Review: The Pastel Society 126th Annual Exhibition (2025)

I recommend you go and see the 126th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society. It opened at the Mall Galleries last week and is on for another two weeks.  This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members and it contains 382 artworks in.....

All types of pastel including: soft pastel, hard pastel, oil pastel, ink pastel, water-based pastel, conté crayons or sticks, sanguine, and other dry mediums that are similar in their application including charcoal, chalk, and pencil.

In addition this is what The Pastel Society is about

“Membership of The Society will be granted through a strict assessment of technical skill, originality, innovation, enthusiasm and a willingness to promote the objectives and activities of The Society.”

I've visited three times so far

• at the PV last Tuesday when the Mall galleries were packed with people; 
• again on Thursday morning - with the aim of photographing the exhibition for all those who cannot get to see it in person and 
• again yesterday morning. Can I recommend viewings on Sunday mornings - they're nice and quiet!

The Private View - and this was after some people had gone home!

This post provides you with:

• facts about the exhibition - and how to see it
• events
• prizes
• what's different about the 2025 exhibition
• when is a pastel not a pastel

Facts about the exhibition

You can see the exhibition at the Mall Galleries until 8th February 2025. 

• Open every day (10am-5pm)
• Admission £6, Free for Friends of Mall Galleries and under 25s. Concessions available. No booking required.
• Catalogue is available at the Gallery - or you can view it online

You can also see the artworks in the exhibition ONLINE via

• the Mall Galleries Shop website - 60 artworks to the page + you can see the media used easily 
• The Pastel Society website 
• my photos of the three galleries in which it is held on my Facebook Page
• West Gallery (78 items) - mainly artwork by members
• East Galleries (22 items) - a mix of members and Open Entry
• North Gallery (47 items) - mainly artwork via the Open Entry 

The artwork I liked typically gets a photo of just that work....

The West Gallery

Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 10 (2025)

This is the first of my reviews of the tenth series of Landscape Artist of the Year in 2025. I've reviewed  every series of Landscape Artist of the Year since 2018.

Pods and wildcards in the Privy Garden
next to the baroque extension to Hampton Court Palace

This review follows the same format of my other reviews and considers.

• the location and weather
• the artists' profiles
• themes arising during the episode
• who was shortlisted and who won

Preamble - about my reviews

At the beginning of this new series, for those unfamiliar with the way I review, first a little bit about me. I retired early and have been writing this top 10 art blog in the UK for the last 19 years - and I'm now 70!

• I like to provide a comprehensive perspective on what I review. 
• Hence, my posts tend to be VERY LONG and packed full of CONTENT - and there's a few winners of Artist of the Year series who have thanked me profusely for what they read before they participated!!
• I also like to say what I think
• I often won't say exactly what I think about artwork in the heats as I have absolutely no beef with any of the artists.
• If I make critical comments they tend to be generic, oblique and anonymous 
• ....until we get to the shortlists and near to the final. That's because there's a £10,000 prize at stake and I have always adopted the philosophy on this blog of saying exactly what I think about artwork winning prizes of that magnitude.
• I also say exactly what I think about the way the programme is made and how the judges judge. That's because they're also paid a lot of money to do their job by Sky Arts and they need to be professional and do it well - for the viewing public - and there's been a LOT OF CRITICISM by the viewing public in recent years. Notably about some of the  extremely silly locations and views!

Some of what I say is often a repeat of what I have said in previous years. 

• I do recommend people read my previous reviews before they participate in the programme! 
• You can access my previous reviews of ALL the episodes of Landscape Artist of the Year since 2018 on my Art on Television page.

I welcome contributions on both the programme and my comments from the viewing public and you can find me posting links to my reviews on my Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/makingamark2/ where the reviews tend to get lots of comments.

(I apologise for no comments facility on the blog. It ranks very highly in Google and became a big target for spammers and it just got very tedious so I had to close comments down!)

Preamble - about Landscape Artist of the Year

The episodes are broadcast at 8pm every Wednesday evening on Sky Arts (on Freeview Channel 36 and Sky and Now TV).

