Entries for PASTEL SOCIETY's 127th Annual Exhibition 2026 - closing soon

You have just under three weeks left to get a submission into the Annual Exhibition 2026 of The Pastel Society.

I've been trying to get round to this post for a while, which makes it much later than usual. However you still have time to start and finish a new work, or review what you did last year that you are proud of and submit that to the exhibition.

Benefits of Exhibiting with The Pastel Society

This is an OPEN ART EXHIBITION. If you submit and are selected for the exhibition your artwork will be

• included in the catalogue
• seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a lot of visitors
• viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society - before, during and after the Exhibition
• eligible for a number of prizes & awards - and some have significant cash awards (see below)

Pastel Society | Annual Exhibition 2026 | Key Facts

What drew me to the Pastel Society was the thought of being surrounding by other people fascinated by dry media in particular
Curtis Holder

Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, LondonDates:
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 21st January - Saturday 7th February 2026
Private View (invite only): Tuesday 20th January 2026 - 5pm to 8pm, official opening at 6:30pm

Submissions: ONLINE ONLY and open until 12 noon Friday 14 November 2025

Notification of selection: Friday 28th November 2025, 12 noon
Receiving Day (if selected): Saturday 10th January 2026, 10am to 5pm

Collection of unsold work: Thursday 12 February 202610am to 5pm

Awards and Prizes - see listing near the end of this post

Call for Entries

Find out more about how to enter:

• Open Calls - Pastel Society on the Mall Galleries website
• and BELOW.....

Who is eligible to enter?

• This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members.
• There is also no restriction of where you live. It's open to artists in the UK, EU, and outside the EU
• Any artist over 18 may submit.

What media is acceptable for entries?

• All types of pastel including: soft pastel, hard pastel, oil pastel, ink pastel, water-based pastel, conté crayons or sticks, sanguine, and other dry mediums that are similar in their application including charcoal, chalk, and pencil.
• Mixed media and three-dimensional works are welcome where pastel or another dry media is the primary medium.
• HOWEVER.....

ALL work that is submitted must have a full description of the media used and any process which has been employed in the finished work beyond drawing and painting, e.g. printing, photography. 

Please note that failure to do this may result in unnecessary rejection on the grounds that work deserves to be judged on a like for like basis and because any buyer should be made aware of what they are buying.

Bottom line - no sleight of hand! This exhibition emphasises the use of dry media and the expertise of the artist in using it.

 

What can you enter?

Entries for Pastel Society's 126th Annual Exhibition 2025 - closing soon.

Somehow or other I neglected to do my normal Call for Entries for the Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society. Below is me making up for this omission in time for the deadline foe entries to the 126th Annual Exhibition 2025

This is your chance to take part in a contemporary, adventurous and creative show, presenting a positive challenge to those with pre-conceived ideas about pastel and dry media.

This is an OPEN ART EXHIBITION. If you submit and are selected for the exhibition your artwork will be

• included in the catalogue
• seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a lot of visitors
• viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society - before, during and after the Exhibition
• eligible for a number of prizes & awards - and some have significant cash awards.

Pastel Society | Annual Exhibition 2025 | Key Facts

What drew me to the Pastel Society was the thought of being surrounding by other people fascinated by dry media in particular
Curtis Holder

Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London
Dates: 

• Exhibition: Wednesday 22 January - Saturday 8 February
• Private View: Tuesday 21 January
• The Pastel Society Art Event Evening: Tuesday 28 January, 6pm to 8:30pm

Submissions: 

• ONLINE ONLY and open until 12 noon Friday 15 November 2024
• Notification of selection: Friday 29 November, 12 noon
• Receiving Day (if selected): Saturday 11 January 2025, 10am to 5pm
• Find out more about how to enter:  
• Open Calls - Pastel Society on the Mall Galleries website
• and BELOW.....

This is a video about the exhibition and the Call for Entries

Call for Entries

Artists are invited to submit work in pastel and dry media for the Pastel Society’s 
126th Annual Exhibition, BENCHMARK, sponsored by Caran d'Ache.

