Review: UKCPS Silver Anniversary Annual Open Exhibition 2026

After 25 years, the UKCPS is celebrating its Silver Anniversary with its first exhibition at the Mall Galleries.

It's always been an ambition of the UK Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS) to hold its Open Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries. Making it to its 25th Birthday seemed like an opportune time to spend some money and celebrate in style.

UKCPS Annual Open Exhibition
Part of the Hang in the West Gallery

For those UKCPS people not familiar with me or my blog (although I gathered from the PV on Tuesday night that a lot were), I am 

• a coloured pencil addict and a past signature member of UKCPS. I've written about its exhibitions a lot over the years (see the list of blog posts at the end which also give an insight into artwork in past exhibitions)
• somebody who reviews ALL the national art societies which exhibit at the Mall Galleries - and has done so for nearly 20 years. So I've got a very good basis for saying how this exhibition compares with the norm at the Mall Galleries.

History of the UKCPS Society

The Society was founded in 2001 by Bob Ebdon and Pat Heffer.

The UK Colour Pencil Society (UKCPS) was founded in 2001 by Bob Ebdon, spurred by a letter in A&I magazine from Pat Heffer (who became a founder member, enthusiastic supporter and finally President). A few people sharing their interest of colour pencil art, who had never met except via the Internet, started the Society and it was launched at Patchings Art Centre in Nottinghamshire. The Society has grown over the years: the second issue of the quarterly magazine (September 2001) reported they had just reached the 100 member mark, and now there are just over 750 members.

I was also a coloured pencil fan and found them online a little later and subsequently became a member and exhibited with them between 2007-2010. After that I gradually withdrew as a member from all national art societies I belonged to so as to be able to do better reviews of their exhibitions!

The society is different in some ways from other national art societies.

• anybody can become a member
• recognition of expertise and contribution is made through
• becoming a Signature Member (which I became in 2009 - see my blog post Signature membership)
• progressing to Silver Signature status (pictures accepted into 5 exhibitions within 10 years) and Gold status (pictures accepted into 10 exhibitions within 15 years.)
• it holds three exhibitions each year
• an open exhibition for all artists using coloured pencils - which is competitive
• an online exhibition for all members
• members only exhibition held at the Derwent Pencil Museum, Keswick. (This year it will be 31st August to 30th October 2026)

In June 2018 it was granted charitable status - with an objective of:

• promoting the art of drawing for the public benefit through the use of colour pencils
• holding a public exhibition at least once a year to showcase work and provide tuition
• help educate the public how to use colour pencils

The definition of a coloured pencil for the purposes of the exhibition is 

"wood-cased, wax- or oil-based colour pencil"

i.e. pastel pencils are excluded.

The 25th Annual Exhibition of the UK Coloured Pencil Society

Venue: Mall Galleries - West and North Galleries
Dates: Open from Tuesday 17 March 2026 - Saturday 21 March 2026,
Hours: 10am to 5pm

Workshops: click for more information

How the work was judged

• One member and two independent artists selected the artwork for the open exhibition.
• Another artist judges the selected artwork for awards. This year it was Curtis Holder - a leading exponent of coloured pencil artwork.

You can see all the artwork in the exhibition in two ways:

• In the albums of my pics that I've uploaded to Facebook - just click the link in the listing below. BTW, if I like a work I tend to take a photo of it on its own.
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2026 - West Gallery
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2026 - North Gallery
• Via the UKCPS website where all images of all the artwork are now uploaded

BEST PICTURE IN SHOW

Where ­Time ­Rests by Pauline Stuart

(which I had spotted as a "go back and look again" pic!)

The ArtReview Power List 100 in the last 20 years (2005, 2015, 2025)

It's always worthwhile to keep an eye on what's changing in the upper echelons of the art genre/business - what's changing and what's not.  

The turn of the year is a good time to reflect on how things are changing....

ArtReview's Power 100 is an annual ranking of the most powerful people in Art and is always worth a look.  

• The core concept of the list revolves around the mechanisms and impact of influence in the art world.
• A lot of what changes tends to filter down over time - so it's a bit like looking into the future. 

Changes in the ArtReview Power 100:
who was at the top in the last 20 years 
(see FULL TABLE below)

This post looks at 

• who are the Power 100 in 2025 
• how the list has changed RADICALLY in the last 20 years. 

and gives me an opportunity to give my very analytical brain a work out - and to look at the trends over time.