• 48 artists are selected - from c.2,000 applications. 
• Eight of these artists compete in each heat on location in a pod by creating an artwork within 4 hours about a selected landscape 
• Six Heats are held at each of the six locations which were filmed last summer in North Wales, Bristol and London.
• 50 wildcard artists also attend each heat - although we see very little of them
• Three pod artists are shortlisted and their submission artwork and heat painting are considered together
• the winner of each heat moves forward to the semi-finals 
• where all the heat winners and one or more wildcard winners will compete for the three places in the final
• the three finalists produce two paintings - a commission (prior to the final) and a painting 
• The Judges remain the same as they have been for all previous nine series
• one artist is chosen as Landscape Artist of the Year
• he or she receives a £10,000 commission to produce an artwork. 

New for 2024 - and continuing in 2025

There is no "wall of submissions". The the Submission Painting is now located in the pod with the artist. That makes it very difficult to assess them together as a group. However I guess the relocation means the Judges tend to look at both together for longer.

New for 2025

• I'll be including extracts from public comments by different individuals from my various LAOTY posts on Facebook in my blog posts
• This year the commission is to create a landscape in a very special location in the South of France
• The painting commissioned (by Sky Arts) will be on view in the LVMH Great Room at The Courtauld Gallery in the Spring - after the end of the series.

Episode 1: Hampton Court

Location and Weather

The Pods at Hampton Court

"The geometry is quite overwhelming"

Call for Entries: Society of Women Artists 164th Annual Exhibition (2025)

This is about the call for entries for the Annual Open Exhibition 2025 of the Society of Women Artists (SWA).  

The SWA seeks works of the highest standard within its specific field. The SWA continues to promote female artists and prides itself on the very diverse nature of the work shown during our Annual Open Exhibition from both our non-members and our members.

Below you can find a summary of how to enter and relevant terms and conditions - although you do need to read the complete set of details.

All the images below are from the Annual Exhibition in 2024.

SWA Annual Exhibition: Call for Entries

The Society of Women Artists exhibits at the Mall Galleries on an annual basis (although not a member of the Federation of the British Artists).  This year the exhibition will be held there between 24th June to 28th June 2025 (5 days ONLY).

The DEADLINE for entries is 8th March 2025. If you enter, you can find out whether you have been successful if you visit the SWA website on or after the 29th March 2025.

In this post you can find:

• details of the exhibition
• who is eligible to enter
• what types of artwork are eligible
• how to enter 

but, first, why enter this exhibition?

Why enter the SWA Annual Exhibition?

East Gallery, SWA Annual Exhibition 2024

The Society of Women Artists have been on an important journey of improvement in recent years. It's one which can provide lessons for other art societies - in a variety of ways.

In general the artwork has improved over time and the number of younger artists now exhibiting with the Society has improved.

There's also a keen sense of the exhibition being a place where women artists can exhibit work on themes with meaning to women - which might get overlooked by panels where men make up the majority of the members.

What was your first art competition?

I've just finished writing an article for The Artist about an art competition/exhibition that I'm particularly familiar with (of which more at a later date this year).

It made me wonder what makes people enter art competitions. 

I know a lot of people find them very scary - which is one of the reasons why I write "calls for entries" posts to demystify some of the aspects which frighten people.

My first art competition

I then remembered that I won an art competition I didn't even know I had entered. However I was six at the time! 

That's a great way not to get nervous!

This very fine painting of a Squirrel enjoying a nut while sat on the branch of a tree with lots of smaller branches won my age group in a competition run by the Hale National Savings Committee. Children were asked to develop a painting based on the word "Saving".

I think the idea was to introduce children to a good habit and maybe get some artwork for use in promoting savings in the area! I've got a feeling my painting went on to the national finals.

I won first prize in an art competition in 1960 - age 6.

The odd thing is I have a very clear memory of the infants classroom in which I created the painting - and how much my teacher liked it. 

I can remember virtually nothing of my infant school days - apart from doing this painting.

Which is, of course, the other great thing about paintings. They help you remember where and when you painted it. 

Drawing development in children

See also this post from the archive about Drawing development in children (courtesy of the Wayback Machine - because the original website is no longer online)

It included a reference to this excellent website about drawing development in children developed by Susan K Donley

This says that age 6, the child arrives at The schematic stage

The child arrives at a "schema," a definite way of portraying an object, although it will be modified when he needs to portray something important. The schema represents the child's active knowledge of the subject. At this stage, there is definite order in space relationships: everything sits on the base line.

