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
Natural History Illustration in Pen and Inkby Sarah Morrishis a book by a well educated and very experienced natural history illustratorwho writes extremely well - and it shows on every one of its pages making it joy to read.
Combine science with art and journey through nature
One of the things which distinguishes this book is it's written by somebody who has
qualifications in education, science (ecology, conservation) and art (botanical illustration) and
lots of experience of
natural history illustration,
pen and ink as a medium and
teaching students in class, online and through written materials
Sarah Morrishhas created a very informative book on a topic which is not well covered in art instruction literature. It is packed full of very educational content - nothing is vacuous or vague. The quality of the content is matched by it also being a very well structured and designed book with an excellent range of images. Sarah understands very well how to make a complex topic accessible and easy to digest by students looking to learn about or improve their skills and techniques in pen and ink illustration of the natural world
Her skills in this area have been endorsed by the Natural History Museum London which has commissioned her to produce online learning resources on the theme of natural science illustration for their Introduction to British Natural History Studies Training Course in 2021 - which is a super endorsement of her skills in this area.
Her book also usefully includes image contributions from some very impressive artists and illustrators working in this field from around the world who are both experienced and experts in their respective fields within natural history. I knew some but not all of them and I loved being introduced to artists who were new to me.
Her book is, for me, a very refreshing change from my absolute bête noire i.e. art instruction books written by people who don't know their subject as well as they need to if they want to teach others and/or books where the flow of the content is poor and not well written.
What I really liked about the book
At the beginning two things stood out for me. There's a
useful discussion about the depiction of nature and wild life which explores the parameters of the subject and how it can be represented
a timeline of the development of illustration using pen and ink which I've not seen before.
Other aspects I particularly liked
Her very useful summaries of key points in a chapter. It's so easy to lose these when the text is so packed full of information. These
Her summary checklists of things to think about with respect to different aspects of pen and ink illustration of natural history - e.g. the use of photography - which go from the basic and generic to the particular relevant to the subject matter and its particular challenges.
Very good discussion of the range of art materials, tools and equipment available to the pen and ink illustrator including:
Her emphasis on using the right tool for the job and
her discussion of the very wide variety of both pens and nibs and inks available to the pen and ink illustrator
an excellent set of illustrations of different examples in relation to both techniques and subject matters
Her very clear illustrations of the differences between different techniques of contour hatching, cross hatching and stippling.
Her very clearly annotated pen and ink drawings which explain the use made of different mark-making techniques
it includes a very useful section on Composition which focuses on how the principles and elements translate into this subject area and media
The huge diversity of subject matter illustrated in the book demonstrates how fascinating this aspect of art can be for those interested in nature and natural history. It includes specimens which I've never seen included in any art instruction book before.
The step by step exercises - which do not try to be lowest common denominator exercise for those new to the subject or media and instead clearly indicate a clear aim and scope plus a recommended and precise skill level needed prior to trying the exercise.
Her tips go way beyond the technical aspects of illustration. Sarah has some really great tips concerning the collection, presentation and storage of specimens found in the field. You just know these have been learned the hard way! The practical tips are in no way sanitised - she warns you when a specimen is going to smell!
I love the stories behind the development of some of the drawings of how specimens or habitats were encountered and approaches used to collect information for subsequent illustrations.
In conclusion......
Essentially this book is an excellent resource and reference book. It is
an excellent and comprehensive instruction book which is packed full of quality content that is both well organised and well written
very practical - with lots of useful information and tips
packed full of illustrations and images which inform, educate and inspire
suitable for any committed art students from secondary school to the third age
My art instruction books of choice many years ago used to be those produced by Watson Guptill (The Drawing Book etc) because they were comprehensive, objective and authoritative. I can pay this book no higher compliment then to say it very much reminds me of the quality of those publications about various art and media topics - including the book on pen and ink!
I'm very much looking forward to her next book.
About Sarah Morrish
Sarah Morrish is a widely-respected artist, illustrator and tutor, with many years of teaching experience. With a working background in ecology and conservation, she aims to raise awareness of the beauty and fragility of nature in all its forms. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and a Fellow of the Linnean Society.
You can find out more about Sarah Morrish - and the other methods she uses to teach natural history and botanical illustration in the links below
READ a review of this book published in the magazine for the members and patrons of the Natural History Museum which was written by one of the ecologists working at the Museum
As an ecologist, I appreciated the section dealing with legalities and best practice when collecting subject material. This is so important, but could have been glossed over so easily.
