Making A Mark still in Top 10 Art Blogs

I recently found out that Making A Mark is still in the top 10 of a list of art blogs from all over the world

Specifically they are #5 in the 60 Best UK Art Blogs and#10 in the 100 Top Art Blogs according to Feedspot. 

Not quite sure how they work out the rankings either and not quite sure how this happened but I'm happy that it did. 

Although I was #5 in the Vuelio's Art Blogs UK Top 10 in 2022

60 Best UK Art Blogs - according to Feedspot

The best UK Art blogs curated and ranked based on multiple factors, including content relevancy, subject expertise, posting frequency, and freshness of content. Blogs with highest credibility within the UK Art space are ranked higher. This list is updated regularly to ensure it reflects the most active, influential, and valuable UK Art blogs on the internet today.

In the 60 Best UK Art Blogs to Follow in 2026, Making A Mark ranks 5th!

5. Making a Mark

+ Follow Blog
Description A top art blog for artists and art lovers: news about major art competitions and exhibitions, interviews with artists, techniques and tips for art and business
Email ****@gmail.com
Location London, England, United Kingdom
Facebook 12.5KTwitter 3K Domain Authority 46

100 Best Art Blogs- according to Feedspot

The same principles apply in relation to how different sites rank within the 100 Best Art Blogs to Follow in 2026 - where Making A Mark is ranked 10th.

10. Making a Mark 

+ Follow Blog
Description A top art blog for artists and art lovers: news about major art competitions and exhibitions, interviews with artists, techniques and tips for art and business
Email ****@gmail.com
Facebook 12.5KTwitter 3K Domain Authority 46

This is despite a reduced level of posting in recent times due to the facts that:

• I got to 70 and decided if I was ever to retire I needed to make more time for me. This is despite the fact I took early retirement (knowing that severe osteoarthritis was a racing certainty for me) back in 2005 and started this blog a few months later
• I now need to walk a decent amount every single day to stop me from seizing up. I average between 5,000-6,000 steps
• Periodically I have to get ready for and recover from surgery. Like I said I always knew osteoarthritis was in my future. I didn't quite factor in the time needed for surgery!
• Not to mention other health hiccups. I was told I need an urgent MRI this morning! They're going to see if they can fit it in before surgery next month.

Although I do fewer posts now I do seem to get better audiences for the ones I do.

For the record, other art blogs "from the old days" also ranked as follows in all Art Blogs

1. Artsy

3. ARTnews

13. Artwork Archive Blog

14. Jackson's Art Blog

16. Artnet

23. Lines and Colors

24. Parka Blogs

26. Gurney Journey

38. Art Biz Blog

39. Art Marketing News Blog

40. Xanadu Gallery - Red Dot Blog

41. Artsy Shark

Note: I do find these inventories of blogs to be very useful. If you look at the Feedspot Instagram, you can see all the other categories which are ranked.

About Wally Torta - and what happened next

Of late, I've taken to wondering about people who were a big part of my blogging life back when I began.

One such is Walt Taylor aka via his various nom de drawing plumes "Wally Torta" and "Crackskull Bob" and "Reuben Fletcher"

Those who were around all the good drawing blogs back in the early days of blogging will remember him. He was one of the very best when it came to drawing people and encouraging others to do the same. He was also hugely innovative in terms of using various media and he very much engaged with everything possible in digital terms.

Walt Taylor drawing people in his Drawing Group (see below)

I've been wondering why I've seen so little of him of late - and now I have the answer (although I'd more or less guessed what was happening)

It's made me realise how old I'm getting and how long ago it was when I started out on my blogging journey. 

In full it says (on this post on his Walt Taylor Facebook Page - where you can read the many comments by his friends.

Lest we forget: Karin Jurick

There's just a few artists who are highlighted in my calendar - to remember the anniversary of their death. Karin Jurick is one such.

Karin Jurick died three years ago on the 16th June 2021 age 60.  It was a very big shock - we'd known each other for about 14 years and I still miss her.

While we were not close friends - she lived in Georgia in the US and I live in London - she was very much a blogging chum. She and I started blogging more or less at the same time. I followed her and she followed me and we built our followings together. We were both fans of each other's blogs and we conversed via email from time to time - when time allowed! Like very many people all over the world I used to follow all her blog posts and paintings - particularly those of artists with paintings in galleries - which you can still see on her blog.