I think, despite being 6, I had gone past that stage. The next one is described below

The gang stage: The dawning realism

The child finds that schematic generalization no longer suffices to express reality. This dawning of how things really look is usually expressed with more detail for individual parts, but is far from naturalism in drawing. Space is discovered and depicted with overlapping objects in drawings and a horizon line rather than a base line. Children begin to compare their work and become more critical of it. While they are more independent of adults, they are more anxious to conform to their peers.

I've definitely got overlapping objects!

By way of contrast, Betty Edwards perspective on the 6 year old was as follows 

The Landscape

By five or six, children develop a set of symbols to create a landscape that eventually becomes a single variation repeated endlessly. A blue line and sun at the top of the page and a green line at the bottom become symbolic representations of the sky and ground. Landscapes are compose carefully, giving the impression that removing any single form would throw off the balance of the whole picture.

followed by, age 8

The stage of complexity

At nine or ten years, children try for more detail, hoping to achieve greater realism, a prized goal. Concern for where things are in their drawings is replaced by concern for how things look-- particularly tanks, dinosaurs, super heroes, etc. for boys; models, horses, landscapes, etc. for girls.

Watch Landscape Artist of the Year 2025

Landscape Artist of the Year starts next week. Below I've identified 

• the day, dates and times that all the programmes in the series are being broadcast
• the locations they went to
• what the commission is!

Series 10 in 2025

Broadcast Dates and Times

Most people will watch live on Wednesday evenings at 8pm. You can view it via Sky Arts, Freeview and NOW

However if you want to set your recorder or like getting up in the middle of the night, you can watch it at 2am!

• Heat 1 - 22nd January 2025
• Heat 2 - 29th January 2025
• Heat 3 - 5th February 2025
• Heat 4 - 12th February 2025
• Heat 5 - 19th February 2025
• Heat 6 - 26th February 2025

Clare Rose's submission to get a place in a pod
see yesterday's post about
Call for Entries - Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 11)

This is not the order they were filmed in - because they film at two venues at three locations - and then mix them up to arrive at the heats which are broadcast. There's usally something very good or special about the first one.

Then we have:

• Semi Finals - 5th March 2025
• Finals - 12th March 2025
• Plus the Commission Programme - which in recent times has followed straight after the Finals Programme.

I suggest you keep an eye out on social media as the artists are beginning to post pics of their their experience - in a way which does not disclose outcomes!

Locations

It looks to me as if there was a bit of a bodge going on re securing locations to film back in Summer 2024. 

HEATS

When I wrote my post How to watch Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 being filmed - these were the only ones which had been highlighted.

More had to exist - and I've highlighted the new ones to be announced below - in red.

There are supposed to be three locations with two venues at each

BRISTOL

• Bristol Harbourside (by the Cottage Ferry Terminal) onThursday 13th June 2024
• the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol - which I suspect must be the second Bristol location 

SNOWDONIA

• Llanberis, Snowdonia (near the National Slate Museum) on 
• Wednesday 19th June and
• Thursday 20th June 2024
• Llanberis Lake at the base of Yr Wyddfa (Mount Snowdon) - which I'm guessing is the second Snowdonia location

THIRD HEAT VENUE

I'm guessing this is West London - near to the Storyvault Films HQ.

We know from recently publicity that they filmed at

• the historic grounds of Hampton Court Palace
• the newly redeveloped St. Pancras Basin. 

Presenter Stephen Mangan at the "new bit" of Hampton Court
- with the amazing yews.

I'll just insert my sketches of the Yews at this juncture - done 13 years ago! (see Hampton Court Palace and its 300 year old Yew Trees)

Call for Entries - Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 11)

This is about the Call for Entries for Landscape Artist of the Year (series 11).

If you'd like to take part read on! You can review my guide to entering Series 11 before you complete your application below! 