Who is eligible to enter? 

• This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members.
• This exhibition also has works exhibited by people who live outside the UK. There is no restriction of where you live. It's open to artists in the UK, EU, and outside the EU
• Any artist over 18 may submit.

What media is acceptable for entries?

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

Mixed media works are welcome where pastel or another dry media is the primary medium. Such work should be submitted with a full description of the media used and any process which has been employed in the finished work beyond drawing and painting, e.g. printing, photography.

Bottom line - no sleight of hand! This exhibition emphasises the use of dry media and the expertise of the artist in using it.

What can you enter?

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

Review: The Pastel Society 125th Annual Exhibition (2024)

I'm very pleased to say that this year I'm very impressed with the 125th Annual Exhibition by The Pastel Society. I've also been hearing lots of very positive comments by those who have visited in recent days.

The Pastel Society Exhibition on the afternoon of the Private View

It's very obvious to me that a lot of well directed effort has gone into making this a much better exhibition to mark yet another benchmark in its history. This is after all the oldest pastel society in the world which held its first exhibition in 1899!

• It had 1300 entries - of which 366 were hung (28%)
• There were excellent numbers at the Private View yesterday 

Private View: Speeches starting in the evening
- with Sarah Bee's very colourful artwork behind the speaker

• BOTH the content and hanging of the exhibition is hugely better than the one which I criticised last year. 
• It's much more colourful this year and looks all the better for it
• each of the walls is well anchored by strong paintings - with the most obvious being the end wall of the West Gallery where Sarah Bee's artworks absolutely sing out across the entire gallery
• artwork is grouped to very good effect - eg a wall of landscapes

A Wall of Landscapes by different Pastel Society members

• There's a great diversity of artwork on show - from abstracted to hyper-realistic

Abstracted landscapes by Malcolm Taylor on the left
Hyperealistic still life by Ian Rawlings in the centre of the wall

• The PS Annual Exhibition is also back in its "near the beginning of the year" slot which I tend to think of as being a very much better time for art exhibitions and sales - as there's absolutely no competition from summer weather and outdoor pursuits and holidays! 
• However "last year" was only in May - just 8 months ago 
• so the Society has also done very well to put on a second annual exhibition in this short timescale.
• The pricing on the wall looks as if most have had a rethink about the range of prices that help promote sales in the current climate - although not all artworks did. I've been hoping to see some evidence that artists were becoming more sensible and this exhibition seemed to me to be the first one where pricing has changed. I still think the starting price should be £300. There's still a lot of scope for sales at the bottom end of the range.

Richard Rees, the President of the Pastel Society, told me yesterday that of the 1300 entries 

• a third were monochrome
• a third were portraits

I have to say that neither are reflected in the same proportions in the exhibition itself - although there's a good representation of both. Those entering next year's exhibition might like to bear this in mind.

Call for Entries: Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2024

The Pastel Society has published its Call for Entries for its 125th Annual Exhibition in January next year.

The Pastel Society seeks the best in contemporary pastel and dry media, combining technical skill with creative originality for the Society's 125th Exhibition.

This is an OPEN ART EXHIBITION. If you submit and are selected for the exhibition your artwork will be

• included in the catalogue
• seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a lot of visitors
• viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society - before, during and after the Exhibition
• eligible for a number of prizes & awards.

READ ON If you work in pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, conte, sanguine, or any other dry media and would like to achieve a higher profile for your artwork - and maybe a sale or a prize!

The 125th Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society: 
SUMMARY of the Call for Entries

• Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Pastel Society
• All submissions are online. 
• DEADLINE for entries - for a digital image, application form and fee - is noon on Friday 24 November 2023
• All artwork submitted is judged virtually, after which selected works should be delivered to Mall Galleries, London, for inclusion in the exhibition
• Exhibition Dates: 23rd January (PV Day - Invite only) to Saturday 10th February 2024.
• Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London

Below you can find MY version of the Call for Entries. Note that:

• it includes TIPS and additional comments which those who have not entered before may find useful.
• Some of those who have entered before and been unsuccessful might also like to have a read.