She was also a regular featured artist in my annual Making A Mark Awards (see below) - as I adored her paintings of people with paintings.

I can do no better than refer you to the blog post I wrote back in June after I found out about her death About Karin Jurick (d. 2021)

These are links to Karin Jurick and her artwork

• https://karinjurick.blogspot.com/
• https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/atlanta/name/karin-jurick-obituary?id=20696548
• https://www.invaluable.com/artist/jurick-karin-pe3a96j8r6/sold-at-auction-prices/
• https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/karin-jurick-1074

What next for Feedburner email subscriptions?

On April 14, 2021, Google announced that Feedburner would be losing its email subscription service. Which means that my regular email to those who have subscribed with the latest blog post title and the first 200 characters of the blog post will be no more....

If you’d like to continue using email subscriptions after the June transition, we recommend downloading email subscriber data so that you can migrate your subscribers to a new email subscription service. This data will also be available for download after the transition.

I'm absolutely sure I'm not the only regular Blogger and Feedburner user wondering what to do about a replacement.

[Note: Apparently Google intends to remove all non-core functionality and make it maintenance only - which conflicts with what they're saying re. the removal of the email subscriptions - because that's the only reason I used it - that and the fact it's free!]

Feedburner email subscriptions stop in July 2021

Switching to an alternative for Feedburner email subscriptions

What I want to do is migrate to a Feedburner alternative which

• Provides me with a free service (like Feedburner)
• Allows me to import all existing validated emails from Feedburner
• Allows a subscription for RSS Feed to email subscription option (i.e. replace what I've got at present)
• Works with all existing RSS services (like Feedburner) - for those who like to read blogs in Feedreaders (like Blogger's Reading List)
  
• Gives me some basic statistics. (I have other services which provide me with in-depth stats. All Feedburner tells me is how many subscribers opened the emails).
  

I'm still trying to work out what to do about the imminent (in July) demise of the Feedburner email to all those who have subscrived to date. 

I've actually got so many subscribers that it very definitely makes some alternatives rather expensive - and I'm running a blog NOT a business!

Some Issues

 

Email marketing is targeting ecommerce not blogger

Most of the email subscription marketing options are set up to provide an "occasional newsletter / marketing via email" facility for those who have websites and want to communicate with their followers from time to time

i.e. they're set up for ecommerce operations and not for bloggers

You know when you're dealing with one of these when:

• EITHER there's a limit on 
• the number of subscribers
• the number of feeds
• the number of emails you can send in a month
• OR you have to pay a charge - - which can mount up - to enable you to carry on as at present.

Another thing - not everybody opens their email

Why should I pay for people who do not open their emails?

As we well know, people are apt to sign up for email subscriptions - and then don't bother validating them and/or reading the emails. I certainly do NOT want to pay for a service which is charging me for those who have subscribed but do not bother to open their emails.

For me this is all the more reason to find a good quality basic service - or a very cheap one.

One more thing - migrate or sign up again?

I could migrate all current subscribers - BUT..... there's a bit of me which would quite like to get people to sign up all over again. That way I will know what the number of 'real subscribers" are.

Or maybe I should just use Twitter more to signal new posts

I already announce everyone via my FB Page....

 

Possible contenders

Below I tell you about my favourite option(s) to date 

There's also a summary of some Feedburner Email Subscription Alternatives - plus a link to a post which includes a very useful tabulation to help you decide.

After 17 million pageviews!!!

I missed the moment this week when the counter ticked over and Making A Mark got its 17 millionth page view

 

17 million pageviews means that this art blog - Making A Mark - which I started on 13th December 2005 (see below), and then went public, after 4 "try out" posts, in January 2006 -  is now averaging over a million pageviews a year.

My very first blog post on Tuesday 13th December 2005

 

It's also been repeatedly recognised as one of the best art blogs around. That might be partly due to the fact it's one of the few which have kept going for the last 15 years!  So much content has moved to other media channels - especially if they are picture oriented with very little text. It's almost as if blogging has died - and yet it remains popular with a lot of readers.

Suffice to say, I still enjoy writing and doing rather more in-depth pieces which won't fit in a tweet or an Instagram post or whatever.

While I write fewer posts (I stopped my habit of regularly writing one blog post a day a while back), I'm still keen to keep the blog going even though it's now a teenager.

However, I am thinking of whether I want to change it and, if so, how.....

