All that glitters is not gold!

A thought struck me this morning as I pondered the racks of clothing items for sale - particularly the stuff with gold sequins sewn on! It struck me as very relevant to art as well. 

When you visit sales, what's on offer is very often all the items that didn't sell very well. 

Below were observations this morning - related to clothing. 

• all the very loud colours - the colours that you can spot from 50-100 feet away! Dayglo is an especially hard sell!
• all the really boring colours - the ones which make you disappear into 'neutral' walls (there was a wall of pale grey tops against a pale grey wall)
• anything which is too dominating (gold sequins anyone?)
• the very small sizes (they're often overly optimistic that the young things that are that size will shop in the same stores as me - and I'm 70!)
• the very big sizes (they still don't realise that while it's good to offer bigger sizes, it's stupid to do this for clothing that simply does not suit bigger people!)
• the special offer at a very high price - which never sold and still doesn't sell even thought they've halved the price
• too old fashioned / too contemporary - either end frequently do badly

Lots of gold sequins - UNSOLD!

Tips for Artists

If you think about it, this recipe for leftovers on the shop floor is not that dissimilar to the observations one might make at an end of an exhibition.

Very often, to make a sale you have to make people happy. They cannot walk away and ignore something they really like. I've lost count of the number of times I've thought "I would have bought that - too!" for items which have already got a red dot.

I find that what often gets left on the wall are:

"Look at me" artwork

• paintings in very bright and/or dayglo colours
• any subject matter which is very "look at me" - which is not what you want on most domestic walls because of the potential for headaches
• paintings which are far too big for most domestic settings

"Don't look at me"

• paintings which look very insipid because they are so muted
• paintings where you notice the frame more than the painting
• everything that's just plain boring (the opposite of "look at me")

Market and product prices - out of sync

• ALL the paintings which are overpriced
• ALL the paintings which are in the wrong exhibition / wrong location
• most of the paintings which looks the same as most of the other paintings i.e. they lack a clear and individual style which is attractive rather than outlandish

Next time you're in an exhibition

Here's what I do:

• walk round the exhibition
• note what has sold
• sit down and describe the characteristics of what has sold in simple visual terms + price

Next review what's left on the walls. 

• See if you can pick out the artwork which is very unlikely to sell to those that will see it.

FINALLY - Check back online after the exhibition has finished and see if your observations and assumptions match up with what has happened in reality.

I get very consistent patterns in most exhibitions I visit. 

Plus I also see lots of very good paintings which should be walking off the walls - but for the fact that the artist has not researched the market re pricing.

Call for Entries: UKCPS Annual Open International Exhibition 2023

This year's Annual Open Exhibition held by the UK Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS) will be held online opening on 1st August 2023.

Awards

There are a number of awards

• Best in Show: £500
• Second Best in Show : £250
• Best Pure Colour Pencil (no other media used) : £150
• Pat Heffer Award
• The Colour Pencil Shop Award
• People’s Choice: £100

Terms and Conditions of Entry

The call has gone out for submissions to the exhibition.

The deadline for entries is 15th June 2023.

Who can enter?

Any artist can enter this exhibition if 

• you are living
• aged over 18 years old
• you can be any age and live anywhere in the world. It's not limited to artists living in the UK. 

What can you enter?

You can enter up to five artworks. However, no more than two pictures per artist will be shown, irrespective of how many they enter

The artwork MUST be 

• original (concept, design and execution by the artist) 
• at least 50% colour pencil, 
• demonstrate compositional and drawing skills, 
• demonstrate the ability to use the medium of colour pencil. 
• Entries must not have been shown in any previous UKCPS exhibition.
• Each artwork must have a title

AND

• Each work submitted MUST comprise at least 50% dry colour pencil (i.e. wood-cased, and wax- or oil-based colour pencil, including watercolour pencil if used dry). This definition excludes pastel pencils. 
• The remaining 50% of the work may be in any other medium, including any water or solvent used.

Artwork is ineligible IF any one of the following apply:

• Any image produced by drawing over a digital reproduction. 
• Artwork executed in whole or part under instruction and/or in any teaching or workshop situation. 
• Any work copied from someone else’s photograph(s), even with their permission. 
• Use of an individual’s image without that individual’s permission, in accordance with UK privacy laws. 
• Any work shown in any previous UKCPS exhibition. 