Submission: key dates and points to note

ALL artworks must be submitted online. 

It means that the quality of your digital image is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL.

REQUIRED READING: On the Mall Galleries website you can find:

• Call for Entries for the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2024
• Full Details, Entry Terms & Conditions
• Website to use for Entries
• Exhibition Contact: exhibitions@mallgalleries.com

Note: The Frequently Asked Questions Page (FAQs) appears to have disappeared from the website.

TIP: If you don't read all the relevant information, do NOT be surprised or irritated if your entry is not selected.

Below is a summary of the stages of entry.

1. ELIGIBLE ARTISTS: Who can enter?

This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members.
This exhibition also has works exhibited by people who live outside the UK.

• Any artist over 18 may submit.
• There is no restriction of where you live. 
• It's open to artists in the UK, EU, and outside the EU

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

Call for Entries: Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2023 + TIPS!

The Call for Entries for the 124th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society has been published.  

The 124th Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society

• Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Pastel Society
• Dates: 24th May - 3rd June 2023 Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London 
• DEADLINE for entries - for a digital image, application form and fee - is noon on Friday 24th March 2023

The Pastel Society seeks the best in contemporary pastel and dry media, combining traditional skills with creative originality for their 124th Annual Exhibition.

If selected for the exhibition your artwork will be 

• seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a lot of visitors), 
• viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society 
• eligible for a number of prizes & awards. 

READ ON If you work in pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, conte, sanguine, or any other dry media and would like to achieve a higher profile for your artwork - and maybe a sale or a prize!

Note: All quotes come from the official Call for Entries.

 

Pastel by Felicity House PS

SUMMARY of Call for Entries

Below you can find MY version of the Call for Entries. Note that:

• it includes TIPS and additional comments which those who have not entered before may find useful.
• Some of those who have entered before and been unsuccessful might also like to have a read.

Submission: key dates and points to note

ALL artworks must be submitted online. It means that the quality of your digital image is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL this year.

REQUIRED READING: On the Mall Galleries website you can find:

• Call for Entries for the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2023
• FULL Terms and Conditions for all 'Calls for Entries'
• Call for Entries Frequently Asked Questions
• Website to use for Entries

TIP: If you don't read all the relevant information, do NOT be surprised or irritated if your entry is not selected.

Below is a summary of the stages of entry.

Call for Entries: ING Discerning Eye Annual Exhibition 2022

The Discerning Eye is a visual arts focused educational charity. Its principal activity is to hold a rather unique annual exhibition sponsored by ING - and known as the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition. 

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 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition

ING Discerning Eye 2021: View of the West Gallery

Six Selectors

Once a year they invite 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 selectors this year are:

• David Ferry - Printmaker
• Ansel Krut - Painter
• Gurinder Chadha - Film Director
• Kate Enters - Director of Artcan
• Aindrea Emelife - Curator and Writer
• Alison Bevan Director of the Royal West of England Academy

The selectors:

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

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. 

• ING Purchase Prize* – £5000
• The Discerning Eye Founder’s Purchase Prize** – In honour of Michael Reynold’s £2500
• The Discerning Eye Chairman’s Purchase Prize** – £1000
• The Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize* – £500
• Discerning Eye Sculpture and 3D Work Prize** – £250
• Discerning Eye Original Print Prize** – £250
• Discerning Eye Cityscape Prize** – £250
• Discerning Eye Landscape Prize** – £250
• Discerning Eye Portrait Prize** – £250
• Regional Prizes** – There will be up to 8 prizes of £250 each awarded to an outstanding entry from the national regions
• Parker Harris Mentoring Prize*: Parker Harris will give a one-to-one mentoring session covering all aspects of professional development to a selected artist

NOTE:

* These prizes are selected by the individual prize givers, not the selectors.
**These prizes are selected by members of the Discerning Eye Educational Board, not the selectors.