The deadline for submissions to be an artist participating in a pod in Landscape Artist of the Year Series Eleven is Friday 2nd May 2025

In the meantime you can:

• start watching Series 10 of LAOTY on Wednesday on Sky Arts. Episode 1 was filmed at Hampton Court (on at 2am and 8pm) Don't ask me why they broadcast at 2am - I have absolutely no idea! This gives you an idea of 
• what it takes to get selected and 
• what being an artist in a pod is like
• Have a think about watching the heats for Landscape Artist of the Year in 2026 - which will be filmed around the UK in Spring/Summer 2025.

Call for Entries for 

Series 11 of Landscape Artist of the Year (2026)

• First some basics about how the Landscape Artist of the Year (LAOTY) competition and how this television series works
• Then the details for entries for the heats which will be filmed this summer and broadcast at this time next year
• Finally - at the end - you will find my previous reviews of episodes of LAOTY since 2018 - providing access to all the Themes, Learning Points and Tips I've written about in past series. This advice is perennial!

The Basics of Landscape Artist of the Year

This is a televised competition. Artists enter with a landscape artwork created within the last 5 years. They are selected on merit by our panel of expert judges. At the heats they are given four hours to paint a particular, stunning landscape somewhere in the UK (locations announced closer to the time). Six heat winners get to compete at the Semi-Final. Three Semi-Finalists are selected for the Final. Just one Finalist is selected as the overall winner.

For the winner

• a prize of a commission valued at £10,000
• the title Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year

For all participants

• LOTS of publicity for you and your art
• traffic to your website and social media sites - so long as you remember to 
• create them and 
• publicise them!
• looks good on your CV 

Your submission

Basic of the Entry Process

My Composition and Design project

This year I'm going to remind people about what I've got in the archives of Making a Mark. I'm going to start with my Composition and Design Project which I started in January 2008

The future may be at the end......

Composition and Design Project - Blog Posts 

Below is a list of the various posts and a short explanation of what they're about.

Some of the hyperlinks these blog posts contain may be out of date and/or moved on to pastures new.

Fibonacci Spiral
Wikimedia Commons

• Composition and Design - An Introduction 14 Jan 2008

Design and Composition - I'm revisiting this topic to try and understand more about what different people have had to say about composition, what are the 'rules' and why breaking the rules also works. I intend to relate design and composition to specific subject matter (eg landscapes and flowers) and artists that I like and/or will feature this year - such as Degas. I'm starting the year with this topic as it underpins so much of what comes next. It will continue to run as theme throughout the year and I'll be referencing it in other areas of work during the rest of the year.
Katherine Tyrrell - "Making A Mark in 2008 - the Plan"

Singing the Blues

10" x 8", coloured pencil on Arches HP
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

• Composition - The Elements of Design 15 Jan 2008 - An overview of the Elements of Design which are Value, Colour, Shape, Form, Space, Line and Texture

It's amazing how many of us who don't have the benefit of a fine art degree seem to have managed to learn something about the different aspects of what's involved with composition and design without actually ever coming across the idea of the 'elements' and 'principles' of art/composition/design! Or at least that's my experience. I'd certainly never heard about these particular groups before starting this project. Maybe this is what they teach you if you do an Fine Art degree? ;)

• Composition - Principles of Design 16 Jan 2008 - This post focuses on balance, emphasis. harmony, movement, pattern, proportion, rhythm, unity and variety

Fire Risks for Fine Art in Los Angeles

I've seen no mention of risk to fine art in the context of the horrendous fires in Los Angeles, California - so decided to see what I could find.

It seems to me there are four main risks

• The Art Galleries housing fine art (eg Getty Museum; Los Angeles Museum of Art)
• The Security Archives holding art bought as an investment
• The Archives of individual artists with homes in the area - such as David Hockney
• The homes of very rich people who buy art - I mourn the loss of the art...

This is a resume of what I can find out so far.

Art Galleries - appear OK

I remember back in 2019, during the last really bad wildfires near Los Angeles, being extremely impressed with the precautions that the Getty Museum had taken in relation to risks from potential natural disasters.

This time the Getty seems to be in the clear again - and this is part of the reason why How LA's Getty Center built a fire-proof fortress for priceless art

I plugged in "Art Galleries in Los Angeles, CA" into Google Maps to see how close the major art galleries were to the six fires.

