The END of the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition?

It seems to me that the the largest and most prestigious watercolour competition in the UK has very probably died.

Without a death notice.

The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition website only contains details about the 2020 competition. 

It references subscribing to the ArtOpps newsletter to find out about the 2021 competition - but here we are in November 2021 - with no time left for a competition or exhibition this year - and there's absolutely no communication anywhere about what's happening.

 Let's look at the facts

• The planned exhibition at the Mall Galleries in early 2021 did not happen due to the lockdown - and indeed is not even listed on the Mall Galleries website as a past exhibition
• Prizes for the 2020 exhibition were much reduced compared to its heyday.
• The announcement of the prizewinners in 2020 is locked behind a paywall. Nor are they listed on the website - which mean it's of very littleo marketing benefit for the prizewinners
• The website has not been updated in a very long time
• The date of the last entry on the Facebook Page was 17th February 2021
• The Judges of the competition in years past have been some very prestigious people e.g. Director, Government Art Collection; Desmond Shawe-Taylor CVO, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures; Dr Kim Sloan, Curator, Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum and a Sunday Times critic who actually knew what he was talking about. Less so in the recent past. Indeed last year they announced the competition without announcing the Judges!

I last did a post about the exhibition in August 2020 when I wrote 10 changes in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2020 Call for Entries

The significant reduction in prize money and other prizes really takes a LOT of prestige away from this competition. Which is incredibly sad as this competition has been seen as very prestigious for very many years - until recently.

I can do no more than highlight what I said in that post - and reiterate that the time has really come for a very major change.

Like I said last year (see Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 - Prizewinners & Exhibition),  in my opinion it's time for 

• another MAJOR CHANGE in the competition/of the main sponsor
• to one which wants to provide more credibility and prestige that this art competition has enjoyed in the past
• more involvement of painters in traditional watercolours as Judges.

This is because:

• 2017 was a dreadful year and I point blank refused to cover the winner
• 2018 was smaller and lacked impressive paintings (as made very clear in my review of the 2018 Exhibition. (see Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition Exhibition 2018)
• 2019 - recovered some ground - but not enough
• I didn't do a Call for Entries post. Too disillusioned by it. 
• Plus of course the prize money had been reduced compared to the past.  
• You can see what I thought of the exhibition in 10 Best Paintings in the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition 2019. 

 

The impact of lockdowns

The lockdowns have very obviously had a massive impact on all sorts of exhibitions and art galleries. 

Nobody would have thought twice of an organisation or organisers who announced that there would be no competition in 2021 - but that the competition would be back in 2022.

But they haven't done that (see above re. lack of communication)

So why's that? Can't be bothered. Still mulling things over?

The reality

The reality is there is NO PRESTIGIOUS ANNUAL WATERCOLOUR COMPETITION in the UK any more.

Count the number of art competitions that no longer exist....

The only thing that is certain in this world is "change".

Which is why, one of the things that is certain in the art world is that art competitions change over time.

What's surprising me right now is just how many of the more major competitions in the UK have completely disappeared in recent time. 

• I last wrote about this prior to lockdown back in early 2020 in The Disappearing Art Competitions 
• Since when we've had confirmation more have been lost and the art competition 'maketplace' has changed significantly in the UK.
  

I thought it was time for AN UPDATE. Below I list those art competitions

• which will not be taking place in 2021
• which still exist and will take place
• those replacing past competitions
• minor art competions

plus why art competitions are important to artists.

By way of a preamble, I am absolutely convinced this is all about two things:

FIRST we're still experiencing coronavirus interruptus syndrome, i.e. the very long "stall" associated with not knowing when things are going to get back to normal. Right now I don't expect thing to approach normal until 2022 - but I do also expect people to be planning for this right now!

SECOND there is an absolute DEARTH of key components for a prestigious art competition. These are:

• key people whose networks enable them to prize out sponsorship money from corporate bodies which can afford it
• strategic thinking within some regional museums - in relation to the traffic which can be generated by a good art competition
• organisations which want to be associated with significant art prizes.
• organisations with expertise and practical experience in developing efficient and effective art competitions with significant prizes (i.e. why are we losing all these top art competitions?)
  

By way of contrast, I am also noticing that some national art societies are getting very good at generating / replacing very good levels of sponsorship for prizes for their open exhibitions.  