ING Discerning Eye 2021: North Gallery

The Exhibition 2022

The exhibition is to be held at the Mall Galleries in central London - from the 11th - 20th November 2022

The website also has a Virtual Exhibition of the artwork in the exhibition.

However......

This year I have an ALERT for all artists wishing to submit work - which I summed up in a facebook post last year. Nobody has written to me to say it's a "return to normal" hence why I'm raising this issue here.

I am giving the organisers the benefit of the doubt and assuming that last year this was an effort to reduce costs given there was no knowing whether the exhibition might have to be cancelled. 

However... it was, in my opinion, an absolutely ludicrous idea given that galleries do not have effective broadband reception throughout the galleries and not everybody likes to open their phone (and security!) to open access wifi!!! 

DO READ Cons and Pros of ING Discerning Eye Exhibition's tech makeover in which I voice my concerns at some length!

I sincerely hope the organisers are going back to proper professional practice of having:

• proper labels - stating names, titles, media and price
• a proper catalogue - including the same data which interested purchasers can consult and make notes as they go round.

I'm optimistic we've had a return to normal as the call for entries indicates the following

All exhibiting artists will be included in a fully illustrated print catalogue.

However I also work on the principle of I believe it when I see it - especially when it has such a significant impact on artists. Do feel free to enquire what's happening this year via the normal contacts. 

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

Welcome to The Discerning Eye Archives, here you can browse nearly 30 years of works exhibited annually. To start your search either select a year to view a full overview, or use the search bar to lookup particular artists, work titles or selectors.

The archive consists of nearly 15,000 selections, over the years we have expanded the data we store on individual works to include images, dimensions etc. However some earlier years may not have this information available.

Oddly it does NOT include images for the 2021 exhibition!!

Call for Entries: ING Discerning Eye 2022

Call for Entries: Pastel Society 123rd Annual Exhibition 2022

READ ON If you work in pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, conte, sanguine, or any other dry media. 

The Pastel Society is calling for entries for its 123rd Annual Exhibition in February 2022.

SUMMARY of Call for Entries

 

EXHIBITION: The 123rd Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society

• Dates: 16th - 26th February 2022
• Value: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London
• DEADLINE for entries - for a digital image, application form and fee - is 12 noon Friday 3rd December.

The Pastel Society seeks the best in contemporary dry media, combining traditional skills with creative originality for their annual exhibition.

The Society accepts pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, conté, sanguine, or any dry media

MORE INFORMATION about the Call for Entries

The Call for Entries from artists other than members of the Pastel Society has been published.

Below you can find my version of the Call for Entries:

• it includes additional comments which those who have not entered before may find useful.
• Some of those who have entered before and been unsuccessful might also like to have a read.

Submission: key dates and points to note

ALL artworks must be submitted online. This required meant started in 2021,. It means that the quality of your digital image is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL this year.

On the Mall Galleries website you can find:

• Call for Entries for the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2022
• FULL Terms and Conditions for all 'Calls for Entries'
• Website to use for Entries

Below is a summary of the stages of entry.

Pastel Society 122nd Annual Exhibition 2021 - Call for Entries

If you work in pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, conte, sanguine, or any other dry media you can submit your artwork to the Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition next year.

• The 122nd Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society will be held between Wednesday 27th January - Saturday 13th February 2021 at the Mall Galleries.
• The Call for Entries has been published and is summarised below.
• The DEADLINE for entries - for a digital image, application form and fee - is 12 noon Friday 4th December.

The Pastel Society seeks the best in contemporary dry media, combining traditional skills with creative originality for their Annual Exhibition.

Below you can find my version of the Call for Entries - with additional comments which those who have not entered before may find useful.

Some of those who have entered before and been unsuccessful might also like to have a read.