Tomorrow - I'm writing about a possible successor to Feedburner

One change I have to make is deal with the upcoming major changes to Feedburner - which I use for email subscriptions

Given the imminent demise of the Feedburner email service in July 2021, tomorrow I'm going to be writing about WHAT NEXT? for those 

• who are currently Feedburner EMAIL subscribers
• fellow bloggers also using Feedburner for their email subscriptions.

I think I've found a viable option which won't break the bank and has a viable free option.....

Making A Mark is a Top 10 art blog in 2021 - again!

Making A Mark has again been named one of the Top Ten Art Blogs in the UK in 2021.

Which means I get to put a new image in the side column of this blog to indicate this

 

The Top Ten Art Blogs

I record the blogs which get listed each year - mainly because the URL stays the same and hence the listing is lost

You can see from the art blogs that there are a lot which have stayed the same and ......

• a number have been around for a very long time - and we've all been in this listing together for ages!
• there is a distinct bias towards street art
• there is a preponderance of team blogs - and I've indicated below which are solo efforts and which are team blogs

Vuelio uses a proprietary algorithm to create these rankings, based on topic-related content in blogs on its system – you can read more about the process here. 

 For the record, the top ten art blogs in 2021 are listed below:

1. StreetArtNews (TEAM BLOG) - Urban art for "art geeks". This blog has been around since 2009.  I've always thought of this one as a team blog -  I think the giveaway is that Rom Levy is described as Founder & Editor-in-Chief 
2. Jackson's Art Blog (TEAM BLOG) - I always highly recommend this blog for all those interested in art materials and techniques with art materials. This is a team blog and its most regular writers are Julie Caves, Clare McNamara and Lisa Takahashi - with contributions with other occasional writers
3. We Make Money Not Art (SOLO BLOG) written (somewhat irregularly) by Régine Debatty - and which seems to have been around forever. 
4. Art Plugged (moves up one place) - a contemporary online platform which features art news from across the globe and interviews with artists.  Basically you can't read the posts unless you register and join the Art Plugged Community. It's one way of driving up subscriptions. Unclear whether it's solo or a team, effort but it's definitely commercially driven.
5. Hookedblog (SOLO BLOG moves up one place) - Created by Mark Rigney in 2005 and focused on the street art scene
6. ArtWeb Blog (TEAM BLOG)  says it's "For Aspiring And Professional Artists On The Internets".  Basically a front end for selling artist websites. However it does have useful content for those trying to develop online marketing. 

7. 

   Making A Mark (i.e. me) at an exhibition

   MAKING A MARK (SOLO i.e. Just me! ;) Except I started it in 2006, and since then it has received over 5.4 million visitors and 16.8 million page views - from visitors from all over the world.  I'm always absolutely amazed at the number of people it reaches. 40% of visitors come from the UK, 25% from the USA and the remainder from the rest of the world. Mainly focused on the UK but lots of content is more generic and applicable to artists all over the world.  I've got used to people who recognise me and stop me in the street when I'm walking to and from an art exhibition in London - despite the fact I post very few full face pics of myself!! I'm very struck by how pedestrian my blog design is compared to others - but it works for me....
8. Inspiring City (SOLO BLOG) - another covering the urban / street art scene set up by Stuart Holdsworth in 2012. He also does podcasts
9. Scribblah (SOLO BLOG) - Selling artwork from a blog. Rose Davies describes herself as: ‘artist, printmaker, scribbler, ageing headbanger, feminist, activist, mad-cat-woman, cake-maker, accidental-archaeologist, mud-wrangler, wild, Welsh and opinionated’ - so more than just about art!
10. The Primary Art Class (SOLO BLOG) - I think Emily Gopaul's blog is a wonderful idea and will doubtless be invaluable to all primary school art teachers - and parents!

A number of these have been in the top ten for a long time. I get that's the payoff for being persistent in our blogging!

REFERENCE:

• Making A Mark is a Top 10 UK Art Blog - again! (2020)
• I'm in the spotlight! - profile of me in 2017
• Making A Mark is a Top 10 Art Blog in the UK 2017

Making A Mark is a Top 10 UK Art Blog - again!

I got a nice note from Vuelio this week saying they'd run their algorithm to update their Top Ten Listing of Art Blogs in the UK for 2020 and my blog Making A Mark had made the top 10 yet again.

Currently at #4 in the Top 10, this is the write up Making A Mark got.