The Power 100 is ArtReview’s annual portrait of power in the artworld. It is an attempt to describe the individuals and groups that have shaped what art has been seen and how it has been seen over the past 12 months (broadly speaking, the calendar year). And yes, that is an indication that ArtReview views the artworld as, essentially, a social structure: a network of relationships that are triggered by the actions of individuals. 

They define this further

The criteria for inclusion are:

• that each person of the Power 100 has had an active influence on the art being made and shown now;
• that influence has to be active

Of course, it really all depends on WHO you ask..... 

The Top 10 in the Power 100 2025

Exploring Time - Tony Foster's watercolour landscapes at the RWS Gallery

There’s an amazing exhibition of very impressive watercolour paintings by Tony Foster at the RWS Gallery in Whitcomb Street. 

It's quite unlike anything else I've ever seen before in an art gallery.

For more than 45 years now English artist Tony Foster has worked in the World’s wildernesses - mountains and canyons, rainforests and deserts, the Arctic and the Tropics. Travelling slowly - on foot or by canoe or raft, and carrying his painting and camping equipment he makes his paintings in response to what he finds on his journeys.

“Exploring Time” in plein air painting treks through geological and biological time across various wilderness locations on different continents. 

This new exhibition presents over fifty watercolours painted en plein air over seventeen years, sharing the artist's reflections on the complexity of time and its impact upon the planet. Each includes notes from the artist’s experiences as well as maps and objects relevant to its location.

Divided into Geological Time, Biological Time, Human Time and Fleeting Moments, the paintings explore how time has sculpted and affected our planet. From Colorado to Tibet, the Galapagos and Cornwall, the works celebrate the wonder of nature, highlighting the importance of leaving areas of the world undisturbed.

A view of one of the basement galleries

His watercolour paintings painted plein air over 17 years are phenomenal. 

Some are of some absolutely amazing vistas in wilderness country. Some are of things he finds and records en route when trekking - which also record the small things in places in a unique way.

• You can see some of my photos of this paintings in my Facebook Post
• You can see a record of his exhibitions over the years on his website

The resulting paintings are a visual record of what he encounters on his journey: not just the landscape, but flora and fauna, notes, souvenirs and anecdotes.

A record of small objects - leaves, fruits, birds, eggs, feathers, twigs etc
found in a specific place on is travels

He also has an extraordinarily impressive CV of exhibitions across the USA and UK and coverage in articles by very many different publications. 

This exhibition will be embarking on a tour of the US from 2026 to 2028.

Approach to Drawing and Painting + Equipment

His approach to recording by drawing and painting what he sees is quite unlike virtually all landscape artists. This is his plein air method

He does not use photography or sketches but makes his paintings on site, often in the most difficult and uncomfortable circumstances. Sometimes a large-scale work (up to 8ft x 4 ft / 244 cms x 122 cms!) will take more than three weeks on site before it is sufficiently resolved to roll into its aluminium tube to be completed in his studio in Cornwall. 

Check out his painting equipment he takes with him 

Tony Foster's very lightweight painting equipment for very large paintings

Once he has found his painting site, he erects a makeshift board as an easel. When working in freezing conditions, he adds gin to his painting water to stop it icing-up. 

Events Programme

How to develop large scale hyperrealistic graphite drawings

For all those interested in developing their skills in large scale hyperrealistic drawing with graphite. Which, as it happens, is a pretty niche field.

I've just discovered - via a recommendation from an artist I greatly respect - Jono Dry and his amazing drawings. Not that I'm any sort of fan of the surreal content of his typical subject matter - but I do appreciate somebody who has developed his skills with graphite to this level.

This video has only had nearly 14 million+ views!

Dry has devoted his practice to pushing the medium of graphite. With experimentation as a fundamental aspect of hyperrealism, a sense of play and precision is kept at the core of his practice.

I very much like the educational ethos of a lot of the work he does. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: A lot of artists trying to work out how to teach online will appreciate this video.

I also respect an artist who has worked out how to monetise his drawing practice in terms of:

• limited edition prints of his artwork
• educational videos via YouTube (all those views add up!) - which include lots of practical tips about studio equipment and building a business
• developing a Patreon community

Dry has built a dedicated Youtube channel focused on the output of educational videos showing specific aspects of the drawing process, as well as sharing tools to build a business in the creative industry.