144 of Leonardo da Vinci's greatest drawings in the Royal Collection are currently on display in 12 simultaneous exhibitions of Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawingacross the UK.
If you want to get to see the various exhibitions around the UK - or even all of them(!) - this is where you can see them.
They are listed below in alphabetical order of the locations
PLUS one of the images that can be seen at that location.
From 1 February - 6 May 2019, to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, 144 of the Renaissance master's greatest drawings in the Royal Collection will go on display in 12 simultaneous exhibitions across the UK.
This is a nationwide event. It rebuffs the notion that all the good art is only shown in London. In fact, it will give da Vinci's drawings the widest-ever audience to celebrate the 500th anniversary of he death of da Vinci in 1519.
12 drawings selected to reflect the full range of Leonardo's interests – painting, sculpture, architecture, music, anatomy, engineering, cartography, geology and botany – will be shown at each venue in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton and Sunderland.
Longer exhibitions will then be held at first the Queen's Gallery in London - followed by the Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh.
The exhibitions include examples of all the drawing materials employed by the artist, including
pen and ink,
red and black chalks,
watercolour and
metalpoint.
They also present new information about Leonardo's working practices and creative process, gathered through scientific research using a range of non-invasive techniques, including ultraviolet imaging, infrared reflectography and X-ray fluorescence.
I've also included
links to BBS news items - with the relevant gallery - which show more images and videos of the drawings on display.
links to any useful items relevant to particular exhibitions
The drawings in the Royal Collection have been together as a group since the artist's death, and provide an unparalleled insight into Leonardo's investigations and the workings of his mind.Leonardo da Vinci drawings to go on display in Birmingham in 2019 | Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery Blog
c.1503-4, watercolour, pen and ink, ink wash over black chalk
You can download the large print copy of the labels before you go - and you'll get to see the explanations for each of the drawings
Leonardo was an accomplished map maker. This map illustrates the Chiana valley in central Italy, with north to the left of the sheet. The river Tiber can be seen running along the top edge, the river Arno on the left and the city of Siena in the lower centre. The marshy lake in the valley allowed the spread of malaria. It seems probable that Leonardo was employed by the Florentine government to create this map as part of a civil engineering project to drain the marsh. (Label for exhibit)
However you have just a few days left to get your digital entry in to this prestigious open competition - and have a chance of winning the £10,000 top prize for Wildlife Artist of the Year.
This year for the first time there is NO LIMIT on the number of entries you can submit.
The closing time/date for digital entries is midnight on Monday 12th February 2018.
You're probably too late for postal entries as the closing time for them is 5pm on 12th February 2018.
The exhibition is at the Mall Galleries as usual however the timing has changed. It's one between 2nd - 6th May 2018. (Note this is much earlier than usual) with the PV on the 1st May.
Final Call for Entries
Well the first thing to say is your wildlife art better be good because this competition regularly receives top notch wildlife art from around the world!
Indeed simply getting selected for this exhibition is regarded as a big honour by many wildlife artists.
DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year is a prestigious annual wildlife art competition. Founded by David Shepherd over 10 years ago, the competition attracts artists from all over the world and showcases some of the finest and most exciting wildlife art whilst at the same time raising vital awareness and funds for the endangered wildlife that DSWF works so hard to protect. Every entry, and proceeds from all sales, supports our work to that fight wildlife crime, protect endangered species, and engage local communities in Africa and Asia.
Prizes
The first prize is definitely worth winning and the category prizes are also very nice!
Overall Winner £10,000 cash prize & title ‘Wildlife Artist of the Year 2018’
Overall Runner-Up £1,000 cash prize.
Remaining Category Winners £500 each.
So who can enter, what can you submit and what do you have to do?
Eligible Artists
Artists aged 17 years old and over - living anywhere in the world - are eligible to enter.
The competition is open to both amateur and professional artists and no distinction is made between them in terms of judging or prizes.
Eligible Art
The main conditions are as follows.
THERE IS NO MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ENTRIES - This is NEW for 2018.Previously there has been a maximum limit of five entries.
All media are eligible (EXCEPT photography). For example, the competition is very happy to receive artwork in media that includes oil, acrylic, watercolour, pencil, mixed media, bronze, plaster, wire, collage with styles encompassing traditional, abstract, monochrome, original prints* and many others .
* An original print is a print either in black or in colour, drawn from one or several plates, conceived and executed entirely by hand by the same artist, regardless of the technique employed, with the exclusion of any and all mechanical, digital or photomechanical processes. Every stage has been completed by hand by the artist.
Entries must be completed by the entrant themselves
it must be their own original work.