• I now highlight clearly those national art societies which people should take a close look at on the basis of prize money alone.
• This should make artists think about whether they are applying for the right  open exhibitions!  PROMPT to my recent client: this is what I was talking about! :)

Art Competitions that no longer exist in 2021

BP Portrait Award

The last BP Portrait exhibition in the NP

10 changes in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2020 Call for Entries

The Call for Entries for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2020 has been published. This post covers

• The Changes in 2020
• The Prizes - more major changes
• The Exhibition - and it won't be seen at the Mall Galleries in 2020.
• How to Enter
• Making A Mark posts about previous exhibitions (2008-2019) plus notes about how many artists and paintings were selected in recent years

Last year's prizewinners

10 Significant Changes in 2020

1. The value of the prizes is much reduced and TOP PRIZE IS MUCH REDUCED. 
• A First Prize of £3,000 + £1,000 art material vouchers compares to 10,000 in 2017 and £6,000 in 2018 (i.e. a reduction of £7,000 cash in 3 years)
• what this means is that this art competition no longer qualifies for an automatic notice of the call for entries on my blog - which has always been limited to first prizes of £10k and above. 
2. The competition has opened up to "artists living and working in the UK and internationally " - which
• apart from being a very clumsy ungrammatical phrase, this is a MAJOR change as the competition has always been limited to artists living and working in the UK. Presumably an effort to generate some extra income?
• it also appears to mean your 5 year old can enter - since I can't spot an age limit. 
3. The deadline for entries is later than usual - as in it's after the date the exhibition would normally have opened. However I guess we've got used to change in recent times. The closing deadline for online submission is 5pm, Thursday 24 September 2020.
4. Selection will be made on the basis of digital works / digital entry only. 
• Which I guess might mean more scope for independent thought and less for being influenced by what other Judges think.   Having participated in a digital selection (and picked the one who went on to become the overall winner) - I'm personally in favour of anything which favours Judges choosing whoever they think is best - as an individual.
• No need to send your art. You only need to do that if picked for the exhibition. 
5. The exhibition does NOT open in London. It will be seen first in the provinces and will not arrive at the Mall Galleries where it normally starts until January 2021. 
6. The Sponsors have changed. They are now:
• The Sunday Times
• Parker Harris - who run the competition
• Cass Arts
• Daler Rowney
7. Everybody selected gets a new set of paints!  Woohoo - see below.
8. No guidelines as to how many will be selected - Unlike previous years there are no indications or promises as to how many will be selected. 
• By way of contrast when it generated its reputation as a top competition under Singer & Friedlander an exhibition comprising 150 paintings was not unusual. 
• This year they could select 10 and get away with it. 
9. The full panel of Judges has NOT been announced.  It's more difficult to get top Judges when you reduce the prize pot - because they know and we know it is not the prestigious competition it once was.
10. Very sloppy rules and guidelines - which I pick up on above and below.  

The prizes are as follows

• First Prize – £3,000 and £1000 of gift vouchers to use at Cass Art stores
• Young Artist Prize* – Exhibition opportunity in the Art Space at Cass Art Islington or Glasgow and £500 to cover expenses
• Second Prize – £1000, £695 Maimeri Blu Set worth, £750 worth of Arches Watercolour Paper
• Third Prize – £500, £150 Maimer Blue Set, £500 worth of Aquafine Watercolour Paper

In addition all all successful artists will get a set of Aquafine 24 Half Pans Set!

Daler Rowney Aquafine 24 Half Pans set

On balance I'm wondering if the competition ought to change its name to the Cass Arts Watercolour Prize - unless the Sunday Times is funding all the cash prizes.

It looks to me as if the Sunday Times has cut its contribution to £5,000 i.e. half the sum of just the first prize in 2017. 

The significant reduction in prize money and other prizes really takes a LOT of prestige away from this competition.  Which is incredibly sad as this competition has been seen as very prestigious for very many years - until recently.

Now in its 33rd year, The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition is the largest and most prestigious watercolour competition in the UK. 

This statement on the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition website is just not true any longer - in my opinion.  

• Apart from anything else, its reputation was initially earned in the 20 years when it was called the Singer & Friedlander Watercolour Competition (1988 -2008) - and the Sunday Times has emphatically NOT been sponsoring it - as suggested by the website - for the last 33 years!
• Indeed, back in 2006, the Times was referring to this competition as the Singer & Friedlander Competition - as it had been since it was created in 1988.  
• All that happened is that the RWS and the Sunday Times stepped in to save the competition after Singer & Friedlander stepped back from sponsorship after it was 
• firstly taken over by Kaupthing in 2005, 
• quickly followed by the banking crisis of 2008.
• This was back when a proper art historian and critic Frank Whitford wrote about the competition for the Sunday Times and - when it used to exhibit some 150 paints compared to the 90 or so in recent years. 

Like I said last year (see Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 - Prizewinners & Exhibition),  in my opinion it's time for 

• another MAJOR CHANGE in the competition/of the main sponsor
• to one which wants to provide more credibility and prestige that this art competition has enjoyed in the past
• more involvement of painters in traditional watercolours as Judges.