A big mover, up five places, MAKING A MARK is for artists and art lovers, and contains news about major art competitions and exhibitions, interviews with artists, techniques and tips for art and business. With a live pageview and visitor count, you know you’re in good company alongside the millions of other readers who have visited the blog since it was created by Katherine Tyrrell back in 2006.

Vuelio have been ranking blogs since 2008. The ranking is calculated according to an ever-evolving algorithm - you can see an explanation in this post. 

The methodology takes into consideration a vast number of factors including social sharing, topic-related content, post frequency, engagement, social media influence, traffic and interactivity.

The benefits of the rankings are various - for Vuelio, their clients and bloggers at large in that they

• set a benchmark for the blogging industry 
• serve as a resource for Vuelio's clients who are primarily in the PR and communications sector.
• allow Vuelio to demonstrate the power, strength and reach of its blogger database and research facilities 
• strengthens their relationship with bloggers. 
• generate traffic for the Vuelio website.

The Top Ten Art Blogs

For the record, the top ten art blogs are listed below:

1. StreetArtNews - which has been around since 2009. 
2. Jackson's Art Blog - which I highly recommend for all those interested in art materials and techniques with art materials. Its most regular writers are Julie Caves, Clare McNamara and Lisa Takahashi. Some of you may remember the latter as the wildcard winner in the Landscape Artist of the Year semi-final in 2018.
3. We Make Money Not Art written (somewhat irregularly) by Régine Debatty - and which seems to have been around forever. 
4. MAKING A MARK - enough said! ;) Except I started it in 2006, and since then it has received over 5.2 million visitors and 16 million page views - from visitors from all over the world. I'm always absolutely amazed at the number of people it reaches. Almost as much as the number of people who recognise me when I'm walking to and from an art exhibition in London - given I post very few pics of myself!!
5. Art Plugged (new entry) - a contemporary creative gallery with a blog which I think will appeal to the younger emerging artist. 
6. Hookedblog - Created by Mark Rigney in 2005 and focused on the street art scene
7. ArtWeb Blog - a blog which is related to an online website for artists. The blog has been around for some time and contains useful content. 
8. Inspiring City - another covering the urban / street art scene set up by Stuart Holdsworth in 2012.
9. The Primary Art Class - I think Emily Gopaul's blog is a wonderful idea and will doubtless be invaluable to all primary school art teachers - and parents!
10. Scribblah - Rose Davies describes herself as: ‘artist, printmaker, scribbler, ageing headbanger, feminist, activist, mad-cat-woman, cake-maker, accidental-archaeologist, mud-wrangler, wild, Welsh and opinionated’ - so more than just about art!

A number of these have been in the top ten for a long time. I get that's the payoff for being persistent in our blogging!

REFERENCE:

• I'm in the spotlight! - profile of me in 2017
• Making A Mark is a Top 10 Art Blog in the UK 2017

I'm in the spotlight!

Vuelio recently rated my blog as one of the 10 top art blogs in the UK and has now also done a blog post about me.

See BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: KATHERINE TYRRELL, MAKING A MARK

As it says

In this spotlight, Katherine chats to us about how she measures the success of her blog, how she likes to work with PRs, and how she uses social media to promote the content on her blog.

I'm really not at all used to having two "much larger than I would normally use" photos of myself in a blog post. You can have too much of a good thing! ;)

Can I go back to blogging in my PJs now?

See also Making A Mark is a Top 10 Art Blog in the UK 2017

Making A Mark is a Top 10 Art Blog in the UK 2017

Making A Mark has been identified (yet again) as a TOP 10 ART BLOG IN THE UK.

This time the company giving my blog this award are called Vuelio and they are marketing/PR/communications company who realise the importance of blogs to connecting with specific target audiences.

This company's Social Media Index has Making A Mark ranked at 6 in the UK.

6. Making a MarkAuthored by artist and writer Katherine Tyrrell, Making a Mark is one of the top art blogs with 10 million page views. Described as a go-to for punters and artists alike, this blog includes annual itineraries of major UK art exhibitions as welll as in-depth news, analysis and spotlights on new talent.

How Vuelio ranks blogs 

This page explains How does Vuelio decide its Top 10 Blog Ranking - for very many different categories of topics.