Interesting also that he declines to take on commissions.

Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life - a landmark exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery

An exhibition of artwork by Wayne Thiebaud (1920-2021) is coming to the Courtauld Gallery this October. 

I've just booked my ticket to the Wayne Thiebaud - American Still Life Exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery - opening 10th October to 18th January 2025. 

I'm a big fan of Wayne Thiebaud - not least because I used to love drawing food, foodstuff  and meals. I never quite graduated to cakes but I do love looking at the display in the windows of great cake shops! 

This is the blog post I wrote when he died in 2021 - An appreciation of Wayne Thiebaud (1920 - 2021). I'll be writing more about him nearer the time of thre exhibition.

Wayne Thiebaud - American Still Life Exhibition

In summary he is one of the greatest and most original American artists of the 20th century. He is famous for being focused in particular on post-war modern American subjects - typically as still life objects. 

Cakes by Wayne Thiebaud (1920-1021)

This exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery will be the first ever museum show of his work in the UK. It will present Thiebaud’s remarkable, vibrant and lushly painted still-lifes of quintessentially post-war American subjects, from diner food and deli counters to gumball dispensers and pinball machines. These are the paintings with which Thiebaud made his name in the USA in the early 1960s.

The exhibition will feature rarely lent works from major museum collections in the USA as well as the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation.

These are my two books about Wayne Thiebaud - which I periodically salivate over.

For me he's an artist who is a luscious realist of the everyday - until you get up close and realise his artwork is also abstracted from reality and the artist relishes the media he used. More Wayne Thibaud: "This for you is my world to look at" (Making A Mark September 2019)

Thiebaud - delicious metropolis, the desserts and urban scenes of Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud 100 
the book produced to celebrate the 100th birthday of
"one of America's most loved and respected artists"

A second exhibition Wayne Thiebaud: Delights, will focus on the artists's eponymous 1965 portfolio of prints to appreciate Thiebaud as a draughtsman and printmaker.

In 1964, Wayne Thiebaud created a portfolio of 17 prints, entitled Delights, in which he returned to the favoured still-life motifs found in his paintings and which made his name in the early 1960s: ice cream cones, rows of cakes, gumball machines and many of the other objects of everyday American life. However, these subjects look very different rendered in print, on a small scale and in black and white. As Thiebaud told his publisher, ‘When you change something, you change everything.’ Thiebaud was keen to experiment with different techniques and media, and Delights was his first foray into printmaking, a technique he returned to throughout his long career.

Previous blog posts

• An appreciation of Wayne Thiebaud (1920 - 2021)
• More Wayne Thibaud: "This for you is my world to look at"
• Wayne Thiebaud working on etchings (video)

Tracy Emin became a Dame yesterday

Yesterday, Tracy Emin went to Buckingham Palace and came out with a nice award in smart box which signified she has become a Dame.

She actually received the honour - for services to the arts - in The King's Birthday Honours List in June 2024 - and yesterday was her investiture when she received her honour. 

Back in 2013, she had previously received the honour of being made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her contributions to the visual arts. Her career as an artist and latterly as a supporter of artists has lasted for over four decades.

Dame Tracy Emin - after receiving her

Did you know that anyone can nominate anyone for an honour - see Nominate someone for an honour or award

Following her close call with bowel cancer in 2020, she has revisited her purpose in life and has focused more on creating opportunities for others via her Tracy Emin Foundation, the Tracy Emin Art Residency and new studios she has created in Margate in Kent.

In addition to her artistic achievements, Tracey has made it her mission to support the next generation of artists. Through the Tracey Emin Foundation in Margate, she has created a hub for creativity and opportunity, providing resources, mentorship, and space for emerging talent to thrive.

Her work extends beyond art, demonstrating a deep commitment to fostering community and ensuring that art remains accessible and inclusive. Tracey’s foundation stands as a testament to her belief in the transformative power of creativity and the importance of nurturing new voices in the art world

This is a BBC World Service video made about her recently. It includes a tour of the Tracy Emin Studio.

From a rebellious star in contemporary art in the 1990s to receiving the title of Dame by King Charles for her service to the visual arts in 2024, Tracey Emin is an icon.

Below you can find links to recent activities.

Tracy Emin REFERENCE

Tracy Emin websites

• Tracy Emin Foundation
• Tracey Emin Art Residency
• Tracy Emin Studio | Instagram
• TKE Studios | Instagram - a professional artist studio, exhibition and lecture space in Margate, UK.
  