The Society was founded in 1898, and the first exhibition held in the Royal Institute in Piccadilly. Founder members and early exhibitors included Brangwyn, Degas, Rodin, Rothenstein, Whistler and G.F. Watts. There are currently over fifty-five Members who are professional artists living and working in this country and overseas. Membership is granted through a strict assessment of technical skill, originality, innovation and enthusiasm.

Submission: key dates and points to note

NEW FOR 2021: ALL artworks must be submitted online.

To make the process of submitting and selecting work simpler and safer, the Society will select works for exhibition from online only this year.

Which means the quality of your digital image is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL this year.

On the Mall Galleries website you can find:

• Call for Entries for the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2020
• Pastel Society Entry Requirements
• FULL Terms and Conditions for all 'Calls for Entries'

Below is a summary of the stages of entry.

Book tickets for the RI's 208th Exhibition at the Mall Galleries

You can now book tickets for the 208th Exhibition 2020 of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours which opens at the Mall Galleries at 11am on Tuesday 1 September. 

This is five months to the day after I wrote Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours - 208th Annual Exhibition and Prizewinners - when we were in lockdown and knew the original exhibition dates were not possible but not when it might reopen.

It's the largest exhibition of watercolour paintings in the world - with over 400 of the best contemporary water-based media paintings.  More below about:

• how to book
• keeping people safe in the gallery
• more about the exhibition, prizewinners and RI workshops.

Here's George Butler, the chap who won the £3,000 Winsor & Newton Award for his painting of Delhi Market

Book your tickets - and donate too

Remember this is a not a "turn up when you feel like it" exhibition. 

You need a ticket for a timed slot in order to keep control of numbers in the gallery.

Guess who booked her ticket this morning!  (see below - don't fret - this screendump omits the critical info - which will be required for admission)

If you value the Mall Galleries as a venue for seeing annual exhibitions by national art societies and exhibitions for open art competitions can I RECOMMEND that you also make a donation to the Galleries when you get your ticket. They will have been closed for the last 5.5 months when they reopen on 1st September - and that's a long time when fixed costs of maintaining a building do not go away.

Keeping people safe

This is a reminder that there are various conditions to maintaining people's safety. These are listed on the reverse of the ticket

Essentially

• maintain 2 metres distance - so no gossipy huddles unless you came together from the same household
• you MUST wear a face covering inside the gallery
• the exhibition will work according to a one way system
• use the hand sanitiser available in the gallery
• the toilets will be cleaned more regularly than usual
• payments will be by card and ideally contactless

Remember also that neither the cafe nor the bookshop will be open - so bring your own water.

More about the Exhibition, Prizewinners and RI workshops

WARNING: "Not previously exhibited"

Many open art exhibitions and art competitions have a very simple rule which, for some reason, gets ignored by some artists.

• Maybe they didn't read the rules of entry properly? 
• Maybe they didn't think the organisers really meant it?
• Maybe they thought nobody would notice?

What's the rule that gets ignored?

It's quite simple.

The common rule is that "Work must not have been exhibited previously".

Artwork being received for Stage 2 Judging of the John Moores Painting Competition | copyright Katherine Lloyd
There is absolutely no suggestion whatsoever that what I'm writing about below relates to this past competition

As I've indicated on previous occasions I am a big fan of art societies and art competitions that REFUSE to allow people to exhibit any artwork that they have previously exhibited elsewhere.

The reasons why "work must not have been exhibited previously" is such a good idea are also simple:

• exhibitions of new artwork need to be just that - fresh to the eye
• regular attenders of art exhibitions are not short changed by seeing artwork appearing again and again.
• it says a lot about an artist's ability to produce NEW work on a consistent basis which is also consistently good.  We get a much better appreciation of that artist's overall ability and potential for future success.

Here's the deal. I abhor cheating.