Basically:

• they've been doing this since 2008
• it's calculated according to an ever-evolving algorithm
• The methodology takes into consideration a number of factors including social sharing, topic-related content, post frequency, social media influence, traffic, design and interactivity.
• "Our database is constantly updating, as it draws on real-time information about media properties and the influencers responsible for them"

I'd love to know what they're using as factors. The two other indices which rate Making A Mark both publish their factors - and one of them identified relative rankings (even if it gets it wrong for MAM because it uses the Alexa ranking for the blogspot.com site as opposed to the blogspot.co.uk site - because it assumes all sites are American!  VERY annoying!). Some time I may consider switching the domain URL to a .com - it would make a huge difference to rankings!

However to be honest while the awards are nice to have, it's always nicer to get the personal words of appreciation - and to see the traffic numbers and know how many people think my blog is worth visiting.

The Top 10 Art Blogs in the UK

Do take a look at the other art blogs which also made it to the top ten.  The ones I rate as art blogs are:

• Jackson's Art Blog - they really make an effort and are an excellent example of how a retailer can do so much more than punt their wares
• Art History News - this is the blog by Bendor Grosvenor who's the chap who turns up on the BBC and does techie things with paintings which they are trying to identify and verify. he also knows a lot about art history and what's new in that area of interest.
• We make money not art - This blog has been around slightly longer than Making A Mark! It's had a very snazzy makeover since I last looked. It's an occasional read for me but it's more interesting than most although I have to pick and choose the things I want to read. It's written by Régine Debatty who is a writer, curator and critic and an an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art in London.

My criticism of the Vuelio listing generally (which I've already told them) is that:

• it is far too London-centric and urban/street art oriented 
• there are lots of other blogs around which reflect a more diverse perspective on art in the UK. 

It may be that the street/urban art blogs get massive followings from young oiks with a spray can - but art fundamentally is defined by more than the number of Facebook or Twitter followers you have!

Indie vs Corporates: What's interesting is how many blogs are written by individuals and how many are written by corporate bodies and/or teams.  My personal thought on that topic is that blogs written by individuals should ALWAYS be judged separately from those written by teams.

Let's hear it for the indie effort!

So which blogs do you read which are based in the UK?

Wish 'Lines and Colours' a Happy 10th Birthday

There are a very few art blogs which I have followed consistently in the last 10 years. One of them is Charley Parker's fantastic 'Lines and Colors'. It's a really class act!

The header for the Lines and Colors art blog - note the quotes!

There are very few people on the Internet who write with enthusiasm and real knowledge about an enormous variety of artists and illustrators past and present.

Charley writes about illustration from the 19th to the 21st centuries and art history generally with authority - and amazing links.  He really knows his stuff.

The only other blogger who comes close to him in terms of the contribution to art education is James Gurney (Gurney Journey) - but James tends to write shorter posts and to have a more practical oriented blog - awesome as it is.  They complement each other very well.

The Lines and Colors archive - accessed via the timeline archives in the left hand column in desk-top view - is truly amazing. Very little of it is time-specific (except when he is writing about exhibitions) so you can delve through the months and years of the last decade and come up with masses of material to inspire and educate.  Or alternatively focus on his categories (also in the left hand column) and learn about Drawing or Pen & Ink or Vision and Optics or Watercolor and Gouache or Webcomics etc.

I know I've found out about masses of artists for the first time on Charley's blog.

This is why he does it

When I was 10 or so, I came across some paperback reprints of the EC Mad comics from the 1950’s. These irreverent, hilarious comics, written by comic genius Harvey Kurtzman and maniacally drawn by Wally Wood, Will Elder and Jack Davis, popped the top off my impressionable little brain, and both my eyes and my world got significantly wider. (Those early Mad comics were outrageous, subversive and outside the mainstream in a way that’s hard to describe now. They were the visual equivalent to early Rock n’ Roll. See my post on Wally Wood.)


It was my first delicious “Wow, there’s a whole other world out there I didn’t know about!” moment (and what made me want to draw comics).


Moments like that have happened again as I’ve been dazzled by the discovery of new artists or genres that have sparked my imagination: mid ’60s Marvel superhero comics, late ’60s underground comics, the classic illustrators and pen-and ink artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (particularly the Brandywine school), old master drawings, Dada, Surrealism, Impressionist painting, early 1900’s newspaper comics, 19th century academic painting, European comics, Chinese ink painting, Japanese Anime, digital concept art… – every one a revelation and a new world.


It’s my delight in that feeling of wide-eyed discovery that has prompted me to create Lines and Colors in August of 2005.