This is because:

• 2017 was a dreadful year and I point blank refused to cover the winner
• 2018 was smaller and lacked impressive paintings (as made very clear in my review of the 2018 Exhibition. (see Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition Exhibition 2018)
• 2019 - recovered some ground - but not enough
• I didn't do a Call for Entries post. Too disillusioned by it. 
• Plus of course the prize money had been reduced compared to the past.  
• You can see what I thought of the exhibition in 10 Best Paintings in the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition 2019.

I'm not sure enough imagination and creativity is being used in terms of thinking about which company or trust might be an appropriate sponsor for the future given it's very clear that the Sunday Times i no longer a major investor in the competition.

I know I can certainly think of more than one.

In the absence of anybody sorting it out, I challenge those that think they could do better to get on and do!  Even with Covid, there's very definitely scope to do a lot better than this.

Might Sky Arts be interested and team up with one of the watercolour organisations - and maybe put a focus on those who have not yet had their day in the sun?

The Exhibition

The Exhibition will be held at two venues

Venue #1: Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery, Market Place, Basingstoke, RG21 7QD (Please click here for opening times, free entry)

Dates: Tuesday 27 October 2020 – January 2021

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willismuseum/

but no announcements on website or Facebook to date

Venue #2: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1

Dates: Monday 18 January – Sunday 24 January 2021

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mallgalleries/

View of the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition last year at the Mall Galleries

How to enter

Who can enter

Anybody living in the UK or another country can enter this year

What it used to say is 

The competition is open to all artists born or currently resident in the UK - who are making paintings using water-based media

but that is now gone.

What can you enter

Works entered must:

• Have been carried out in the last three years ie dated 2017 or later
• Be the sole and original work of the entrant
• Be the entrant’s original composition
• Have a maximum size of work, in its largest dimension, including frame, is 122 cm
• All works shortlisted and submitted for final judging, must be securely framed and behind glass. Metal, plastic or clip frames will not be allowed*
• Be available until the end of January 2021 if selected for exhibition

NOTE THE HUGE GAFFE!! It says absolutely nothing about media in the RULES.  

COMPETITIONS CAN ONLY BE JUDGED BY THE RULES.  Try and do otherwise and you could end up with some major problems in relation to various relevant regulations

This is the sort of issue which means for me that this competition has lost the credibility it enjoyed for the 20 years under Singer & Friedlander. It's as if the people at the Sunday Times - or any of the other sponsors - simply do not care.

Somebody could enter a painting in water-mixable oils and they couldn't rule it out - because it's NOT IN THE RULES.

You have to go to the Help and FAQs TAB to find

Are acrylics, gouache or inks acceptable mediums?
Yes, any water-based media is acceptable. Artists should note that whilst any water-based mediums are acceptable, this competition aims to celebrate and reward excellence and originality in the genre of watercolour painting. The judges will therefore be looking for work that makes the most imaginative or otherwise impressive use of a water based medium in this respect.

The purpose of a Help and FAQs section should only ever be to help clarify the RULES OF THE COMPETITION - but since there are no rules about ELIGIBLE media whatever is said is irrelevant.

This is what I said in 2018 on the topic of media - and it deserves repeating this year.

My view is that:

• This competition for its (past) prestigious reputation based on excellent watercolour paintings (made with the NON-plastic NON-polymer related stuff which comes in pans and tubes) 
• This competition is very popular with the public who all expect to a lot of "proper" watercolour paintings - demonstrating the range of ways you can use traditional watercolour paint (i.e. NOT how to make watercolour look like oil paint!)
• If the judges don't choose lots of good and "proper" watercolour paintings then they just make the sponsoring brand look  REALLY STUPID!

 

How to enter

• These are the Rules and Guidelines
• All submissions must be digital - this is the link to the entry form
• all images should be 300dpi BUT
• with a maximum file size of 2MB. 
• in the following file formats are acceptable: JPEGs, TIFFs or PNGs.
• all payments of the £15 entry fee must be digital
• you can enter up to 4 artworks

The Timeline

• Deadline for online entries: 5pm, Thursday 24 September 2020
• Artists notified of results by email: Friday 2 October 2020 
• Delivery of selected works - to be confirmed
• Exhibition opens 
• at the Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery 
• Tuesday 27 October 2020 – January 2021
• Exhibition opens 
• at the Mall Galleries Monday 
• 18 January - Sunday 24 January 2021
• Collection of works - to be confirmed (after the end of the exhibition in 2021)

The Judges

Each year the panel of judges represent experts in their field. The judges will be looking for work that makes the most imaginative or otherwise impressive use of a water-based medium. The judges’ decision will be final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.