By implication it can be an artwork which you have entered into another open exhibition and it was selected and exhibited. So, for example, this amazing work by Curtis Holder which I recently saw in the SGFA Exhibition at the Mall Galleries could be entered. It's also an example of a mixed media artwork.

copyright Curtis Holder 
Coloured Pencil over acrylic gouache

How to enter

You first need to read the detailed pdf about How to Enter - which is very clear and should answer all your queries.

After that, you can complete the online form (2023 Annual Exhibition) 

You will need images for each artwork entered. These must be

• JPG or PNG files only; 
• min. size 1MB, 
• max size 5MB.

Poorly presented images, especially those that are out of focus, badly lit or pixelated will affect your chances of success. Each entry will be judged on your submitted image(s) alone. It is therefore very important to represent your work as best you can

You can find advice and information for how to take a good photograph of your artwork on my Art Business Info. for Artists website - see How to photograph art - for Artists

Entry fees are as follows

• UKCPS Members: 1st entry free, additional entries £10 each 
• Non-Members: £20 per entry

All fees are non-refundable. Entries are not complete until payment has been received

Selection

The pictures to be exhibited are chosen by an independent selection panel, who will be asked to select works to produce a varied exhibition showing the full range of capabilities of the colour pencil medium. All submitted images will be presented to the selection panel anonymously. No personal data, including name, will be given during the selection. 

Why throw tomato soup at a Van Gogh painting?

Last Friday, two "activists" for Just Stop Oil threw a tin of tomato soup over the very famous painting of Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh which was hanging in the National Gallery.

Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland of Just Stop Oil at the National Gallery

© 2022 Just Stop Oil

Just Stop Oil supporters throw soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers to demand no new oil and gas.

Two supporters of Just Stop Oil have thrown soup over Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, as actions in the capital roll into the 14th day. They are demanding that the UK government halts all new oil and gas projects. [1]

The two women walked into the room in the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, in which the ‘Sunflowers’ is hung and at 11am threw the contents of two tins of Heinz Tomato soup over the painting which has an estimated value of $84.2 million. [2] Just Stop Oil Press Release

What's different about the new forms of extreme activism?

Sales from the Artist's Estate

This is about resources for those needing to think about the disposal of art from an Estate after the death of an artist and/or art collector.

Having lost my mother recently, I'm in that rather odd phase where you become super sensitive to all mentions of death.

This morning it was the passing of Bill Turnbull - and the shock of realising he was younger than me! 

Followed by looking at the Mall Galleries website to check the dates of an exhibition - and noticing that the first thing I see is a new section of their website about sales of art from Artists Estates. 

(It's on the home page at the moment - but it's unclear which section you can find it in future as there are two possible options)

This appears to be publicising a feature/service that a small number of deceased members of the societies which make up the Federation of British Artists enjoy. It's certainly NOT including artwork by every artist who has died. Many of course will have made alternative arrangements. But there is a selection of artists whose work continues to be available online.

It occurs to me there's scope to make this into a more developed aspect of the offerings by the Mall Galleries. 

• Almost every exhibition I go to has news of between one and three artists who have died in the past year. 
• This is in part because many of the members of the various artists which make up the nine national Art Societies which form the Federation of British Artists (FBA) which runs the Mall Galleries tend to be rather old.

It's also a well known fact that many artists

• tend to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to thinking about disposal of their art after their death
• AND are not very good at making arrangements in advance for the disposal of their art after their death. Who should do it - and how it should be done. 

It's one thing to appoint Executors - as we all do - but many artists also need a specific Executor appointed to handle their art.

I've been well aware of this issue of the Art Legacy for some time. Hence a major section on my Art Business Info for Artists website which covers this topic - of which more below.....

The Art Legacy | Art Business Info for Artists

How to describe art

There are various terms and phrases used to describe different approaches tp the development of artwork and working from life and subject matter. 

Below are my interpretations of what these mean.

"Working from life" 

Working from life is a practice deeply rooted in artistic traditions - before photography and projectors and other forms of technology were invented. 

It is commonly used to mean working with the subject in front of you whether it's a landscape, an interior, a still life or a person.

No photographs are involved, there is no tracing or projection of the subject. The artist has to sight size the subject and make judgements about values and colours using their eyes and the experience and skills they have developed through working from life. 

Bottom line - it's essentially about:

• developing your skills by drawing from life a lot and 
• then trusting your eyes and drawing and painting what is in front of you.

