,000 people visiting the exhibition in London.
• your CV will be very much enhanced by selection for this prestigious exhibition. This then helps your career when trying to interest art galleries in your work
• your website will get enquiries for portrait commissions - (so make sure you have one and it provides decent information about commissions and how to contact you!)
• you get photographed with your painting for this blog post!

What follows is my annual post about "Artists with their Paintings" - all 33 of them!

Somehow I seem to have photographed more artists than ever before! So this is an ABSOLUTELY MAMMOTH BLOG POST!  It's only taken two days. I had to forego my walk today to get it finished!!

Lots of photos and lots of profile info about each artist - differentiating between those who are first time exhibitors and those who are have been selected for the Portrait Award in more than one occasion. 

This is where the painters in this post currently live.

EUROPE

• UK: England - Wendy Barrett, Oliver Bedeman, Tm Benson, Jane Brodie, Morag Caister, Laura Carey, Catherine Chambers, Alan Coulson, Peter Davis, Estelle day, Peter James Field, Ruth Fitton, Lewis Hazlewood-Horner, Emily Ponsonby, Carl Randall,  Charlie Ratcliffe, Ray Richardson, Ilara Rosselli del Turco (originally Italian),Michael Slusakowicz (originally Polish), Antony Williams
• UK: Northern Ireland and Ireland - Comhghall Casey, Shane Keisuke Berkery, Daniel Nelis
• Germany: Dan Gaasch, Massimiliano Pironti
  
• Russia: Sasha Sokolova

AFRICA

• South Africa: Emily Stainer

ASIA

• Japan - Shinji Ahari

NORTH AMERICA

• USA: Kyle Hackett, Rebecca Orcutt, George Shapter

What my photographs help you to do - which the online gallery does NOT - is to see the size of the painting relative to the artist who painted it

What the profiles help you with - If you've never entered the Portrait Award you can get a good sense of whether you're working at a similar level. The level of information varies with 

• whether I remembered to photograph the label (not always - and the website very unhelpfully neglects to provide the information)
• how much an artist chooses to share (and sometimes overshare). 

I try to pick out the useful information and the good bits and any themes which seem to emerge.

Portrait Award 2024: Where self portraits change to being portraits in interiors

Artists with their Paintings

The selection of the artists photographed for this post is not scientific - and is certainly not complete.  Essentially they are 

• those who were at Awards Ceremony or the Press View 
• AND I managed to spot their "Artist" Blue Badge (Awards) or small red oblong sticker (Press View) declaring them to be an artist. 
• AND they didn't leave before the end of the Press View!

(Tip: never ever hide your label at a Press View. Plus stick to the Artist Button - they're much easier to see!)

The narrative below includes reasonably LARGE PICS - but you have to

• click the pic to see the LARGE VERSION 
• click the link below the narrative - to go to the artist's website. Details of where you can see the exhibition are at the end of the post - together with the same post in previous years (2015-2018)

I'll also be posting these photos on Facebook in an album now I've completed this post. But given it's taken two days - I might have a break first!!

There are links to their websites or other social media sites embedded in their names.

UK - ENGLAND

Wendy Barrett

Wendy Barrett - who is actually a lot more smiley than her self portrait
Self (2022) Oil on stretched canvas
55cm x 40cm

Wendy Barratt is a first time exhibitor who has risen to prominence in the last 18 months. Her self portrait which got her into Series 10 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist iof the Year - which she won - also got her selected for this exhibition too! Her preliminary drawing was straight to canvas. She uses a rigger brush to emphasise certain colours and tones.

In recent years, the winning of a portrait competition with a high profile has typically paid off in a major way for the winners - and I now keep seeing Wendy's artwork being exhibited everywhere, from her commission hanging in the NPG to a basement in Brixton where she was exhibiting as a brand new member of the Contemporary British Portrait Painters. 

She has also been an Art Tutor for over 25 years and set up the Drawing Room in Worthing to host weekly life drawing classes - which she kept going via Zoom during Covid! This is a story about how she got Back to Life.