I’m not a critic. In fact, I may be more of an anti-critic. I’m only writing about things I like. It’s my hope that I can introduce you to some visual art gems that you may not be aware of, or perhaps tell you something you didn’t know about someone or something you’re already familiar with. (And maybe you can do the same for me.)

I hope, if he isn't already, that he's on the curriculum reading list for every illustration course.

I just wish he'd do a post about how he does that with the images! ;)

If you can spare a moment and have ever appreciated his work, can I suggest you leave him a comment today.
________________

I'm celebrating the 10th birthday of Making A Mark at the end of the year. I guess I'm going to have to decide which date I'm going for - the birth or when I went public and revealed I was blogging!

Generating Art - The Making A Mark Art Blog Awards 2013

This is the first post in The Making A Mark Art Blog Awards 2013 to announce who has won an award this year.

The Making A Mark Awards are for Art Blogs and for blogging about art on art blogs.

A year of transition

This year seems to be a period of transition!

What's very clear is that during 2013 fewer people have been keeping up with their blogs compared to times past and fewer people have been visiting blogs to comment.  So we've seen:

• fewer blog posts, 
• less visits to art blogs (although changes in the Google algorithm certainly affected stats re. visits), and 
• people reading fewer blog posts (the loss of Google Reader has been significant). 

At the same time I'm also seeing evidence of people working out a clear social media strategy for displaying their art which involves their blogs alongside websites and a presence on social media sites and vlogging (video blogging).

What I need to do is work out whether I continue to limit these awards in future to just art blogs or take on board the wider social media aspects as well.  Time will tell - I've certainly not made any decision as yet.

The Generating Art category 

There are three awards in this category - all associated with  with making, displaying and exhibiting art.

• The Best Art Blog Project Virtual Challenge Cup
• The Best Art Society Blog Prize
• The Showcase Shield (which replaces The Painting A Day Stickability Shield )

First however there is a an announcement of a retirement - and it marks the end of an era.

Generating Art 2013 - Making A Mark Art Blog Award Nominations

This is the 8th year of the Making A Mark Art Blog Awards. 

YOU can nominate which art blogs YOU think are excellent 

and which art blogs influence YOU

My aim is to work with YOU to identify:

• EXCELLENCE in blogging about art and artists; and 
• the art blogs which set HIGH STANDARDS 
• the art blogs which are the MOST INFLUENTIAL.

This post and the next three posts on Making A Mark invite nominations relating to the categories which you can now see at the top of the right hand column.

First how to nominate - and then the three awards in the category of GENERATING ART.

Nominate an art blog for a Making A Mark Award

It's very simple! Basically all you need to do is leave a comment on the relevant post.

• WHICH AWARD: 
• Identify the title of the Making A Mark Award that you want your nominee to be considered for
• Leave a comment on the post on this blog which invite nominations for that award - BEFORE 29th December 2013
• WHICH BLOG:  Tell me
• the name of the blog, its URL (eg "The Art Blog" http://theartblog.blogspot.com) and
• the name of the blogger (Note:  art bloggers are not eligible for any award that they have won in the last three years)
• WHY:  Say WHY you think this blog should be considered for a Making A Mark Award.

Your nominations will be added to my list of those I think are worthy of consideration.  I'll then share the final shortlist with you when the results are announced.

The Making A Mark Awards will be announced on the 29th and 30th December.
Note:  All nominees and nominators are linked to both from this blog and my main website page where all the past awards and nominees are listed

So over to you - who do you think merits being nominated for the three awards below? Answers as a comment on this post please.

GENERATING ART

Today I'm looking at nominations for three awards relating to generating art

• The Showcase Shield (replaces "The Painting A Day Stickability Shield")
• The Best Art Blog Project Virtual Challenge Cup
• The Best Art Society Blog Prize

Leave a comment on this post (see above) nominating the art blog you think should get one of these awards in 2013.

Generating Art - Making A Mark Art Blog Award Nominations 2012

The aim of the Making A Mark Art Blog Awards is to identify:

• excellence in blogging about art and artists; and 
• the art blogs which set high standards and are the most influential.

I started these awards in 2006 so that the efforts of artists and others who are blogging about art could be valued and recognised.

YOU can nominate which art blogs YOU think are excellent and which art blogs influence YOU. For the last three years I've asked all the readers of Making A Mark and the wider community of art bloggers to nominate the art blogs that they think are the best - in different categories

I've been keeping a note of the art blogs which have "made a mark" on me during the course of 2012 but I also really want to hear from all of you as to the blogs have had an impact on you.