A full list of selectors will be announced soon…

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition: Previous Posts

2019

• 10 Best Paintings in the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition 2019
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 - Prizewinners & Exhibition

2018

• Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition Exhibition 2018
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2018: Prizewinners & Selected Artists
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2018 - Call for Entries

2017 - 87 paintings by 78 artists were selected from 1,057 submissions.

• Video of Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2017
• 10 Best Paintings in the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2017 - Selected Artists
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2017 - Call for Entries
• What does "watercolour" mean to you?

2016 - 75 paintings by 66 artists were selected

• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2016 - Call for Entries - published in March
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2016 - Selected Artists - which includes images from some of the exhibitors
• Kathryn Maple wins Sunday Times Watercolour Competition for second time
• Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2016

2015 - 90 works by 80 artists were selected

• Akash Bhatt wins Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2015
• Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2015
• Selected artists - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2015
• The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2015 - Call for Entries

2014 - 93 works by 73 artists from across the UK

• Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2014
• Kathryn Maple wins Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2014
• Selected Artists - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2014
• The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2014 - Call for Entries

2013

• David Forster wins Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2013
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2013 Exhibition at the Mall Galleries
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2013 - Call for Entries

2012

• Mark Elsmore wins Sunday Times Watercolour 2012
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2012 - Call for Entries

2011

• REVIEW: Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition 2011
• John Hunt wins Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2011
• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition - Call for Entries

2010

• Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2010
• Emma Haworth wins Sunday Times Watercolour ...
• Call for entries: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition

2009

• Royal Watercolour Society / Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition
• Call for entries - 2009 RWS/Sunday Times Watercolour ...

2008

• RWS / Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2008
• The RWS / Sunday Times Watercolour ...
• RWS/Sunday Times Watercolour Competition - call for entries

The Disappearing Art Competitions

Has anybody noticed the disappearing art competitions?

Here's my summary of where I think we are up to

• The Bad News: Art Competitions which no longer exist - and why that might be happening
• Big Question Mark: Art Competitions with a BIG query
• Good News: Art Competitions being held in 2020

PLUS

• Why art competitions are important
• TOP TIPS for art competitions (the ones that are left!)

The Threadneedle Prize Preview in 2016

What I find most sad is that both art competitions for figurative art seem to have disappeared at the same time.

BAD NEWS: Art Competitions which no longer exist

The following art competitions have definitely finished.

The Threadneedle Prize

The Columbia Threadneedle Prize - Figurative Art today (formerly known as The Threadneedle Prize) was a major art prize with a big money prize. Latterly the first prize also included a solo exhibition in the Threadneedle Space at the Mall Galleries.

• finished after running for a decade
• This was my blog post looking back - After The Threadneedle Prize + a recap of past winners and what happened next

The Threadneedle Prize in 2016

The National Open Art Competition 

The National Open Art Competition

• closed in 2018
• no sign of a resurrection
• website indicates it's "postponed until further notice" - which is the phrase I always associate with "hope over experience" people who are reluctant to give up but have no reasonable expectation of anything changing.

Why's it happening?

At a guess:

• expenses exceed income
• sponsors disappear or die
• unsuccessful at securing new long term sponsorship
• merits of the exhibition no longer attract quality entries
• marketing has become more difficult and must involve quality social media marketing
• competition has become tired and needs to be reinvigorated
• the benefits vs costs equation no longer makes sense to the main sponsor

BIG ??? - Art Competitions with a query

Lynn Painter Stainers competition - back in 2014

Lynn Painter-Stainers

• The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers records the history of the Prize - but says nothing about the future or the date of the next exhibition
• There's no website for the competition
• It's disappeared off the Parker Harris website - and I got no response to enquiries about it

I'm wondering if the Lynn Foundation have backed out and/or are in a state of suspended animation.

• Guy Parsons OBE who was CEO and a Trustee of the Lynn Foundation died in September 2019.  He ran the charity after he set it up in 1985 for his client Mr Lynn, who invested millions of pounds into the cause.
• It's unclear how this art competition contributed to the main purpose of the Lynn Foundation - which primarily targeted the advancement of health or saving of lives.

I'd say this art competition is not happening this year. I'd say there's a very good chance it won't reappear unless another sponsor steps up......

BP Portrait Award

Aleah Chapin wins the BP Portrait Award 2012

In 2020 the BP Portrait Award 2020 will

• presumably continue to hang fewer portraits due to the more confined space - see Call for Entries: BP Portrait Award 2020 (Part 1)
• have a much shorter and earlier exhibition
• date of the exhibition in London has changed - to May and June.
• AND it's much shorter - just five weeks
• which will result in much less exposure for the artists and fewer visitors to the exhibition

We still do not know what will happen to the BP Portrait Award when the National Portrait Gallery closes for three years this summer.