Fires are marked by a flickering fire motif
North: Hurst Fire
Central: Sunset Fire
West: Pacific Palisades Fire
East: Eaton Fire

It looks as if most of the main galleries (eg Los Angeles County Museum of Art) are all in built up areas which are more unlikely to wildfire - although who can tell given the extreme high winds carrying fiery embers all over the city

West of Pacific Palisades the fire seems to be burning its way along Malibu down to the coast.

News reports indicate the following

How to submit art to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art

Yesterday, the Royal Academy of Art opened for registration and submissions to the Summer Exhibition 2025.

The submission deadline is 23:59 (GMT) on Tuesday 11 February. However read the first "need to know" item below - because it's might actually be much earlier than that!

The RA Summer Exhibition is the largest open exhibition in the UK - with well over 1,000 exhibits - so you need to take the statistics around selection into account before deciding whether or not enter.

This is about

• key things you need to know about the Call for Entries
• aspects worth bearing in mind if you're thinking about submitting

IMPORTANT Things You Need to Know

How many people enter?

The cap on the number of submission entries is 18,000. Once that limit has been reached you cannot enter. So you need to register and pay your entry fee - to access an entry form - quickly if you want to be sure of being able to enter. (In 2024 it was 16,500).

In effect this means the deadline for entries is not as stated, the ACTUAL deadline for entries is when all the forms for 18,000 entries have been purchased!

You can 

• enter one or two works, 
• for a fee of £40 per work and 
• you can pay online by credit or debit card.

Once the 18,000 digital entries have been reviewed, 4,000 will be asked to submit their artwork for the final selection in front of the team of selectors.

However most people do not get selected!

Basically a LOT of people do NOT get selected for the Summer Exhibition.

• 18,000 entries reduces to
• 4,000 shortlisted - and need to submit the actual artwork for further judging
• BUT ?? from the open entry get exhibited. I'd guess maybe 1,000?

Many people overprice their artwork - including RA members!

Eight years ago I wrote a post about how pricing and sales were related for different categories and price ranges. This is it RA Summer Exhibition - a curious exercise in pricing and sales. It provides very clear guidance on pricing for all those submitting artwork via the open entry. Regular readers may be able to guess what it says! ;)

I might have another go at last year's exhibition which is still online
 

How do I know what I need to know?

The overall process - from beginning to end - is MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than anything else you apply for so you need to get it right.

The RA have been doing this for a long time and have LOTS of information for you - and you do need to read it. 

So if you're not a fan of reading get a friend who is picky about details to do it for you. 

The RA provides some 

• helpful guides (see below) plus 
• lots of answers to the very many FAQS (see next item)

How to Enter - The Basics

You must first register and buy your entry form. Next you complete it before the deadline for entries. 

• Terms and Conditions of Entry - Why they can't make this a PDF I do not know. I recommend you "print to PDF" and save it as it's something you'll be wanting to use as a checklist. Do NOT rely on reading it just once!
• Instructions for Entering Work - Ditto, this also needs to be a PDF
• Exhibition Schedule - this lists all the dates for what happens when
• Suggested Transport Agents - list of recommended art couriers. None list their prices - which will vary depending on how far they are transporting. Remember their prices will include the time for packing and unpacking.

Very Useful Things to Know 

Making A Mark is 19 years old today!

 Making A Mark was born in December 2005 but first went public on January 7th 2006

Which makes it 19 years old today. 

The actual first post Making a Mark said

This is a new journal which will reflect on how my paintings and drawings are created.

It will also introduce small works of art which will be available for sale from my website from the New Year.

That was the idea at the time - but was soon revised! I subsequently decided it was probably a better idea to learn more about art - and my Making A Mark blog started to transform.

In December 2005, I started learning how to use Blogger (in private!) and so, that first post was followed in December, by a few which became much more typical of what I used to post at the beginning.

• Two of my favourite occupations
• Drinking Tea and Drawing People
• Drawing and Flu

Drinking tea and drawing people - in the RA Friends Room
(Who remembers the big black chesterfield sofas?)
drinking tea and drawing people became a perennial theme for sketches
- which subsequently transferred to another blog
Travels with my Sketchbook in....

Drinking tea and drawing people at the RI Exhibition at the Mall Galleries (2010)

on Travels with a Sketchbook in....