If a reference photo has been used, then the permission of the photographer is required (i.e. copyright issues are NOT allowed!)
Work must be completed in the last five years - hence artwork completed before 12th February 2013 CANNOT be entered.
Please note that in their Helpful Hints document the organisers state the following about the sort of artwork they are looking for and will rate highly.
The judges are looking for not only beautifully executed artworks but also imaginative interpretation, moving away from the purely photographic to interesting compositions with great characterisation, showing imagination, originality and genuine creativity. As well as showing an understanding of the subject, they are looking for a genuine love of paint.
and
You can of course get your inspiration from a photograph or drawing, but be sure to make it your own interpretation of that image. Straight copies are not only breaching copyright but are judged to be unimaginative and dull.
2018 Postal Entry Form - for those wanting to enter by post rather than online (get a move on!) Also good for noting down what you need to enter on your online form before you start completing it!
Categories
Entries must be submitted to a category. The categories are:
Animal Behaviour: Showing a real understanding of animal behaviour, a sense of character, maybe something the judges may not have seen before.
Into the Blue: Illustrate the wonderful world of water, be it ocean, seashore, wetland, river or stream.
Urban Wildlife: Entries can be in an urban style or depict the city life of animals and plants. Judges will be looking for both originality in the habitat as well as the contrast between wild and urban life. Vanishing Fast: Our vanishing world – it can be any species officially listed as endangered or threatened on the IUCN Red List – or any landscape that is at risk.
Wings: The extraordinary variety of winged wildlife – birds and insects, in flight or at rest.
Earth’s Wild Beauty (including animals and landscapes in which they inhabit): The choice is yours!
All categories are open to UK and international wildlife, landscapes, flora and fauna.
For all categories the judges are looking for....
not only beautifully executed original artworks but also imaginative interpretation, moving away from the purely photographic to compositions with great characterisation, showing imagination, originality and genuine creativity.
Method and cost of entry
Entries can be my post or online - however
all images submitted as an entry must be digital. Please NOTE that no allowance is made by the Judges for poor digital images or bad quality photographs. It's up to you to submit quality images.
all entries must reach the Foundation by 12th February 2018.
Your artwork should be submitted as a JPEG digital image via the digital entry form or should be burned to a CD. They require:
High resolution @300 dpi
minimum pixels of 2,200 pixels on the SMALLEST side
File size not exceeding 6MB.
all files must have an easily identifiable name eg you should use your surname followed by title of art artwork
Responsibilities of the artists
Note that delivery, collection, shipping costs and insurance are the responsibility of the artist.
What does it cost to enter
Entry costs vary depending on the status of the artist
normal entry fee: £25
concessionary rate: £10 for DSWF members, 17-25 year olds and the over 60s.
How should I price my work?
All entries MUST be for sale. Do NOT enter anything you don't want sold as this exhibition aims to sell (so don't sell anything you have entered before the exhibition).
All prices need to be realistic i.e. PRICED FOR SALE. This includes making your sale price appropriate for the exhibition and marketplace. This is not a vanity exhibition! Note that this competition is a bit different. Sale price will be negotiated with the artist but the final decision will be made by DSWF. That effectively means that if you enter your work and then put
an outrageously high price on it so it won't sell - then DSWF can vary that so it will sell!
a low price on it - maybe because you don't know London prices - that DSWF can raise it so that it's consistent with prices asked for other work of the same quality in the exhibition.
Commission
There are three commission rates:
Sales proceeds for works exhibited at the exhibition are to be split 50/50 for sales made for the duration of the exhibition and for one month after.
After one month, any sales made as a result of the continued promotion of the piece by DSWF will be split 70% artist and 30% DSWF
Sale proceeds resulting from commissions taken at the exhibition are to be split 70% artist and 30% DSWF.
More about Wildlife Artist of the Year in previous years
Review: Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 July 02, 2015 - 186 artworks were selected from the 1,000 entries to the competition. A further 38 artworks were selected but not hung
Wildlife Artist of the Year 2012 - Call for entries 16 Dec 2011 - The overall BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year 2012 wins a place for one person on a 10-day painting safari with Pip McGarry in Botswana in October 2012
Two opportunities to be Wildlife Artist of the Year 2011! 25 Jan 2011 - The competition is open to all professional and amateur artists aged 17 and over. The top prize is £10,000 and all shortlisted artists are exhibited at the Wildlife Artists of Year 2011 Exhibition at the Mall Galleries
Adam Binder wins Wildlife Artist of the Year 2010 25 May 2010 - Yesterday evening, at the Mall Galleries, Adam Binder's stunningly simple bronze sculpture of a polar bear on an iceberg - "Sinking Feeling" - won him the title of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2010.