Will there be a BP Portrait Award 2021?
Will it continue to be sponsored by BP?  Given that the BP Sponsorship is attracting more and more criticism - including by one of the Judges in 2019.

GOOD NEWS: Art Competitions still running in 2020

These art competitions are still running in 2020

RA Summer Exhibition 2015

The RA Summer Exhibition

• The art competition most unlikely to ever give up!
• website https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2020
• My posts: 
• RA Summer Exhibition 2020: Call for Entries (SHORT version)
• TIPS for entries to the 2020 RA Summer Exhibition

John Moores Painting Prize

• This art competition is still running. 
• website: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/jmpp/john-moores-painting-prize 
• See my recent blog post Call for Entries: £25,000 John Moores Painting Prize 2020 + NEW Prize 

The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition

• This art competition is still running. 
• The website https://www.sundaytimeswatercolour.org/ promises that the call for entries will be published soon.
• to be honest it needs a bit of a revamp (see Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 - Prizewinners & Exhibition). Was 2019 the turning point for this competition - which has been noticeably less impressive in recent times?  We wait to find out.

Wildlife Artist of the Year 2020

• not quite the same art competition as under the late David Shepherd - but it's still around
• exhibition at the Mall Galleries 27th - 31st May 2020

Derwent Art Prize

Chrys Allen - the first winner of the Derwent Art Prize in 2013

• The Derwent Art Prize is still current
• This is my recent blog post Call for Entries - 5th Derwent Art Prize 2020

ING Discerning Eye

• no news about 2020 yet
• no reason to suppose it will not run as usual
• website not updated since 2019 exhibition
• still live on Parker Harris website
• https://thediscerningeye.artopps.co.uk/

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize

• no news about 2020 yet
• no reason to suppose it will not run as usual
• website not updated since 2019 exhibition
• still live on Parker Harris website
• https://tbwdrawingprize.artopps.co.uk/

Why art competitions are important

In summary: art competitions are really important for

• newbie artists - because they make them think about standards and processes relevant to an art competition - which can also help them with developing and selling their art generally. Shipping artwork to a client is not very different to shipping to an art competition - except your client will keep the packaging!
• emerging artists in terms of raising their profile and getting their work seen on a national stage  and by art galleries and agents - often for the first time.
• improving artists wanting to develop their careers - in terms of demonstrating a track record of being consistently chosen for different art competitions
• established artists who need to remind people they exist and are still producing quality artwork - and occasionally test their metal! However there can be a downside. It's bad enough being turned down for an art competition when you're an aspiring artist. Think about what it must feel like if you have supposedly already made the grade!!

TOP TIPS for art competitions

My Making A Mark Page about Major Art Competitions has a round up of some tips previously posted on this blog.

TIPS for artists entering exhibitions

You may find these TIPS helpful

• 20 tips for entering art competitions - What do you need to know when thinking about entering an art competition? Here's 20 tips to help you.
• Juried art competitions - does size matter? - For those concerned about what size to paint
• Is there a guide for pricing art for competitions? in which I offer some practical advice for artists wanting to work out how to price their artwork when entering a competition.
• Pricing prints for the Summer Exhibition - looking at the arithmetic on gross and net profit if a print is priced at an affordable level
• Top tips for art competitions - a precis - I've written many blog posts about art competitions over the years. Here are links to some of them.
• All the mistakes you can make when submitting work to an art exhibition - a checklist of nightmare scenarios
• NOT selected by an art competition or open exhibition? - Have you had your artwork rejected by an art competition or an open exhibition? Did you wonder why? Did you vow never ever to enter another one - and then entered anyway after the Call for Entries was published?
• WARNING: "Not previously exhibited" - about why it's important to read and observe ALL the rules
• How to calculate the cost of entering a juried art exhibition - For those concerned about how the expenses can mount up
• Pre-selected, selected, long listed, shortlisted, prizewinner - what's in a phrase? - A discussion of the terminology used to describe artists at different stages of an art competition
• A Making A Mark Guide: Analysing the cost of entering a juried art exhibition - Download my FREE spreadsheet which acts as a checklist and helps you to cost out your entry
• The Websites of Contemporary Painters in the UK - Get your website sorted BEFORE you enter a juried art competition or miss out on the traffic when the names of selected artists are announced!
• VAT for non-UK artists and UK exhibition organisers - About the recent changes around VAT thresholds in the UK for artists living outside the UK.

and for those needing help with framing...