Education: BA (Hons) in Design and Communication Media, Manchester Polytechnic

Recent achievements include:

• Winner of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 (see Wendy Barratt is Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 (Series 10)
• Her prize - a £10,000 commission painting of Dr Jane Goodall currently hangs in Room 33 of the National Portrait Gallery (see PAOTY 2023: Commission Painting of Dr Jane Goodall. 
• 2023-2024: Exhibited in Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition

Oliver Bedeman

Oliver Bedeman

Oliver Bedeman's painting is in oil on glass - which means he paints the entire portrait in reverse, starting with the eyelashes! The technique of back painting glass dates back to the Romans and is a method that was once described by Cennino Cennini who wrote the "how to" on late Medieval and early Renaissance painting. It's acquired various terms since then including Verre églomisé. 

If you leave part of the glass without any paint, then you can see shadows from the paint on the rear wall - see below for an example. This catches people's attention and then amazes them when they realise the entire painting has been painted backwards!

Note the shadows on the wall
behind the arm and the head

 

He has painted T'nia Miller who is an actress. He contacted her via Instagram and then arranged a sitting at her home where he took reference photographs and made drawings

Recent Achievements: 

• 2022: Artist in Residence at Dumfries House, Scotland,
• 2021: First Prize, Bath Society of Artists, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
• 2020: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy,
• 2019: Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, Shortlisted
• Royal Drawing School Tutor - Young Artists Programme at the Ashmolean, Oxford

Previously shortlisted: BP Portrait 2018

Education: Postgraduate Drawing Year, Royal Drawing School 2007-08 ; B.A (Hons) Fine Art Painting, University of Brighton 2004-07.

Tim Benson

Antony Williams wins HSF Portrait Award 2024

At the revamped National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday evening, Egg Tempera painter Antony Williams was announced as the winner of the very prestigious £35,000 Portrait Award - now sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills, a law form and long time sponsor of the NPG.

We were all very thankful to return to the formal Awards Ceremony, given the combination of the refurbishment of the National Portrait Gallery and Covid meant we hadn't had an Awards Ceremony since 2015 - and five years is a very long time to wait....

I'll comment on the differences I noticed in a future post - but first the awards....

The HSF Portrait Award opened to the public at the NPG today and continues until 27th October 2024. It is however not where it used to be due to the reconfiguration of the gallery. You'll find it at the far end of Floor 2. It's free to enter.

HSF Portrait Award - First Prize (£35,000): Antony Williams

Antony Williams winning first prize is a testament to all those who are willing to keep trying and to keep entering and who can wait 29 years to win the first prize!

Winner of the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024

Jacqueline with Still Life by Antony Williams RP NEAC

I, for one, will very much miss seeing Antony's wonderful egg tempera portraits in this competition - I've seen seven of them. He is an absolute master of the egg tempera medium and has won a number of other awards during his career to date. 

Antony is an artist who has previously had his artwork selected to hang in the Portrait Award Exhibition on 10 previous occasions (in 1995, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020) and, notably, won Third Prize in 2017.

I had a chat with him recently and told him that I confidently predicted he would win. He does after all fall very neatly in to the category of one type of winner - who is selected on a regular basis over the years and has previously won either second or third prize - or the Young Artist Award. I simply could not see him being shortlisted for an award this time and not winning (although Michael Gaskell will attest to the fact it does happen!). I have to say I was much more confident that he would win than he was, although that might be because he's had so many entries accepted which have not won! He does know I crunch the numbers though....

As I remarked in my blog post about the Shortlist for The Portrait Award 2024 Antony had become the last of "the regulars" who has been not yet won this Award.

He and I both knew he had won as soon as they began to introduce the second prize winner. As soon as the word "Florence" was said, I knew he'd won it. I have to say he was very calm about it all. I found him in the crowd with my iPhone and was taking pics of him waiting for him to be announced as the winner of the First Prize. Apparently some of those in his party also realised he had won and were a tad more emotional about it!

The next day I got a pic of him with his winning painting of one of his regular models and some of the still life which he paints regularly. I thought it was a really interesting composition. It presents a really interesting interrelationship between the different objects in the picture plane and enhanced the potential for narrative explaining how they came about.