• I can't expect selectors for art competitions and open exhibitions to have seen numerous other exhibitions
• I can expect artists to have integrity and to 
• read the rules of entry - particularly the one relating to "work must not have been exhibited previously"
• tell the truth on their entry forms
• I go to lots of exhibitions and I notice things. I also have a very good visual memory and keep all my catalogues! (What prompted this post is I have just noticed something!)

So in future, I'm going public - I'm not going to stay silent when I notice something which breaks the rules.

(There's more than a couple of art competitions which already know I have a track record of speaking up to organisers when something is just plain wrong - some of which regular readers know about and some of which you don't)

For exhibition organisers

In future, if and when I see artwork has been selected for exhibition which I have seen elsewhere in a previous exhibition, I am going to tell the organisers.

What the organisers do then is up to them.

• If they have got any integrity and gumption they will remove the artwork from exhibition for having broken the entry rules
• However - if they don't then I will mention this fact in the following year's call for entries. Artists have a right to expect that the organisers as well as the artists play by the rules.

Any exhibition organisers who think rules don't matter should pay much more attention to

• the The Cap Code - The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing
• this legal commentary on Prize competitions and the law: navigating the labyrinth - specifically the section relating to The Cap Code

For artists

I'm not going to out you if you do it once.  People make mistakes - we all understand that.
The thing is you won't know that I know.....

However, do it twice and I notice and I will take appropriate action - using the appropriate evidence.

The reason being that competitions and juried exhibitions can only maintain integrity and  work properly if EVERYBODY plays by the rules.

That's not my personal view - that's the law.
I also can't think of a single good reason why a cheat should take the place of another artist whose good work did not get selected because the cheat's did.

Moral of the Story

READ THE RULES! Don't cheat yourself as well as others.

A Botanical Art Bonaza - in England, Scotland and Ireland

Making A Mark has been quiet for the past week because I've been diligently writing blog posts about juried open botanical art exhibitions opening in England, Scotland and Ireland - at the same time(!) - on my Botanical Art and Artists News blog

Here's a summary - with some pics - of what's going on in London, Edinburgh and Dublin right now!

ENGLAND: Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA)

the end wall display in the Main Gallery at the Mall Galleries

To date I've written the following posts about "Plantae" the 2019 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists which is an international exhibition with 431 artworks by c.190 botanical artists

It's on at the Mall Galleries until 1pm on Sunday 9th June - with demonstrations of botanical artwork in coloured pencil (today) and painting on vellum (tomorrow).

It's the SBA's first time at the Mall Galleries. Everybody participating and regular visitors are very impressed with the environment and wonderful lighting and how good the artwork looks. Plus the Manager of the Mall Galleries told me on Tuesday night that he knew it was going to be good but it's actually much better!

• Plantae: SBA Annual Exhibition 2019 - Selected Artists profiles most of the c.190 botanical artists whose work was selected for the exhibition - with links to their websites are embedded in their names. (If you're wondering why it's circa it's because it comes out as a different number every time I counted and have up after the third count!)
• Awards - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2019 - includes information and images of the artwork receiving awards and more information about the artists who created them

Winner of the Joyce Cuming Presentation Plate
The Secret World of Potatoes by Lidiya Doukhnevitch (watercolour £1,500)

Coming up next is

• a post about those artists who were awarded a Certificate of Botanical Merit - which was judged by Lucy T Smith, who illustrates plants for Kew Gardens.  (These are artists who get judged on science as well as art!)
• finally, the fourth post will be a review of the exhibition as a whole and a commentary on its move to the Mall Galleries. I've been asking people what they think about the new environment.

Incidentally, the SBA raised the bar considerably by putting their exhibition catalogue online and including images of ALL the artwork in the show.

SCOTLAND: Annual Exhibition of Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT)

BISCOT is an acronym for "Botanical Images Scotia". It's annual exhibition of contemporary botanical illustration which

• promotes excellence in botanical painting and illustration.
• gives both national and international artists an opportunity to exhibit in Edinburgh and presents new and original botanical work.