This sketch subsequently appeared on page 103 of my book Sketching 365
I can even remember that those blue paintings on the back wall
were by Bob Rudd
Sadly this blog was knobbled by my growing mobility issues

However, in terms of birthdays, I always count the day it first went public as it's actual birthday. Making A Mark went public to the world at large after I'd recovered from flu and got through Christmas 2005.   

So the actual FIRST PUBLIC POST was Catnapping on January 5th 2006.

Catnapping #2
Cosmo sleeping on the lap of JR (he loved his Daddy!)

I've been pondering about whether I've opted for the right blogger software and whether, if I need to change, I need to do it sooner rather than later. But every time I look at all the alternatives I get a headache. And as the flu bug has only diminished rather than disappeared I think I'll leave that for when I'm feeling a bit more invigorated and generally up for a bit of cyber thingummies. Especially as I've just managed to lose all my refinements of the basic template because I fancied looking at what it looked like in blue! Grrrrrrr!!

What I now value very much is I have a complete record of a lot of my life over the last 19 years - where I've been, what I've seen, who I've met and all the art along the way. If I get bored or cannot get out I just start to look through my archives in the side column - year by year and month by month. 

In the lead up to Making A Mark's 20th birthday, I think I might start regular reminders of posts from the past - because they're useful or a visual feast.

Then there's all my photographs of art and exhibitions........

NEW BBC Art Programme about buying and selling art

I'm not sure what I think about this new BBC Art Programme but what follows is what I've found out so far!

From Facebook

A NEW BBC Art Programme about buying and selling art

I've seen other approaches for people to get involved in television programmes which look way more professional than this one.

There's 

• an individual on Facebook called Cara Doré (the name makes me suspicious to start with!) 
• who posted the following on the Art Teachers UK Facebook Group (why are they asking teachers?) 
• just before Christmas (who would post anything they want a response to on 22nd December?!!)

I'm currently casting on a brand new BBC art show and we are keen to here from any art teachers or retired art teachers to take part.

We’re looking for competitive pairs to take part in a new BBC Art show. Whether you are a pair of best mates; mother and son; nan and granddaughter; stepsisters or a couple… if you reckon you make the ultimate dynamic double act, we want to hear from you!

To apply email – takepart@stellifytv.com

The notion is that is a new BBC programme where you:

• put your sales skills to the test (so why are they asking teachers to participate?)
• play the art market (really?)
• try to win a life-changing amount of cash (this has got daytime written all over it so the definition of "life-changing" might be up for debate)

So the facts are:

• somebody is touting for participants 
• who has a very unusual name (name change for the media maybe?) 
• who doesn't appear to be very media savvy and/or professional (dreadful image)
• but is apparently a Casting Researcher at Trilogy Casting
• far too little information as to what the programme is about e.g. what are they actually going to DO?
• stellifytv.com does not exist as a website - so how can that email work?

HOWEVER Stellifymedia is "an award winning multi-genre unscripted production company" set up as a joint venture with Sony Pictures Television.

and that's the ONLY this bit which finally led me to publish this post.

It all sounds VERY WEIRD to me. If anybody finds out what it is do let me know. I just know somebody out there will want to know more....

Royal Watercolour Society - FINAL CALL for RWS OPEN

You have until midday on Monday 6th of January 2025 to submit an entry to the RWS Open 2025.

This post covers:

• what is the RWS Open?
• why enter the RWS Open?
• how to enter

What is the RWS Open?

The RWS Open is run by the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS). 

It was formerly known (until recently) as the Contemporary Watercolour Competition.

The RWS chooses to invite open entries for an exhibition at the Bankside Gallery via a SEPARATE open competition rather than, as most art societies do, via an annual open exhibition dominated by artwork by members.

The RWS has FINALLY stopped calling it the "the largest open-submission water-media exhibition in the world". I'm guessing that's because I kept calling them out on this - EVERY SINGLE YEAR - because it simply isn't. My last comment on the topic being.....

I think the RWS would be well advised to read and study carefully The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) which is the rule book for non-broadcast advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing communications (marketing communications).

FACT: In the UK, the annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours selects and exhibits far more artists via the open entry to its Annual Exhibition which is way, way bigger than anything held at the Bankside Gallery. It's such a very silly idea to boast about something which it is so easy to disprove.