• How to frame and hang your art - which includes a section on Framing for art competitions & open exhibitions

10 Best Paintings in the Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition 2019

These are the 10 paintings in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 which impressed me. By which I mean

• They caught my eye on my first turn around the gallery - from a distance of some 6 feet+. 
• Then kept it on my second go round - when I'm looking more closely at the paintings. 
• Then survived the cull as I went around for the third time to work out my.....

10 Best Paintings - Sunday Times Watercolour 2019

These three looked good together. The two on the left made it into my top 10.

The official statement in the Call for Entries for this competition was that

The judges will be looking for work that makes the most imaginative or otherwise impressive use of a water-based medium. (ArtOpps: Sunday Times Watercolour 2019) 

My criteria for my best paintings has nothing to do with imagination.
I find it difficult to remember the last imaginative artist who lacked skill in painting make it as an artist - with the possible exception of Tracey Emin.

The criteria used by the Judges of the Sunday Times Watercolour 2019 was, in my opinion, entirely the wrong way round. 

In my view:

• impressive use of watercolour in a competition like this MUST be an imperative and an absolute - if you don't understand the properties of watercolour, if you don't know how to use a brush and if you don't know how to exploit watercolour properties to the max then you don't make it on to my list! (and you shouldn't make it on to the walls of this exhibition either!)
• innovative is good - I'm always interested in seeing new ways of working with watercolour. Back in 2010 when reviewing this exhibition I said

My recommendation to those thinking about putting in for this exhibition is to be genuinely innovative and display what watercolour can do. I suggest that all those people whose talents lie in the direction of the use of transparent glazing and mixing colours which granulate should step up and have a shot - because you've got a lot of space to make an impact!

• great painting must be 'an absolute given' - ie people who know how to use a brush and create a design / composition 
• well presented must also count for something - why are paintings being hung which are frankly scruffy? How do paintings where the artists have failed to keep their paper clean (where left unpainted) make it on to the walls of this exhibition? 

In other words in my criteria "Imaginative" is for the fairies! By which I mean it ranks fairly low on my criteria for what makes a painting worth exhibiting.  I'm not saying it doesn't have a place in art - but it certainly should not be the premier criteria for a watercolour competition!

My criteria is entirely about impressive use of watercolour - and making "a good picture". 

I've tried to work out how to order them - and decided the prizewinners were very definitely not going first as you've seen them more than once.  In the end I plumped for something akin to reverse alphabetic by surname - with the prizewinners at the end.

That's because those with surnames in the second half of the alphabet always get a raw deal when it comes to the display of paintings in an exhibition!

SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE

The first two paintings demonstrate why sometimes something really simple can have a lot of appeal.

1. Christopher Wallbank - Frozen Heather

Frozen Heather by Christopher Wallbank
watercolour
£700

This painting by Chris Wallbank SWLA is very definitely one of my favourite paintings in this exhibition. I immediately recognised the humpy splodges before I read the title (on my second turn arund the gallery). This is mostly alla prima watercolour painting. You put the brush in the paint - and create a shape - and then you leave it well alone except for a few small marks. It actually takes quite a lot of skill to paint clumps of heather in perspective under snow - and to let the paint drain to create a deeper shadow!  Plus the fact he's painted it in purple reminds us of the colour when the heather is in bloom and also the very odd shadow colours you can get in snow in certain light.

Very simple and very effective and beautifully presented - with care. It's a painting I wouldn't mind having hanging on my wall.

As an artist he's also had previous mentions by me on this blog. I'm actually rather pleased that I picked him without remembering his name - although it is a bit embarrassing too! That's because I well remember talking to Chris about his wonderful drawing of a Loomery which was exhibited in 2015. I also gave his "The Urban Black Kites of Delhi" project and his drawing of the Macaques of Modnigar a feature within my blog post about last year's annual exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists.

This is an artist who is skilled in using watercolour plein air. He's an artist who is going places and I commend his work to you!

Website: Chris Wallbank https://www.chriswallbank.com/

2. Sara Lee - Departure

Departure by Sara Lee
Gouache and Japanese woodcut
£1,150

Those of us who have spent time sketching around the streets in Cannareggio in Venice - and ended up on the Fondamente Nove will know this view of the island of the dead - of the Cimitero di San Michele on the island of San Michel (where both Igor Stravinsky and ezra Piound are buried) in the lagoon around Venice.

I'm a complete sucker for artwork of places I know - particularly when they don't shout it and instead indicate in a discrete way for those who will recognise.

The painting/print also has very refined and gradated washes in the background - for the sky and the lagoon - in colours one might not expect - unless you've not seen Venice in different seasons.

It's only when I saw what I assume is the woodcut element that I knew exactly what the painting was about as the separation of colours is very discrete and easily missed. The lighter colour is the wall around the island and the darker colour are the trees which grow around the cemetery.

I admire this one - and would love to know how it was created.