Biography

• Dame Tracy Emin RA | Royal Academy of Arts - includes a mini bio
• Tracy Emin | Wikipedia

Articles

Interestingly Emin gets relatively little press these days. In relation to the investiture, the BBC prioritised Anna Wintour being made a Companion of Honour for her services to fashion.

• The radical, ravishing rebirth of Tracey Emin: ‘I didn’t want to die as some mediocre YBA’ | The Guardian
• Tracey Emin leads a mutiny against the art schools by Waldemar Januszczak | The Times

Expressions in Blue: Monumental Porcelain by Felicity Aylieff

Last night I was at the PV for two NEW exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens:

• Expressions in Blue: Monumental Porcelain by Felicity Aylieff - reviewed below;
• Botanical Blues - a selection of botanical paintings from The Shirley Sherwood Collection in Gallery 6 - which will be reviewed shortly on my Botanical Art and Artist News Blog. This showcases works from botanical artists including Susannah Blaxhill, Jinyong Feng and Ursula Romero, depicting many remarkable plant species which can be found in Kew’s Living Collections.

About the Exhibition

This is the largest solo exhibition to date of monumental ceramics in made by Felicity Aylieff. 

It's certainly a "must see" for anybody interested un unusual approaches to creating porcelain, enamelled posts and BIG pots.

 

I gather the exhibition - which opened at the weekend has attracted large numbers very keen to see the monumental porcelain. 

It's certainly an exhibition quite unlike any other exhibition I've ever seen of ceramics.

Felicity Aylieff with her monumental Qing Hua porcelain pots

I'm somewhat surprised to see it at Kew Gardens - as opposed to the shrine of ceramic treasures which can be found in the Ceramics Collection on the sixth floor and other main galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

I gather the reason it's at Kew is because 

• the gardens allow some of the monumental pots to be located outside - and there are two huge ones right outside the museum (which I couldn't see last night in the dark) but you can see in my friend Laurence Hill's photosgraphs of the exhibits
• some of the pots have been decorated with patterns derived from plants and specifically paintings included in the Shirley Sherwood Collection of Botanical Art

I think overall I'd have preferred to see an emphasis by Kew in its marketing on the particular aspects of the exhibition which relate to plants - given that this is a Gallery of BOTANICAL Art - rather than being enticed by the huge monumental blue and white pots (see publicity image above) - nice as they are.

In other words, given the exhibition is at Kew and not the V&A, what's special about the ceramics in relation to plants?

Monumental 'Qing Hua' pots decorated with cobalt blue chloride
The people at the Private View give an indication of the size of the pots

It includes:

How to get a grant

This is by way of explaining why I'm a bit distracted at the moment.

I'm currently assessing - with others - applications from artists to an art society for some grant funding for very specific projects. 

This is going to take a bit of time....

In a past life, assessing grants - from tiny ones to humungous ones, was part of the seasonal routine of working life. Different sources of funding - for economic and social developments, a range of reasons why grants were available and different aims and objectives for giving out the funds.

There's a more than a few businesses running in London today which I recommended approval of an economic development grant for when they were just starting out. 

The team of people I worked with used to be much loved by central government because we were very good at our jobs. We could always be relied upon to do a robust assessment and make sure all applications had done their homework and got their costings right and had a decent project plan and timeline for delivery - and hence spent the money in the time period they said they would and produced the outcomes and the performance indicators to justify that expenditure. Which is how come we always got the unused funding from other councils to spend on our area. We always kept a list of organisations and projects which could spend more very fast at the end of the year.

There's an art to getting a grant. 

There are things you need to know about what to do - and what not to do.

I can always tell

• those who've made a grant application before; and  
• those who never have; and 
• those who have learned from previous mistakes and know what makes a difference.

It's always a joy to read an application which tells the story simply and clearly and shows the workings in a transparent and comprehensive way. You just know they understand how to make things happen.

Essentially, you need to:

• be specific and focused throughout
• tell them what they want to know i.e. respond precisely to the questions asked in a simple and clear manner 
• provide evidence that you've done your research
• demonstrate you know what's involved 
• justify your costs
• evidence how you've delivered before - and why you're a good prospect

In the past, I've had artists come to me and ask whether I'd cast an eye over their grant application. I'm always delighted to make suggestions and even more delighted when it helps them get their grant. Very often it's about making the writing simpler and easier to understand.