Art competition: Wildlife Artist of the Year 28 Jan 2010 - The title Wildlife Artist of the Year is awarded by a panel of judges appointed by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) and comes with a cash prize of £10,000 generously donated by the exhibition sponsors
Exhibition review: Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009 02 Jun 2009 - You can see my photos of fellow coloured pencil artists Gayle Mason and Jonathan Newey with their work on the UKCPS News blog in UKCPS members and their art at Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009.
Two wildlife art competitions and a snow ... 28 Nov 2008 -The Wildlife Artist of the Year, run by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), is open to amateur and professional artists alike from anywhere in the world. Artists must be aged 17 by the closing date - 30th Jan 2009.
The National Trust and The Heritage Crafts Association and the Craft Council are excited to announce our second open call for artisans and craft makers.
They have just announced their second open call for people to develop a range of products inspired by places looked after by the National Trust and sold via the National Trust shops and websites. The deadline for applications is 4pm on Monday 29th August, 2016.
It occurs to me that there are more than a few people who follow this blog who could probably deliver what they want. Obviously those who work in ceramics but also those who create art and products based on natural history, wildlife and botanical subjects.
The National Trust also commissions people to produce work for them.
For information:
This is a video about Mary Kaun-English who produces Pit-fire Ceramics and who won the last call. Despite her name she is actually a Californian by birth. You can see her NT artisan ceramics on their site.
The NT also commissions people to make things for them - for example from trees which have fallen on estates. Last summer, the National Trust commissioned London based wood artist Eleanor Lakelin to create a collection of beautiful vessels crafted from a cedar tree that had been planted by the Duke of Wellington in 1827 - which led to this page. You can also see her work on Instagram.
Wood art by Eleanor Lakelin
I must confess I'm a bit of a wood nut and the thing I'm most likely to be drawn to are pieces made of wood.
BUT is now midnight on Wednesday 5th February 2014
Below you can find the information about this very popular art competition for wildlife artists.
There are two new categories for 2014:
Wildlife in Monochrome - particularly suitable for those who work in fine art prints, graphite or charcoal
Silver Artist - for the Over 60s - which I think is a great idea!
The Wildlife Artist of the Year Exhibitionwill be held at the Mall Galleries, London Tuesday 3rd to Saturday 7th June 2014, 10am to 5pm (closes 4pm on final day).
The Private View will be held on 29th May 6-9pm. The Private View for this has an excellent attendance with lots of enthusiastic private collectors of wildlife art and lots of sales. If you're a collector and want an invite I suggest you get in touch with the Foundation.
The Best Picture of 2013 on an Art Blog is the final award
to be announced as part of the 8th Making A Mark Art Blog Awards.
But first we have the category winners!
There were four categories - Nature, Portrait, Place, and Still Life. Readers of this blog were invited to vote for the artwork they thought was best in each category in my post on Boxing Day - see VOTE for the Best Artwork on an Art Blog in 2013. This includes links to the posts in which I listed all the nominations received.
The Polls were conducted on Polldaddy and I'm happy to supply anybody with a pdf copy of the results if they'd like a copy.
I've had the pleasure in 2013 of seeing Sarah's work hanging in exhibitions and in my opinion, while images on her blog are excellent, they don't do justice to the work in real life. She never disappoints me. I also chose this work because it's monochrome and a drawing.
The number of votes for the three other artworks kept changing all the time. If it had finished at a different time it might have been a different result.
"O'Keeffers" by Karin Jurick (A Painting Today) | Post "O'Keeffers" 20th September 2013 | Nominated by: Katherine Tyrrell
This painting appealed to me for three reasons - first this painting also has more than one person and a context! Second, I'm a big fan of both Karin Jurick and her paintings. Third, I'm a big fan of Georgia O'Keeffe so to get both Karin and Georgia in one painting is fabulous! I was also greatly amused to learn from her post that both she and I spend time and effort on our floors in terms of colour, tonal value and reflections! I see so many paintings where people have filled the space in round the people in a fairly cursory way whereas people like Karin think about the whole space. Finally, Karin Jurick is also the mistress of the natural pose and the cut in with respect to negative painting. Her paintings repay careful study.
"In the Spotlight" by Ramesh Jhawar | Post: : In the spotlight (2nd September 2013)| (Nominated by: Roger Brown)
Well I am going to nominate a larger than normal still life,a bicycle! It's entitled "In the spotlight". I love this painting for is strong contrasts between the ultramarine and cobalt blue and how the bicycle is illuminated by a shaft of warm light.