Again I am more than delighted to read her bio on her website - which I found five seconds ago! I didn't know her work at all before seeing this work yesterday - but will be looking out for it in future. She is very obviously a lady who is absorbed by the meeting of the sky and the sea.

Sara Lee predominantly works with drawing, film and print, including woodblock in the ukiyo-e tradition. Her practice involves working from site-specific landscapes, followed by extended studio-based work. Her images are a response to the ephemeral nature of landscape and question our emotional and physical relationship to an evolving environment.
She exhibits widely and her work is held in public and private collections internationally. She has written for Tate and has advised and spoken on print processes for various individuals and institutions including The Art Fund, Dulwich Picture Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.
Sara Lee trained with Master Printer Hugh Stoneman and together they developed a photogravure practice and co-published, under the imprint Print Centre Publications. Over many years she has worked closely on etching and relief print projects with Eileen Cooper RA, with whom she shares a print studio space and the imprint Blackbird Editions.
Born in Wales, she lives and works in London. She studied Fine Art at Ravensbourne and Postgraduate Printmaking at Central School.

Website: Sara Lee http://www.saraleeartist.co.uk/

WATERCOLOUR PROPERTIES

Review: Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 Exhibition

Yesterday I visited the exhibition for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 exhibition - currently on display at the Mall Galleries until 22nd September

Below you can read my impressions - about:

• the exhibition
• the use of watercolour in this exhibition
• the nature of artwork - for those anticipating responding to the Call for Entries for the 2020 exhibition - whenever that is.

I'm going to do a seperate post about the paintings I liked the most.

My overall conclusion is that 

• this competition is on its way back after its disastrous diversion by forgetting what it was about and losing sponsors. 
• However it still has a long way to go to get back to the better exhibitions in the past.

That's not to say that there isn't good work to be seen in the show - because there is - and tomorrow I'll show you the 10 paintings I liked the best.

Prizewinners in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019
The London Wall Partners First Prize (£8,000) - Condensation by Leo Davey
Second Prize (£3,000): Aidan Potts (Bottom Left)
Third Prize (£1,000) : Mark Elsmore (right)
Pegasus Young Artist Prize (£500): Katherine Jackson (top left)

It has two new sponsors (for Young Artist and the First Prize) and and the overall content is oriented much more to watercolour again.

HOWEVER, there are still some issues which very much need addressing. It needs:

• better judges - ones who know a LOT more about watercolour - to keep out the dross and unskilled. There are too many paintings which, in my opinion, are very ordinary and lacking in competence.
• much better watercolour artists submitting their work - and sponsors and organisers who work hard to make sure they do
• better leadership to get back proper prizes and sponsorship - which will also attract back the better artists
• better marketing - including an overhauled website
• and a less geographically biased exhibition tour

Then it might earn back its claim to being a prestigious watercolour exhibition again. It lost that crown three years ago - and while this is an improvement it's very definitely not there yet.

It might need a completely new sponsor - because a lot of the above seems to me to be about a competition which has been starved of both leadership and resources.

For example, I'm confused as to why there is a new sponsor for the First Prize (London Wall Partners LLP (LWP)) but the Sunday Times still claims the title of the competition.  Surely the traditional way of doing these things is that the title of the competition goes to those who sponsor the first prize?

P.S. Who else besides me remembers the Singer & Friedlander Watercolour Competition (1988-2007) with much affection? I mean it's not as if it hasn't changed its name during its history!

Launched originally as the Singer and Friedlander Prize in 1988, the first prize winner was Tom Coates. Subsequent winners included Stuart Pearson Wright, Leslie Worth, Trevor Stubley, Jennifer McRae and Carol Robertson. Kaupthing at one time the largest Icelandic bank took over Singer & Friedlander in 2005 and sponsorship of the competition ceased. The Royal Watercolour Society took over the sponsorship and the competition was renamed the RWS/Sunday Times Watercolour competition. In 2011, total prize money stood at £18,000 with £10,000 as a 1st Prize. Artist biographies

I spend my time looking for the next Leslie Worth.....

The Good News

The good news is that the exhibition is EMPHATICALLY back into the realms of watercolour. 

I did a quick tour at the beginning and was very struck with how it has come back to where it started - with a very high proportion of artists painting using traditional watercolours - mixed with a modicum of some other related media.  Most look like they created a painting using water!

There's been a marked increase in those labelling their work 'watercolour'.

For those who are interested, I've compared the media listings in the "catalogue" (A4 card folded to A5! Price £2) with those I recorded for 2017 when the major deviation on media started and an acrylic which looked like an oil painting won First Prize.

As you can see there are 10 more paintings labelled just 'watercolour' - and a bigger decrease in those entering acrylic work - it halved in number and there are very few paintings which look like oil paintings this year.