I do what I call "5 minute freebies" for people i.e. I can stop my life and spend 5 minutes in helping you. Or you can ask for more help....

I've been asked to consider doing a talk about the topic of "how to get a grant" next year and will probably do this - to help aspiring grant applicants to do better in future.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what help you need or you think artists need in making applications for grants and other forms of funding. I'll be highlighting this post on my Facebook Page - and will be inviting comments there.

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

So many things wrong with Oprah Winfrey's Portrait in the Smithsonian

I'm sure you are all familiar with the children's story of the Emperor's new clothes. Well I feel like I'm about to emulate the whistle blower.

This review of the new portrait of Oprah Winfrey in the Smithsonian comes in two parts:

• a list of the unfortunately high number of things I can find wrong with the portrait; and
• some straight facts about the commission, the sitter and the artist - because when all said and done somebody did go to a lot of effort - even if I really don't like it.

Before I go any further, let me say a few things.

I think Oprah Winfrey has achieved some remarkable things in her lifetime. As such she very definitely deserves a portrait in the Smithsonian. As described by the Smithsonian

As a global media leader, philanthropist, producer, actor, author, and entrepreneur, Winfrey has made significant contributions to American popular culture, which earned her a place in the National Portrait Gallery.

Whether it should be this particular portrait to deliver a place is another matter - discussed below.

I've personally always found Oprah interesting. I've watched a few of her programmes and some of the things she has written and have always found her interesting. I also admire what she has done in terms of building a commercial empire. I certainly don't dislike her - even if I'm not a fan of some of the company she keeps.

Oprah Winfrey (2023) by Shawn Michael Warren, 

oil on linen, 6 feet 10 inches by 5 feet 8 inches 

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

The painting depicts a self-assured and joyful Winfrey holding a sprig from an olive tree. Smithsonian press release

 

1. Let me count the problems.....

This review is coming from the perspective of somebody who has written a lot about portraiture over the last 18 years and has viewed excellent portraits by renowned portrait artists and knows and has known leading contemporary portrait artists.

It's also coming from somebody who is British born and bred and lives in London but comes from the north. Which means I tend to be rather direct and say what I mean rather than do a lot of fawning....

I wouldn't normally call out a portrait I don't like. But there was so much OTT fawning over this one on the American side of the Atlantic and so many people saying how wonderful it was, I thought it could maybe do with another perspective from across the pond. Just for balance you understand....

I do understand that what Americans think is good art is not necessarily what Brits might think of as good art - and vice versa. It's a cultural thing - which is sometimes nearly as big as the ocean that divides us. So my perspective is coming from my cultural background.

This list of what's wrong with the portrait has been helped by those commenting on my Facebook Page when the picture of the portrait was first published.

Plus some reflection over a few days....

My post on my Making A Mark Facebook Page.

I'm going to tackle a number of different aspects in turn.

Technical

This is not a portrait from life. How do I know? 

Cy Baker: solo exhibition of wildlife art

Cy Baker - winner of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2022
demonstrating his art in his solo exhibition of his artwork 
in the East Gallery of the Mall Galleries

There's no mention on the Mall Galleries website or the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation of the artwork being displayed by Cy Baker who won the Wildlife Artist of the Year Award in 2022 in the East Gallery of the Mall Galleries. 

It's even more odd given that when I visited on Tuesday, he had also sold all but one of his paintings and for not insignificant sums. 

Exhibition of paintings by Cy Baker - winner of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2022
in the East Gallery of the Mall Galleries

In fact, in terms of best selling wildlife art for significant sums this was where all the action was this week!

So below, is a short overview of Cy Baker and his artwork

This is a short video of how the exhibition came together at the Mall Galleries

You can see more of his solo exhibition at this link on his website.

Cy Baker - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2022.

Cy Baker was in the East Gallery, demonstrating how he creates his very effective paintings and I had a chance to talk with him and find out how he works and how he sells his paintings.

After winning David Shepherd’s Wildlife Foundations Wildlife Artist of the Year last year I chose to spend my winnings on visiting the project doing incredible work in Uganda. I was utterly blown away by the work being done to save these animals lives. All the work sold in this exhibition will have 50% of the sale money go directly to saving wildlife all over the globe.