Each exhibitor creates a display of SIX artworks - and the exhibition is open to and attracts international entrants. In this respect BISCOT is the Scottish equivalent of the RHS Botanical Art Show in London - and is regarded as the top show in Scotland in terms of awards and prestige.

The BISCOT Exhibition is held annually at

• Gardening Scotland (sponsored by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society) (31 May - 2 June)
• the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) - John Hope Gateway (5-20 June 2019)​

Sansanee Deekrajang (Thailand) won a BISCOT Gold Medal and Best in Show for her Exhibit of Tropical Palms

BISCOT Medal Winners 2019 is about those artists who won their medals a week ago at the Annual BISCOT Exhibition at the Gardening Scotland show at the Ingliston Showground in Edinburgh

This week the exhibition transferred to the John Hope Gateway at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) where it continues until the 20th June.

I'll be writing another post about this exhibition as it contains a new category - which is the newly launched RBGE Florilegium (see below)

IRELAND: Annual Botanical and Floral Exhibition at Bloom

Iris “Red Rum”” by Siobhan Larkin
Gold Medal and BEST IN SHOW (BOTANICAL)

Last week Ireland's premier juried botanical art exhibition, the 7th Annual ​​Exhibition of Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom opened at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre in Phoenix Park, Dublin - where it remains until the end of June 2019.

Bloom 2019 - Botanical Art Medal Winners is about the award winners in the botanical art side of the Bloom show. Medals for this show are awarded just for one work.

I'm really hoping that at some point Bloom will upgrade to the same type and standard of exhibition as the RHS and BISCOT which both require exhibits of six paintings by each exhibiting artist - and medal judgements are made about the six paintings as a whole.

But maybe that needs to be a different show - linked to and partnered with a Horticultural Society or Botanic Garden. It will almost certainly need to be in a different venue

12th Wildlife Artist of the Year won by Stephen Rew

The Wildlife Artist of the Year 2019 Exhibition is currently on at the Mall Galleries until 2nd June 2019.  It contains 152 artworks for sale which were juried and selected for exhibition.

The Wildlife Artist of the Year juried art competition was established by David Shepherd CBE FRSA (1931 – 2017). It represents his vision for ‘The Art of Survival’ – using art for wildlife conservation. The exhibition is all about exhibiting the best in wildlife art and raising funds for wildlife conservation.

Below you can find:

• facts about the exhibition and how to see it
• the list of the award winners
• my commentary on the exhibition - which this year is focused on what's different

Includes two paintings by last year's winner (top right and centre)
and two paintings of an animal - the polar bear - which won the year before in 2017!

You can see online

• the shortlist of selected artworks featured in the exhibition and shortlisted for category prizes - for those unable to get to London,
• an online exhibition of those artworks which didn’t make onto the walls of the exhibition at the Mall Galleries but which the judges believe demonstrate incredible skill and creativity. These are also for sale.

50% of every sale will go directly to saving endangered species and fighting wildlife crime across Africa and Asia.

Unfortunately I missed the preview and awards on Tuesday evening as I was at the National Portrait Gallery all day watching the Final of next year's Portrait Artist of the Year 2020 being filmed. However I visited the exhibition yesterday afternoon and images from this year's exhibition can be found below.

The Wildlife Artist of the Year Exhibition

50% of the sales of all works of art also goes to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation's wildlife conservation projects across Africa and Asia.

View of the exhibition in the Main Gallery of the Mall Galleries

Every year this exhibition attracts a lot of entries from all over the world. Many wildlife artists regard just getting selected as a major achievement given the number and calibre of the entries it gets.  It's particularly strong on wildlife art of the more exotic variety.

The competition is open to amateur and professional artists aged 17 and over and welcomes all traditional artistic mediums (excluding digital and photography).

For all aspiring wildlife artists it's an ESSENTIAL exhibition to visit. Although you can view the prizewinners online and on Facebook, you can only really appreciate the quality of the paintings and sculpture when viewed in the galleries.