Jacqueline with Still Life with Portrait Award Winner 2024 - Antony Williams

Egg Tempera on wooden board;

1222cm x 668cm (48 inches x 26 inches)

The Judges were impressed with Williams confidence and mystery of the egg tempera medium. They felt the composition was nuanced and surprising. The painting sustains your attention, encouraging the viewer to unpack and make sense of the connections between Jacqueline and the still life elements in the background, creating an intriguing and enigmatic portrait.

Still life is in fact one of Antony's main interests and I think most of the paintings I've seen from him in the past in this competition had some element of still life in them. It helps to tell the story of the artist, the model and the place where they are both working. However he does also paint very intricate interlaced paintings of heads as well. His website is well worth a good look (see link embedded in his name at the top) to see why egg tempera is so very different from painting in oils or acrylics.

I've always been attracted to it because of the scope to create optical mixes of colours, and Antony told me about the way he approaches a painting like this. I have to tell you there's a lot more sitting underneath all the various mark-making than you might think!

More about egg tempera

I now know where I went wrong when I did an egg tempera course at the V&A! Below I've listed the egg tempera posts I've written for all those now interested in the media who want to know more - which also references famous paintings in egg tempera

• Egg Tempera Class at the V&A: The support and the drawing
• Egg Tempera Class at the V&A: the pigments and the grinding
• Egg tempera class at the V&A: painting with egg tempera
• plus An egg tempera day - which is about a workshop with another egg tempera painter 

Second Prize (£12,000): Isabella Watling

The second Prize of £12,000 was awarded to Isabella Watling for Zizi. 

Selected Artists - HSF Portrait Award 2024 at the National Portrait Gallery

This is the list of the artists whose portraits have been selected for the HSF Portraits Award 2024 Exhibition which opens to the public at the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday 11th July 2024.

I'll be at the Awards Ceremony this evening and the Press View tomorrow morning and will be aiming to do as many photos of artists with their paintings as possible. Artists in the exhibition can feel free to ask me for a photo! You never know it may turn up in the future in a selected artists list like this one if you get in again - as some of the ones below have done!!

Previously, the winner's prize included a large cash prize and the opportunity to undertake a commission. 

• This has now changed and....
• ALL the artists chosen to exhibit in 2024 and 2025’s HSF Portrait Award exhibitions will be considered for a new commission which has an increased value of £14,000. This will be announced at the award ceremony in 2025.

I'm guessing this gives those commissioning future portraits more choice as to the most suitable person for whoever is next in line for a portrait painting! I do know what not all those who have won First Prize in the past have completed a commission. I know that for some prizewinners this has been because they don't live in the UK.

The Selected Artists

This is the list of the selected artists - with a mini profile. The link embedded in their name is to their website.

Initial impressions from the websites reviewed in compiling this list is that the selection for this exhibition has become more contemporary. 

• Jackie Anderson - based in Glasgow, MFA from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee.
• Wendy Barratt - Winner of Portrait Artist of the Year 2023, her commission painting of Dr Jane Goodall currently hangs in the contemporary portrait gallery of the National Portrait Gallery (see PAOTY 2023: Commission Painting of Dr Jane Goodall. Her self portrait which got her into Series 10 of PAOTY also got her selected for this exhibition too!

It's not often that one self-portrait gets an artist into two important portrait competitions!

Self in Jumper by Wendy Barratt

Oil on stretched canvas 55cm x 40cm

• Caroline Bays - BA - Painting and Printmaking; Member of the Pastel Society; has exhibited from the late 90s until now
• Dawn Beckles - a still life artist; unclear why she has been selected for this exhibition
• Oliver Bedeman - Previously shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award in 2018 (I remember the portrait) - BP Portrait Award 2018 - Artists with their paintings) Postgraduate Drawing Year, Royal Drawing School 2007-08 ; B.A (Hons) Fine Art Painting, University of Brighton 2004-07;