Practice helps enormously with developing skills. A number of artists routinely make a point of keeping sketchbooks and drawing something from life each day

Family Pets make useful subjects as they tend to sit around a lot - waiting to be drawn!
This is a very fast pen and ink sketch of my sadly departed cat Cosmo
It's informed by having drawn him many times before
- so that I know what the key lines which need to be included
(Pen and ink; Katherine Tyrrell)

"Plein Air Painting" 

"en plein air" is a French term. It's frequently used to describe painting from life in the open air and out of doors and away from the studio. Devoted plein air painters keep painting whatever the weather!

Artists Sketching in the White Mountains by Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
1868, oil on panel, 24.1 × 40.3 cm,
Portland Museum of Art

It's also sometimes used as a euphemism for painting nature and the natural world. 

It mainly developed during the nineteenth century. The practice of paintings landscapes 'on the spot' became possible as technology advanced and allowed artists to use tube paint - rather than paint in bladders.

There are 

• numerous groups of painters devoted to plein air painting around the world - and some periodically host exhibitions.
• individual painters who make a career and develop a reputation for painting landscapes plein air - and some even record the process on Instagram! (see below)

The sketching equivalent in towns and cities is called "Urban Sketching".

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Peter Brown (@petethestreet1)

Other references:

• There is a succinct glossary entry defining "plein air" on the Tate Gallery's website

The French term plein air means out of doors and refers to the practice of painting entire finished pictures out of doors

• En Plein Air | The Art Story - provides a good narrative about how it developed over time. 
• There's a good description of plein air painting and how it came about on the website of the Plein Air Painters of America. 
• British Plein Air Painters - a group of professional artists based in the UK that share a passion for painting outdoors, in front of the subject, and capturing the essence of their surroundings with freshness and energy.
• Plein Air Painter has an article about Pete Brown who's known for painting outside whatever the weather.   

Working from life INDOORS

Three ways to hang a picture

This is about three different ways to hang a picture - whether that's a painting, a drawing or a fine art print - and whether it's a small, medium or large artwork.

Hanging gear for hanging pictures
- photographed at Green & Stone

As I indicated in my last post during August I'm going to highlight previou posts which are useful and popular - or maybe less well known!

Today is about hanging artwork and the three posts I'm highlighting are:

• How to hang a picture - using D Rings focusing on two different approaches for different size and weight of picture
• How to hang a painting - using mirror plates which looks at:
• what a mirror plate is, 
• why use mirror plates and 
• how to attach them to a frame.
• How to hang a large or heavy picture - using heavy duty hanging hardware - which highlights the critical factors you need to know when hanging a heavy picture - which are:
• what weight the picture is
• what sort of hanging hardware is best for the job
• what sort of wall you are hanging it on.

I hope you find them useful.

You can also find more about How to hang a picture in the Framing section of my Art Business Info for Artists website

How to list artwork dimensions

Which way round should the dimensions of artwork be listed when providing information about an artwork (i.e. drawings / paintings / prints)

Height and then width OR width and then height?

There appear to be a diversity of views. My own personal view is that it should always be height and then width.

One of my personal missions in life is to persuade all art competitions and open exhibitions to get their forms right and list the dimensions the right way round! Hence this post!

So I decided to take a look to see if I could prove I was correct - having been irritated, yet again, by seeing artwork on a website with the dimensions listed (in my opinion) "the wrong way round"!

I looked for sources of information from:

• leading art galleries and museums
• reputable websites

HOWEVER I also found that there was a different perspective in the graphics and digital image / photography world!

So the answer is "it depends on what your are measuring" BUT 

• if you're measuring artwork then there is only one right answer!
• it's different if you're measuring photographs!

According to Art Galleries and Museums

It's height then width and then depth.

I'm listing below the art galleries and museums which were reviewed - with artwork inspected on a random basis. Plus I'm including some images from those websites to prove what I'm saying!

Basically I stopped looking after the National Galleries of the UK and USA plus the Louvre in Paris. I've no doubt there may be some cultural dissension on this matter in places where people read from right to left - but I'm only trying to persuade the organisers of juried exhibitions in the West to get it right. I've not gone for global domination - yet! ;)

Dimensions at the National Gallery (London) - height first and then width
A Young Woman Standing at A Virginal by Johannes Vermeer
51.7cm x 45.2cm

Height first - then width

• National Gallery (London)
• National Gallery of Art (Washington)