The exhibition opened on Wednesday 29th May and is open as follows

• Until Friday – 10am to 5pm
• Saturday – 10am to 4pm
• Sunday – 10am – 1pm

MORE OBSERVATIONS on the exhibition after the list of awards below.....

The agony and the ecstasy of art competition judging

Last night I spotted two images which for me symbolised the agony and the ecstasy associated with the judging of art competitions.

Agony - The faces of this year's selection panel for the 250th Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, led by Grayson Perry RA - who have just spent a week working their way through 15,000 artworks!

From Grayson Perry's Twitter account (March 9, 2018)
The battle weary faces of five people who have looked at 15000 artworks since last Friday.
Me with Humphrey Ocean, David Mach, Emma Stibbon and Chris Orr. 

Ecstasy - The joy of the artist who submitted work to this exhibition - and who got the nod - on finally seeing the letter that indicates her artwork has moved to the next round. Many thanks to Andrea Joseph for showing us what the missive actually looks like!

I’m through to judges houses. Or is it boot camp? Either way, I’m through to the next round. ‘Cited! #RA250 #RoyalAcademySummerExhibition #SummerExhibition2018 @royalacademy pic.twitter.com/6KsRRnyV6n

— Andrea Joseph (@aheavysoul) March 24, 2018

How long do judges spend on art competitions?

Many of the prestigious juried art competitions that I highlight on this blog disappoint something between 95-98% of the artists who have submitted work.

That's an awful lot of people.

I thought it might be worthwhile - when considering what to enter in future - if we just consider:

• the practicalities of judging
• in particular, how much time is involved in judging juried art exhibitions.

Below is a painting by Charles West Cope RA (1811-1890) about how pictures were selected for the Exhibition in 1875 - some 143 years ago. Some are still using a system which is somewhat similar (although smaller and in less grand surroundings).

The Council of the Royal Academy selecting Pictures for the Exhibition, 1875,  Charles West Cope RA,
oil on canvas, 1875-76
© Royal Academy of Arts, London

One of the main things that have changed since I started writing this blog is that now almost all art competitions have an initial digital submission.

That makes life simpler for the competition organisers and cuts costs for both organisers and the artists submitting work. No more need to frame and hire a courier when instead all you need to do is learn how to scan or get a good photograph of your work.

However, the other main feature of art competitions is that the number of submissions keep rising! Partly because it is now so much simpler to submit.

So how does the assessment get done these days?

Let's do the maths - about time

First of all let's remember that many major art society exhibitions won't be paying for the time of members who get to be part of the selection panel.

In relation to the more significant art competitions, I'm guessing that the practice varies.  While some might be flattered just to be asked to judge, for other it's unlikely that they will judge without a fee being involved.

I expect - but don't know for certain - that a number of the art competitions do pay a fee to their invited Judges. Mainly because these are people who are very busy with a lot of other commitments and their time may come with a fee attached.
(Much as I give 5 minute freebies to people who pose a quick and simple question but if you want more serious input I also charge a fee!)

Why be concerned about time?

Well let's take a look at what's involved in terms of time.

The Summer Exhibition 2018 selection and hanging committee:

• started on Friday 2nd March 2018 - looking at sculpture and 3D Architecture Models
• on Monday March 5th they started looking at paintings and prints
• by Wednesday March 7th they have looked at 10,000 submissions (i.e. 4 days work?)
• they finished on Friday 9th March after reviewing 15,000 works (which I think must include the RA submissions)

I'm guessing it took either 6 days or 7 days to review 15,000 works and that Grayson Perry sat through the lot - with teams making up the selection panels for specific types of artwork.

Somebody commented on my Facebook Page

My question would then be...is this the best way to judge artworks?
Accepted artworks then become those that hit you within the first millisecond...kind of what you would wish for in the world of advertising. But are we to judge artwork as you would a successful advertising mock-up or a catchy sound-bite? Are the energy levels of the judges consistent throughout this super speed processing machine? We're only human after all.