Oliver Bedeman in the BP Portrait Award 2018

Tom Bedeman reverse oil on glass © Oliver Bedeman

• Tim Benson RP PPROI - an oil painter specializing in figurative and landscape work. Former President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (2018-2023). Director, Diploma in Portraiture, Heatherley School of Fine Art (2015-2017). Currently a Portraiture Tutor at the Royal Academy Schools and various other art schools in London. Exhibits with national art societies
• Shane Keisuke Berkery - graduating from the National College of Art and Design (Ireland). Currently doing an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art. Has
  been honoured with the prestigious Hennessy-Craig Award from the Royal Hibernian Academy and has his work included in the Irish state collection.
• Jane Brodie - a figurative artist based in London and the Peak District. She graduated in Architecture in 2009 and has since worked in the Art Department for film. Her selected portrait can be seen on her website and is titled Breakfast with Banana
  

Late for school with things on the mind by Morag Caister

120x180cm, Oil on Linen, 2024

© Morag Caister

• Morag Caister - graduated in 2019 from the University of Brighton. She won Sky Art’s Portrait Artist of the Year 2022. Her commissioned painting of British icon Sir Lenny Henry hangs in the National Portrait Gallery - see PAOTY Commission - Painting Sir Lenny Henry (aka Len). Her selected portrait can be seen at the top of this post. 
• Laura Carey - MA Fine Art from City and Guilds of London Art School (2023). Her practice is regularly based around conceptualism and portraiture, exploring 2D and 3D elements, installation, text and performance.

Self Portrait as a Cyclist by Comhghall Casey
BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2013

• Comhghall Casey ARUA - from Omagh, Co Tyrone and based in Dublin since 2000. Previous Portrait Award exhibitor (2002, 2013 - see above - and 2015). In 2017 he was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Ulster Academy. Also a regular exhibitor at the RA Summer Exhibition.
• Catherine Chambers - Shortlisted for an award. See Shortlist for The Portrait Award 2024

Lying by Catherine Chambers

oil on canvas

765 x 1130mm (30 inches x 44inches)

© Catherine Chambers

• Alan Coulson - exhibits regularly in both the UK and US, notably as part of the prestigious BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery London, where in 2012 he was awarded third prize for his portrait of Richie Culver.

BP Portrait Award 3rd Prize (2012): Richie Culver by Alan Coulson
Oil on wooden board 850 x 950 mm
Alan Coulson (left) with Richie Culver (right)

• Laura Critchlow RSM- a self-taught artist who works full time as a still life and portrait painter, specialising in miniature painting. Member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters. Sculptors and Gravers. Her painting of her Mum (titled The Artists Mother) has been selected.
• Peter Davis - He is an elected member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA), the Contemporary British Portrait Painters (CBPP). He exhibits widely and regularly and has previously been selected for the John Moores Painting Prize 2020.
• Estelle Day SWA - foundation diploma at Chelsea College of Art & Design; graduated in Fine Art from Oxford Brookes University. She became a full member of the Society of Women Artists in 2021.
• Peter James Field - a degree in world art history and anthropology, specializing in Japanese culture. Taught for three years at state schools in the mountains of rural Japan.He has previously exhibited with BP Portrait Award (2018/20) and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (2019/2021). He is an illustrator with a number of prestigious clients.

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• Ruth Fitton - Recent awards include the People's Choice Award in the Portrait Society of America International Competition (2023), a Purchase Award from the Art Renewal Center (2021) and 1st Place Young Artist award with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (2020). In 2023 Ruth was elected a Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, and awarded Signature Status by the Portrait Society of America.
• Nathan Ford - I've seen Nathan's portraits in various exhibitions. They are always memorable. He has previously exhibited in BP Portrait Awards in 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2018. He was awarded the visitors choice 2nd prize in 2011
• Jack Freeman - graduated in Fine Art at Falmouth University (2016). In 2020, he began working full time as a portrait painter. He previously exhibited in the BP Portrait Award 2018.
• Dan Gaasch - no info on his website
• Kyle Hackett - American artist. MFA (LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); BFA in Fine Arts as a McNair Scholar (University of Delaware). His paintings explore race, class, and social standing through approaches to self-representation and the constructed image.
• Lewis Hazelwood-Horner - I like Lewis's portraits because he's in no way averse to painting people in a working context or in painting groups of people. He exhibits widely and has won various awards. In 2016 won the Columbia Threadneedle Prize & Visitors Choice Award - see Lewis Hazelwood-Horner wins £20,000 Threadneedle Prize 2016
• Shinji Ihara - Born in Fukuoka, Japan. B.F.A in Oil Painting of Hiroshima City University (2010); M.F.A in Oil Painting Materials and Techniques of Tokyo University of the Arts (2012 )
• Stephen Johnston - born in 1987 in Co.Antrim, Ireland. In 2010 he graduated with a BA in Fine and Applied Arts from University of Ulster in Belfast. Paints full time from his studio in Ireland. Looks like he's done a hyper realistic "big head".
• Stephen Leho - studied at Cardiff University, Gloucestershire University and the Facultad de Bellas Artes, Sevilla
• Gabriel Lewis - I don't this artist is keen on promotion
• Alexander Macdonald - his Instagram account has an interest name - see below - and relates to his picture book for children. He's an artist, novelist (Dog Binary) and author/illustrator of picture books for children and he also paints pictures for the film and TV industry - hence the name of his website.