This post and the next three posts on Making A Mark invite nominations relating to the categories which you can see at the top of the right hand column.

First how to nominate - and then the three awards in the category of Generating Art.

Nominate an art blog for a Making A Mark Award

It's very simple! Basically all you need to do is leave a comment on the relevant post.

• WHICH AWARD: 
• Identify the title of the Making A Mark Award that you want your nominee to be considered for
• Leave a comment on the post on this blog which invite nominations for that award - BEFORE 29th December 2012
• WHICH BLOG:  Identify
• the name of the blog, its URL (eg "The Art Blog" http://theartblog.blogspot.com) and
• the name of the blogger
• (Note:  art bloggers are not eligible for any award that they have won in the last three years)
• WHY:  Say WHY you think this blog should be considered for a Making A Mark Award.

Artists who have won an award in the last three years are not eligible to be nominated for the same award.

I'll collate all your nominations and comments in relation to each award and consider alongside those blogs which I have in mind as being worthy of consideration.  I'll then share the shortlist with you when the results are announced.

The Making A Mark Awards will be announced on the 29th and 30th December. Note:  All nominees and nominators are linked to both from this blog and my main website page where all the past awards and nominees are listed

So over to you - who do you think merits being nominated for the three awards below? Answers as a comment on this post please.

GENERATING ART

Today I'm looking at nominations for three awards relating to generating art

• The Painting A Day Stickability Shield
• The Best Art Blog Project Virtual Challenge Cup
• The Best Art Society Blog Prize

Leave a comment on this post (see above) nominating the art blog you think should get one of these awards in 2012.

Best Pictures and Best Art Blogs 2012 - a review

Welcome to the start of my SEVENTH END OF YEAR REVIEW of top art blogs, top artwork and the art economy!

This is my 'master plan' post which keeps me on track and focuses on the arrangements and timeline for nominations, voting and announcements relating to:

• The MaM Award for Best Picture on an Art Blog - across 4 categories
• The Making A Mark awards for Top Art Blogs - across 4 categories

Plus dates for my own personal end of year review of what happened to art in 2012 and what I've been getting up to.

UPDATE: Shortcuts to the posts inviting nominations for the various awards are posted at the top of the right hand column

The Making A Mark Art Blog Awards 2012 

- Best Picture on an Art Blog

Nominations

This Saturday 8th December I will post four separate posts on this blog.

These will invite you to nominate the BEST PICTURE in the different categories associated with the Making A Mark Art Blog Awards.  

These are as follows:

• Best Portrait / Figures - portrait of a single person (or animal) or group or an artwork which is predominantly figures
• Best Landscape / Interior - an artwork which is about a place - urban or rural, land or sea or sky, inside or out
• Best Still Life - contrived or found, a narrative or an accident, large or small
• Best Nature - botanical, natural history or wildlife

Do not write to me yet! To submit a nomination you will need to leave a comment on the relevant blog post once it's published on Saturday.

VOTING: The Making a Mark Prize for Best Picture on an Art Blog 2012

On Monday 24th December I will post the nominations received for the following Making A Mark Awards

• The MaM Prize for best rendition of person or persons
• The MaM Prize for the best portrayal of a place
• The MaM Prize for best still life
• The MaM Prize for best celebration of nature

The Short List for each category will be posted on Wednesday 26th December 

You will then be invited to vote - after Christmas - on the shortlist of candidates for best artwork in the different categories. 

The voting

• starts on Wednesday 26th December
• closes a minute after midnight on Sunday 30th December

The Best Picture in each category - plus the runners up - will then be announced on Monday 31 December 2012.

The Overall Winner of the Making A Mark Best Picture of 2012 on an Art Blog is also announced in the same blog post.

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The Making A Mark (MaM) Awards - Best Art Blogs 2012

Below you can see the previous winners of The Making A Mark Awards for the Best Art Blogs.  I'm sure you will agree that the names of those who have won these awards makes for an impressive line up!

My current thinking is I'll stick with the same awards as last year - but you never know......

Nominations:  I'll be publishing posts about the Making A Mark Awards for the Best Art Blogs in 2012 next week (week commencing 10th December) for each of the four categories and inviting nominations from you.

Announcements of Awards: I will then post the details of who has won each MaM Award will be posted in two posts on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th December

GENERATING ART

These awards relate to generating art either as an individual artist or as an art group - formal or informal.