His paintings

Cy Baker has been creating wildlife artwork on canvas using a biro and oil paint for c. 10 years.

• He first creates a gesso surface on the canvas incorporating a very weak solution of Titanium white to produce a light buff finish
• Then he uses a biro with lightfast ink to create a drawing on the canvas and a complete tonal pattern of his subject matter. He's stroking the biro onto the canvas and hatching where appropriate. It took some time to find a biro which worked well with canvas.
• He then uses weak solutions of Winsor and Newton Titanium White to enhance the 3D nature of his paintings. In effect he "cuts in" with the white after the drawing has been developed.

This video has Cy talking about he uses his biro to create the artwork and how he creates his compositions which are a very strong feature of his artwork

About Cy Baker

He studied scientific illustration at Southampton Institute and Blackpool and the Fylde College of Art in the 1990s after which he worked for about five years as a freelance illustrator. 

He then worked fulltime in Customer Services for 14 years before giving up his job in April 2015 to try and make it as a full time professional artist. 

He's succeeded in getting noticed, being selected for open/juried exhibitions and winning awards - and selling his artwork!

• Wildlife Artist of the Year: 
• Overall Winner – 2022, 
• Highly Commended – 2021, 
• Category Winner – 2019, 
• Finalist – 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2012
• Society of Graphic Fine Art: Dry Red Press Award – 2021
• Royal Society of Marine Artists – 2020
• Society of Wildlife Artists – 2019, 2013, 2011, 2006
• Marwell International Wildlife Art Society: 
• Best Bird in Exhibition – 2011
• Best in Exhibition – 2010
• Exmoor: Best in Exhibition – 2010 

How he sells his paintings

Cy has learned over the years how to sell artwork and how to make money (they're two different things!). He does not have a gallery and organises his own sales - and consequently has better control over his selling expenses.

• He attends a number of Art Fairs where he is now a regular exhibitor and where his artwork sells well
• He has a shop on this website where he sells original artwork, limited edition prints and open edition prints direct to customers
• He also works on commission and describes the process on his website

He's also providing different offers for different pockets - with 

• original artwork in different sizes
• limited edition prints
• open edition prints

Rather than having standard prices for specific sizes, he makes adjustments depending on the complexity of the work.

I'm a fan of his approach to creating consistent pricing and sales!

• He's progressed to his current prices over a number of years having found the market for his work and fans who love to buy his artwork. 
• He did NOT start out with a bang asking for a lot of money but rather found out prices worked in relation to generating consistent sales of his artwork. 
• He now raises his prices in small incremental changes over time. 

Like I said he's sold all but one painting within 24 hours of the exhibition opening. I think he's got it about right!

Subscribe to Making A Mark - and receive every blog post via email

You can find Cy Baker on his:

• Website https://cybaker.co.uk/
• Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/cybakerart (the banner is the piece which won him Wildlife Artist of the Year in 2022)
• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cy.baker/
• You Tube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@cybaker2367

Review: A Girl about Town by Rosa Sepple

Rosa Sepple PPRI seems to have settled on 50 paintings as a goodly number for a solo show. This is how many paintings she has in her latest exhibition "A Girl About Town" which is on at the new RWS Galleries at 3 Whitcomb Street (next to the National Gallery) in central London.

If you're an artist, I recommend you take a look at an exhibition by an artist who is renowned for having a very good track record in solo shows and sells lots of paintings!

If you're a collector, I recommend you take a look at artwork which is very different from most art you see in galleries and exhibitions.

Rosa Sepple and the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night (SOLD)

The exhibition has been organised by Adrian Hill Fine Art who has been selling Rosa's artwork to a very enthusiastic set of collectors for quite a while. He's one of those gallerists who's got a very good portfolio of artists he represents and others whose work he sells. The paintings are all presented extremely well using the same black frames which are used for all Rosa's paintings.

The exhibition at the RWS Whitcomb Galleries, 3 - 5 Whitcomb Street, London WC2H 7HA is on

• From:  Tuesday 12th - To: Saturday 23rd September
• Hours: 11am - 6pm daily (Saturday 23rd 11am - 2pm Only)

On Private View night I walked into a gallery with a LOT of red spots for sales already in evidence plus a number of green ones for those reserved prior to the collector visiting the show.

To date (14th September), after the exhibition has been open for 4 days she's sold 24 paintings of the 50 paintings with three more reserved. So basically she's almost certainly sold half the show with more than a week to go! 