Although there are some artists (and they know who they are and some of them will know after reading this that I also know!) who labelled their work 'watercolour' when there was very clearly some acrylic involved as a base layer(s).

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition: MEDIA Frequency 2017 and 2019
	2017	2017	2019	2019	+/-
Watercolour	42	49.4%	52	54.7%	5.3%
Watercolour and ink	5	5.9%	9	9.5%	3.6%
Watercolour and gouache	11	12.9%	8	8.4%	-4.5%
Watercolour and pencil / graphite	3	3.5%	6	6.3%	2.8%
Watercolour and acrylic	3	3.5%	3	3.2%	-0.4%
Acrylic	10	11.8%	5	5.3%	-6.5%
Ink	2	2.4%	3	3.2%	0.8%
Gouache	4	4.7%	3	3.2%	-1.5%
Gouache + mixed media			2	2.1%	2.1%
Gouache and acrylic			1	1.1%	1.1%
Gouache and Japanese woodcut			1	1.1%	1.1%
Gouache, collage and pencil	1	1.2%	1	1.1%	-0.1%
Watercolour pencil			1	1.1%	1.1%
Acrylic and pigment	2	2.4%		0.0%	-2.4%
Watercolour, Japanese ink and gilding/metal powders	1	1.2%		0.0%	-1.2%
Watercolour and water based mediums	1	1.2%		0.0%	-1.2%
TOTALS	85	100.0%	95	100.0%	0.0%

That's really good news. I'd begun to think this exhibition was going to die a death through judges not understanding the nature of the medium!

It's earned the right to a Call for Entries from this blog next year.

The number of paintings

This exhibition is advertised every year as having a 100 paintings. It has never ever had that number in recent years and if I see that claim one more time I shall protest to the Advertising Standards Authority and the one that regulates competitions.

HOWEVER this year there are 95 paintings - which is a HUGE improvement on 2016 when there were only 75 and last year when there were just 85. In fact it's the most paintings it's had for a long time. 

I do however think this competition needs a minimum size for every unframed/unmatted painting! Enough said?

The Prizewinners

I highlighted the prizewinners on Sunday in Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 - Prizewinners & Exhibition (which also includes a list of the selected artists).

To my mind the painting which won first prize is well justified. It's unusual, it demonstrates a good appreciation of techniques and colour palette and it's also watery!  (I never thought about this before - but why not go for a watery subject if you have your eye on the main prize!)

Condensation by Leo Davey
WINNER OF THE LONDON WALL PARTNERS FIRST PRIZE

I'd have personally given Mark Elsmore the second prize - it's a very compelling piece which works well at a distance in a large gallery as well as close to.

The Not So Good News

Judges still need reminding this is a WATERCOLOUR exhibition

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 - Prizewinners & Exhibition

Next week the exhibition for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 opens at the Mall Galleries - as do two other exhibitions (see the end of this post). This post is about:

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019

• the prizewinners
• selected artists
• exhibition details

PLUS: Other Exhibitions this week at the Mall Galleries (17 September 2019 to 22 September 2019)

• Ana Schmidt: City of Shards - the exhibition which was one of the awards for winning the Threadneedle Prize 2018. 
• the British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2019 - Prizewinners

The prizewinners were announced in the Sunday Times on 1 September 2019. You can see images and details of the artist and painting below

First Prize (£8,000):  Leo Davey

Leo Davey won the £8,000 First prize with a very unusual and creative painting which looks very much as if it demonstrates great skill in the use of wet in wet and glazes.

Always really nice to see the first prize in this competition being awarded to a medium which cannot be emulated by any other when the painter is skilled!

FIRST PRIZE:
Condensation by Leo Davey
© Leo Davey

The image of a child in the shower, drawing lines in the glass, showcases both the artist’s clear skill and a taste for the off-kilter. The child is left genderless on purpose; not everything in the composition is in sync. “It gives a sense of unease,” says the 41-year-old artist
Sunday Times Art Section 1 September 2019

Leo Davey lives and works in his home town of Minehead in West Somerset where he has both his studio and a gallery.

Leo studied at Falmouth College of Art in Cornwall. He now  where he has his studio/gallery. His subjects and styles and ways of painting vary a lot.

From the meticulous to the abstract, Leo refuses to settle on any particular genre of painting and continues to explore and develop ways of seeing and defining his landscapes through his works. (his website bio)

He's been selected for The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition in 2012, 13, 14 and 17 and won the competition's Smith and Williamson Cityscape prize in 2015. His work has also been selected for the exhibitions by the Royal West Academy, Royal Watercolour Society, and Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour.

Second Prize (£3,000): Aidan Potts