Around half of the 465 artworks on display in their 2024 (RI) Exhibition ....are by non-members.

Whereas, the RWS Open in 2024 exhibited 144 paintings in total - although it never ever quotes numbers for the actual entries received and the actual number hung. Nothing like numbers to bring some reality to the situation!

Instead this year, the RWS are now saying (my underlining)

the RWS Open is one of the largest open-submission water-media exhibitions in the world, attracting thousands of submissions nationally and internationally each year.

Which is fine. So I'll now stop sniping on this topic and reserve my comments for the calibre of the artwork they select instead. 

See my Review of the RWS Open 2024 for extensive comments on the quality of the artwork.

Frankly, speaking in my best "Emperor's New Clothes" voice, some might be OK in a teenagers school art exhibition - but nothing more than that. "Scrubby" and "scruffy" were two works which came into my head as I looked at some of the artworks.

I am also total dumbfounded at some of the prices people are asking for so little work, effort and/or skill. As I often comment, one can only assume that these are works by people who have no idea what price to put on their work - and what else people can buy for that sum of money.

I'm somewhat puzzled by the calibre of the thousands of entries if the artwork that was selected and exhibited was the best on offer. 

Also if (let's say - because we don't know) 2,000 entries were received, that means that only just over 7% were selected. 

I live in hope that this potentially important open exhibition will turn a corner. 

Maybe 2025 will the year?

Why enter the RWS Open?

The primary benefit of this competition is it acts as a platform for applying for membership of the Royal Watercolour Society. 

Another Portrait Competition - for Self Portraits

The biennial Self Portrait Prize - sponsored by The Ruth Borchard Collection - opened its Call for Entries yesterday.

The deadline for entries is 2nd May 2025.

From the artworks submitted the 2025 prize judges will select

• a winner of the £10,000 Ruth Borchard Prize and
• a number of distinguished entries will be acquired for the "Next Generation Collection".

Below you can find:

• a synopsis of what I think about the exhibition 
• a summary of what you need to know to enter.

You don't have to be a portrait artist to enter. Just an artist capable of producing an interesting self portrait.

The Self Portrait Prize: What I think

The aim of this biennial art competition is to promote and celebrate the art of the self portrait.

So far as I am aware, this is the ONLY self-portrait competition which has been going for a while. Other self portrait competitions pop up from time to time, but none last.

This one offers the following features which I think makes it very credible:

• The biennial Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize was launched in 2011. The website contains links to the past competitions. The winners to date are:
• 2011: Celia Paul
• 2013: Thomas Newbolt
• 2015: Shanti Panchal
• 2017: Benjamin Ogbebor
• 2019: David Dawson
• 2021: Lucy Jones
• 2023: Colin Davidson

• It offers a prize of £10,000 - which, for me, is the threshold value for taking an art competition seriously. Notwithstanding all those who do seem to have forgotten that we've had a fair bit of inflation of late (as in the Portrait Artist of the Year Award of a £10,000 Commission should now be offering nearer £15,000 given the number of years it's been offered)!
• It is sponsored by The Ruth Borchard Collection. Ruth Borchard (1910-2000) was a German writer who decided, at the end of the 1950s, to start a collection of self-portraits by artists.  She had a budget (£21 guineas) and collected 100 by 1971. READ MORE about she went in search of artists on the website. 
• The panel of judges for each competition include those with serious credibility in this field - as well as some who might be thought of coming "from left field"
• The exhibition is generally held in a reputable art gallery - and this year it will be the Southampton Art Gallery.

That and the fact that I enjoyed visiting the exhibition when it was held in London. What I particularly liked about it was the criteria are very open and the artists take advantage of this - and consequently there is 

• more diversity in approaches to the self portrait
• a huge range in the nature of the self portraits selected for exhibition - from size to the wide variety of media employed in artwork on view

It's very much for those who like to be innovative and dare to be different - as the first prize (see above) in the 2023 competition exemplified. Or as one commentator put it - it includes artists who like pushing the boundaries!

You can see examples of artwork in the 2015 and 2019 below - and see more on the website.

View of the 2015 Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2015 Exhibition at Piano Nobile

This is a video about the 2021 Self Portrait Exhibition