In essence, it's art from the perspective of a young woman - with sparkle - with dreams about what might be! Rosa's paintings are very much uniquely hers.  For those who are interested, the subject matter sales split as follows:

• Party Girls
• Single women
• Couples 
• Landscapes (typically maritime and Venice)

However, aspects of Rosa's paintings do remind me of two artists who have been extremely popular in the UK:

• Beryl Cook - the fascination of things which rather larger middle aged women do - with various added fun components; and 
• the landscapes and narratives of LS Lowry with added whimsical components. 

Rosa Sepple is an artist who likes to paint narratives which tell stories or evoke feelings of "fun" and/or "feeling good". If your paintings can make others smile and feel good too, you can sell a lot of paintings! 

"Dance to the Music" by Rosa Sepple

Interestingly it also reminded me that, in general, I see very few paintings by women of things women like to do. Which is maybe a thought to ponder on for all the female artists out there. 

Personally, I like her larger narrative paintings with lots of people doing lots of things. They have the capacity to make me stop and look for a long time - in much the same way as LS Lowry paintings have done for many people in the past.

I also very much like her skills in the use of collage and frottage to give the paintings textural interest.

The Village Green by Rosa Sepple

Rosa makes it her practice to develop and hold a number of solo shows - in liaison with Adrian Hill - for her very unique subject matter and style which draws a number of avid collectors. It's not the sort of art you see in every gallery - you need somebody who believes in you and Adrian certainly does that. 

I have to highlight that it's not the sort of art I buy. The first time I saw her work - a long time ago in the RWS Open at the Bankside Gallery - I found myself saying to myself, in a fairly pompous huffy way, things like "But you're not allowed to put lots of glitter in paintings!" However I was VERY wrong!  Sparkle can sell paintings!

I now absolutely and totally get why her art is so popular with so many people. Many of the paintings remind me of parties I went to back in the 60s and 70s and people do like fun paintings!

Party Girls by Rosa Sepple in "A Girl About Town"

Party girls in the Basement Gallery

The exhibition also looks absolutely splendid in the brand new RWS Whitcomb Galleries (one on the ground floor and two more in the basement). It's looking very much like an excellent place to hold a solo show. (As somebody who is disabled, I also was very impressed with the lift and facilities for visitors)

I had to wait until the end of the Private View evening to get photos of the galleries without LOTS of people in front of the paintings.

Two Basement Galleries

One final point to ponder

PAOTY Blogging has started - within the new rules!

Normally we never see any blog posts from artists who have participated in the filming of Portrait Artist of the Year in April until after their episode is broadcast early next year.

However apparently the rules have changed - and at least one artist has now taken advantage of this.

The NEW RULES are

As part of the artist contract which you signed prior to taking part in the competition, we asked that you refrain from posting about your participation in the competition until the show airs later this year. We have since revised these guidelines so that you can post about your involvement in the online gallery.

Therefore, if you would like to post about being an artist on PAOTY series 10 and your subsequent participation in the online gallery, please feel free to go ahead. We ask only that you a.) Don't reveal the outcome of your heat or how well you or any other artists did, and b.) Don't share any images of the artwork you produced on the day.

These were communicated to me by Gail Reid who has obviously asked if she could write about about aspects of her artistic life - excluding what actually happened during the filming inside Battersea Art Centre, any images of the artwork and who won!

To date, she's published two blog posts

• Lights, camera, action! (July 2023)
• PAOTY STRATEGY, MATERIALS & DEMO (16 August 2023) - in which she focuses on 
• how to address the four hour time limit 
• provides a checklist of what she was using/doing at each stage during her test portrait 
• plus a video of the whole process of painting her son.

Gail is not giving the game away re outcomes - there are NO SPOILERS! However, 

• she is sharing LOTS of very useful information for anybody contemplating applying for Portrait Artist of the Year Series 11 
• I highly recommend if you are one of those you have a read AND watch the video!

Call for more blog posts on prep for television!

If anybody else is also blogging and would like to share their thoughts and preparation for avoiding making any big mistakes while being filmed for a television programme please do contact me.

More tips about PAOTY

For more tips from me about how to beat that four hour time limit 

• as used by past winners I might add - I know because they told me!
• see my reviews of past episodes of PAOTY on this blog (the link is to my PAOTY post label on this blog).