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A post shared by alexander macdonald (@haveyouseenmikkiolsen)

• Daniel Nelis - He's just been elected an Associate Acdemician of the Royal Ulster Academy and won the Ireland-U.S. Council Award for Outstanding Portraiture.
  His self-portrait won the Royal Ulster Academy Portrait Prize in 2015. His highly realistic portrait for this exhibition is of his father with closed eyes. Personally speaking, as I have recommended very many times before now, if you've got a painting selected for a prestigious exhibition, I'd have prioritised getting a website up and running properly before it opens.
• Andrew Norris - unclear online who this is
• Ashley Ogilvy - unclear online who this is
• Rebecca Orcutt - she was a very young exhibitor in the BP Portrait Award 2015 - see
  Selected Artists - BP Portrait Award 2015. Since then she has been awarded a bachelor’s degree in painting from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art in New York City where she was a President’s Scholar and was also awarded the Leipzig International Art Programme Residency in Germany. She has a way of painting portraits without painting faces.
• Massimiliano Pironti - I remember Massimiliano very well! The photograph below is of us both at the BP Portrait Award 2019 when he won Third Prize! He also exhibited in the BP Portrait Award 2018. Born in 1981 in Colleferro, an industrial town south of Rome, he is a largely self-taught Italian artist who gained inspiration from Renaissance masters. His works are almost exclusively portraits painted oil on aluminium and characterized by strong attention to detail. In 2021 Massimiliano was commissioned by HM King Charles III to paint the portrait of Arek Hersh, as part of the project-exhibition “Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust”. This is now part of the Royal Collection.

Third Prize 2019: Massimiliano Pironti with his portrait of his grandmother
- and me (before I lost 7 stone!)
Quo Vadis?
900mm x 600mm, oil on aluminium

• Emily Ponsonby - British artist Emily Ponsonby (b.1990) is known for her beeswax work based upon the Ancient Egyptians’ Encaustic process; buffing, brushing and scraping pigment into layers of honeyed wax until forms gently emerge. 
• Carl Randall - a British figurative painter whose work is based on images of modern Japan and London. A graduate of The Slade School of Fine Art, The Royal Drawing School London, and Tokyo University of Arts Japan (Masters and then Doctorate in Fine Art - Painting). He's previously exhibited in the BP Portrait Award Exhibitions in 2012 and 2013 and he won the BP Travel Award 2012. See also Carl Randall's Japan - the best BP Travel Award Exhibition ever! He's also won The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, The Nomura Art Prize Japan, as well as several other awards. 

BP Travel Award 2012 Exhibition (in 2013)

Carl Randall with part of his series of paintings of the people of Japan

© Carl Randall

Photo © Katherine Tyrrell

• Charlie Ratcliffe - He doesn't say a lot about himself on his website. You can see his portrait on Instagram
• Marina Renee-Cemmick - She grew up in Dorset and moved to Glasgow to study Painting at Glasgow school of Art (2018). She studied at The Royal Drawing School, London (2021) before receiving Arts Council Funding to research ways of combining theatre and drawing. In 2022 she was awarded a New English Arts Club scholarship, and completed a residency at Dunfries House in 2022 and Colstoun House in early 2023. She now lives and works near Glasgow and participated in Portrait Artist of the Year Season 10 - Episode 5 - when she got to draw Nigel Havers (who I seem to recall was a very badly behaved sitter) who chose to have her drawing - see Review: Heat 5 of Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 10)
• Ray Richardson - born in Woolwich, S.E.London in 1964. He graduated from St Martins School of Art in 1984 and Goldsmiths in 1987. He has lived and worked in Paris, Brussels, Chicago and Connecticut. He currently lives and works in Woolwich, S.E.London.

• Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco - born in Genova, Italy, in 1967. Her ancestors were a family of Florentine Renaissance painters, the Rossellis. She followed classical studies in Rome and subsequently trained as an illustrator before turning to oil painting and printmaking, taking classes and teaching myself through the study of Old Masters. I've been living in London since 1999. She has also exhibited in the BP Portrait Award more than once.
• Gustavo Schossler - I think he's from Brazil since the language on his website is Brazilian Portuguese.
• George Shapter - not sure who this is - I can only find a product designer.
• Michael Slusakowicz - works predominantly in painting, drawing, performance and video. Graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a First Class degree in BA Painting. His work has since been exhibited internationally.
• Sasha Sokolova - Born in Moscow into a family of artists, she is an award winning contemporary realist painter, working across a range of traditional oil and water colour techniques. Graduated with honours from the Sergey Andriyaki School of Watercolour and Fine Arts in Moscow; Masters of Fine Arts at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. Also selected as the only Russian artist to work on the Oscar nominated "Loving Vincent", the first fully painted feature film.
• Hanie Soltani - Born in Iran, and now based in Tehran, artist Hanie Soltani creates artwork inspired by nature and human emotion.

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• Emily Stainer - Previously selected for the BP Portrait Award in 2006 and 2017. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1980; in 2015 returned to her home town Johannesburg, after eight years spent living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (2003); Master’s degree in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (2006). Both were obtained with distinction. She paints despite three energetic children - one of whom was a baby when she also attended the 2017 preview! She likes to paint small and intimate.

BP Portrait Award 2017: Annabel 

© Emily Stainer

Oil on canvas

• Zohar Tal Inbar - Graduated with Bachelor of Art (BA) from Haifa University in 2013.
• Alex Tzavaras - studied at Central Saint Martins but after realising drawing and painting from life was not taught in UK art schools he left without completing a degree. The studied at Lavender Hill Studios in London, the UK’s first Atelier school. He is now dedicated to drawing, painting and teaching.
• Isabella Watling - Shortlisted for an award. See Shortlist for The Portrait Award 2024. Born in London in 1990. Spent her formative years in the UK and Australia and now lives and works in London. From the age of 18 she trained at the Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence where got a rigorous training in sight-size painting. She returns periodically to teach portrait and figure painting.  She has previously been selected for the BP Portrait Award in 2012 and 2014. She paints very large paintings.
• Antony Williams - Shortlisted for an award. See Shortlist for The Portrait Award 2024. He has been exhibiting his artwork for the last 30 years and with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters since 1995 - where he was elected a member in 1996. After Ben Sullivan finally won the BP Portrait Award in 2017 (after being selected 12 times!), Antony became the last of "the regulars" who has been not yet won this Award. It's certainly not uncommon for a previous prizewinner to eventually win first prize - and Antony won 3rd Prize back in 2017
• Zhang Yafei - unclear online who this is

Entries were submitted anonymously and judged by a panel, which included 

• the National Portrait Gallery’s Director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE; 
• visual artist, Barbara Walker MBE RA; 
• sociologist and bioethicist, Sir Tom Shakespeare; 
• actor and host of the podcast, Talk Art, Russell Tovey; and 
• the Gallery’s Curator for Contemporary Collections, Tanya Bentley. 

You can hear what the Judges thought about various entries in the following event.

In Conversation with the Judges of the Portrait Award

Friday 19 July 2024
18.00-19.00
£15 on site (£12 concessions), booking essential)

The judges will share behind the scenes insights into the process and considerations when judging one of the most prestigious contemporary portrait competitions internationally.