Call for Entries: ING Discerning Eye 2023

The ever popular ING Discerning Eye 2023 exhibition will be at the Mall Galleries from 17 to 26 November 2023, and online until the 31 December 2023.

The ING Discerning Eye annual exhibition is a show of small, domestic scale, works independently selected by six prominent figures from different areas of the art world: two artists, two collectors and two critics. (ING DE website)

• This post is about the call for entries for the 2022 Exhibition to be held at the Mall Galleries in November - and whats involved in submitting an entry or six!
• The deadline for entries to the 2023 ING Discerning Eye exhibition is Thursday 31 August 2023.

ING Discerning Eye 2022

What you need to know

The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition

The only restrictions on the exhibition are that 

• all artwork must all be for sale, 
• the artists must be UK based, 
• artwork must be small - the size of the work can have a MAXIMUM measurement of 50cm in any one dimension
• artwork is chosen by six different people - two artists, two collectors and two critics / people who have art-related occupation
• the artwork exhibited by each selector comes from artists favoured by the selectors and works selected from the open entry
• the selectors must choose at least 25% of their section from the open submission.

In 2023, the exhibition will be 

• on display at the Mall Galleries between 16th and 26th November. 
• plus a virtual gallery showcasing all the artists’ shortlisted works - with commentary and introductions by the selectors.

The Discerning Eye is a visual arts focused educational charity. 

• Its principal activity is to hold a rather unique annual exhibition 
• The Exhibition has been sponsored by ING since 1999 - and hence is known as the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition.

I'd like to start by applauding ING for their continued sponsorship of this open art competition / exhibition.

• ING has been supporting this exhibition every year since 1999!
• This makes it one of the longest corporate art sponsorships in the UK

At a time when art competitions are fast disappearing off the scene (Sunday Times Watercolour / Lynn Painter-Stainers / BP Portrait Award) it's really great to see a commitment to continued sponsorship.

The Selectors

Six Selectors

Once a year the organisers of the ING Discerning Eye exhibition invite six different people - two artists, two collectors and two critics / people who have art-related occupations - to select artwork to hang in the exhibition.

Hence it's not an open exhibition where you have to please all the Jury of Selectors - you only need to please one!

The duties of the selectors are to:

• invite artists they know or whose work they admire
• select artwork submitted via the open entry

Each selector's chosen artworks are hung in a dedicated area of the Galleries and hence you get a chance to see whether the selector has 

• a carefully curated or a very eclectic approach to what they like
• either embraces the open entry - or sticks very closely to the artwork they know and like with a minimum number of pieces chosen from the open entry

The 2023 Selectors are....

Two artists

• Chris Levine, Artist
• Julian Wild, Artist and Lecturer

Two art collectors

• Tony Adams, Former footballer and Collector
• Ian "H" Watkins, Singer and Collector

Two critics / people who have art-related occupation

• Peju Oshin, Critic, Curator, Writer and Lecturer
• Eliza Gluckman, Director, Government Art Collection

Small Works

The other aspect which is unique is that this is an exhibition about small artworks. Details below of what that means

Prizes

There are a range of prizes and in this era of disappearing art competitions, it's worth noting that some are valuable.

In 2023, the prizes are valued at £14,000 - including

• ING Purchase Prize, £5,000
• The Discerning Eye Founder’s Prize - in honour of Michael Reynolds, £2,500
• The Drawing Bursary Prize, £1,500
• The Discerning Eye Chair’s Purchase Prize, £1,000
• The Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize, £500
• Parker Harris Prize: one year’s subscription to The Art Ladder mentoring programme for artists, and two one-to-one mentoring sessions, worth £600
• The Discerning Eye Sculpture Prize, £300
• The Discerning Eye Cityscape Prize, £300
• The Discerning Eye Landscape Prize, £300
• The Discerning Eye Portrait Prize, £300
• The Discerning Eye Print Prize, £300
• Regional Prizes, 7 prizes of £250 each awarded to an outstanding entry from the national regions
• Tabish Khan’s Critic Purchase Prize, £200

Those who have not entered before

If you have not submitted before - or if you have submitted but not been selected, you can read more about past exhibitions and see the sort of artwork this exhibition attracts:

• in my past blog posts reviewing the exhibition (see end of this post)
• in the archive of exhibitions on the Discerning Eye website - which has digitised all past exhibited work in every year back to 1990!

Call for Entries: ING Discerning Eye 2023