Join Russell Tovey, Tom Shakespeare and Tanya Bentley, the judges of the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024 as they share stories and discuss selected works from this year’s exhibition, marking its return to the National Portrait Gallery.

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Royal Family Order of King Charles III: Portrait by Elizabeth Meek MBE PPRMS

The New Royal Family Order - created for King Charles III

The new Royal Family Order, which features a miniature portrait of the Monarch, was unveiled recently and this post is about how it came about. I interviewed the Artist who created the miniature portrait the day after it became public knowledge!

This post covers:

• What is a Royal Family Order?
• What does the Order comprise - and who did what
• The Miniature Portrait painted by Elizabeth Meek.

The new King Charles III Royal Family Order was worn for the first time at a reception and State Banquet for the Japanese Emperor and his wife at Buckingham Palace.  HM Queen Camilla wore the Royal Family Orders commissioned by her husband  and the late Queen.

The Royal Family Order

To provide some context - the Royal Family Order is a decoration conferred by the monarch on female members of the British Royal Family.

• They have been created and conferred since 1820. They are usually the first honours given by the new Monarch to the female members of his or her family.
• It's usual for the colour of the ribbon used to attach it to a gown to change as the monarch changes.
• It's typically worn on State Occasions - such as State Banquets for a Visiting Head of State. 

Royal Family Orders have been given since 1820. Usually they are the first Honours awarded by a new Sovereign to Royal Ladies. 

To date, Queen Camilla is the only Royal Lady to receive one. However I think it very likely that we will see both the Princess Royal and the Princess of Wales wearing one in the near future - as both were absent due to ill health at the time of the banquet.

Copies of the miniature portrait are made to create the Royal Family Order worn by female relatives of the King.

Below, The King and Queen with The Emperor and Empress of Japan at the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace.

 

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What does the order comprise?

Creating a Royal Family Order is very much a team effort - although I'm focusing on the miniature painting which sits at the centre of the order in this post.

The Royal Family Order comprises:

• a miniature portrait of the Monarch, typically at the beginning of their reign
• a jewelled encasing which features loose jewels from the Royal Collection
• a ribbon which is used to hang the portrait and its case - and to hide the method used to attach it to the dress worn for the occasion! The colour of the ribbon can vary.

The new Royal Family Order commissioned for the female relatives of King Charles III was created by the following individuals and comprises:

• a miniature portrait by leading professional miniature portrait painter Elizabeth Meek MBE PPRMS. 
• This was based on a photograph of the monarch wearing the uniform of Admiral of the Fleet and his array of decorations taken by the official Royal Photographer Hugo Bernard at Windsor Castle in 2023. This depicts the King wearing the ceremonial day uniform of a Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet with the collar of the Order of the Garter, the Royal Victorian Chain, the riband of the Royal Victorian Order, the badges of the Order of the Bath and Order of Merit and various medals.
• A miniature Tudor Crown sits at the top of the jewelled casing that surrounds the portrait. This includes diamonds weighing 10.41 carat - which came from loose jewels in the Royal Collection. This was created by British jewellery designer Fiona Rae Goldsmiths has been designing and making jewellery for over 34 years, after graduating from Central St Martins and receiving a business loan from the Prince's Trust. She was recently granted a Royal Warrant from HM King Charles III. 
• The enamelled reverse of the case depicts the King's cypher in gold. The case and goldwork was engineered by Seth Kennedy, a scholar from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.
• The casing for the portrait is suspended from a pale blue moiré silk bow created by the leading milliner Philip Treacy who makes lots of hats for the Queen.
• His Majesty personally selected the colour of the ribbon, which is based on the Family Order of his great-grandfather, King George V. 
• This marks a change from the yellow that decorated the late Queen’s Order.
• Those wearing the Royal Family Orders usually arrange them in layers on the left shoulder.

You can see an image of Queen Camilla wearing the new Royal Family Order with that created for HM Queen Elizabeth 11 in this Tatler article Queen Camilla debuts King Charles' new Family Order at Buckingham Palace: everything we know about the honour

The Miniature Portrait - by Elizabeth Meek

Now on to the art involved!