I've seen this painting in the recent ROI Exhibition - plus it was saved by the artist since January for this exhibition - and it sold straightaway. Haidee-Jo has an excellent eye for colour and tone and her draughtsmanship is pretty good too. She paints in a looser impressionistic way. One of the things I like particularly about the way she works is that she keeps going back to the same place and painting what is basically the same scene from slightly different perspectives and in different seasons.
This was a very close run battle between the two paintings which came first and second. They were vying for position for most of the poll and there was often only a few votes in it. However Haidee-Jo drew away towards the end of the poll.
The Making A Mark Award
for
Best Picture of the Year
on an Art Blog 2013
Every year you decide who wins The MAM Award for Best Picture of the Year on an Art Blog. The way it works is that the award always goes to the picture which got the most votes overall across all four polls. That means it depends on how many votes each poll gets - and what percentage of the poll the winner gets
This year the winner was very clear "from the off". It streaked into the lead and never ever looked as if it would be pipped for first place. The interesting question was who was going to come second as places changed several times during the course of the poll.
Total Votes
The total votes cast in each category were as follows
Nature: 248 votes
Portrait: 227 votes
Place: 235 votes
Still Life: 223 votes
Final Placement
The placements were as follows:
'Gone' by Sarah Gillespie (Sarah Gillespie - Artist) Devon, UK | Charcoals and watercolour on Arches paper. 13" X 13" Original post: (Nominated by Katherine Tyrrell)
"O'Keeffers" by Karin Jurick (A Painting Today) USA | oil on panel, 9" x 12" Original post: (Nominated by Katherine Tyrrell)
"Galley Hill Allotments in the Snow" by Haidee-Jo Summers | Haidee-Jo Summers artist (UK) oil (Nominated by: Katherine Tyrrell)
Which means Sarah Gillespie is the 2013 Winner of the Best Picture Award.
I think it's worth quoting what Sarah said in the blog post in which she posted her drawing on her blog.
Over the past weeks, as a result of the exhibition TREE at Beaux Arts in London, I have been asked several times if there is a 'Japanese influence' to my work.
Sadly, I have never visited Japan but I own to a long-term interest in Buddhism and, more recently, the profound influence of two small books: In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki, and A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics by Donald Richie. In the latter, amongst many other elegant and subtle ideas, Richie discusses the term aware. Aware emphasises the wistful melancholy of the sympathetic response. It applies to that which moves one to an awareness of the ephemeral beauty of a world in which change is the only constant. The element of aware may move one to melancholy, awe, or quiet acceptance. Often such feelings run too deep for words
I hope that recent drawings have held this in mind.
Thank you again - to you all - for sending in nominations and for voting.
It just remains for me to wish you all..............
HAPPY NEW YEAR
MAY ALL YOUR ARTWORK ACTIVITIES BE FRUITFUL
AND I HOPE TO SEE SOME OF IT AT THE END OF NEXT YEAR ON THIS BLOG!
PS You can see all the other awardwinners by visiting this page Making A Mark Awards
"Getting out of the Studio" inThe 8th Making A Mark Art Blog Awardsis the category of awards for all those people who draw and paint outside their studio - sometimes producing finished sketches or paintings plein air and sometimes producing material to develop further in the studio.
They are:
The Painting Plein Air Plus Prize
The Travels with a Sketchbook Trophy
The Going Greener Gong
They're also awards for people who place an emphasis on sharing information.
You are invited to VOTE for
the Making A Mark Award
for the BEST PICTURE ON AN ART BLOG in 2013
There are FOUR polls below - please take your time and vote on each The results will be announced in a post on this blog on 31st December.
One will become Picture of the Year.....
The shortlist for Best Picture of an Art Blog 2013
On Christmas Eve I published the results of nominations in the FOUR different categories of the Best Picture on an Art Blog Award in FOUR separate posts.
Today I've drawn up the shortlist for voting via the Poll
I chose two works from the nominations
I then selected two works myself. The aim here is to give a balanced range of artwork to vote for in the Poll - with the criteria varying per category (e.g. media used, nationality of art blogger). I've also tried to reflect the artwork I've enjoyed during the year.
I've listed all four nominations in each category below. Within each category you will find
the award categories - and a commentary on that category
the shortlist - including an image and details of the artwork and details of who nominated the work
the poll
You now have four days to vote for which is the best artwork in each category.
HOW YOU CAN VOTE FOR
BEST PICTURE ON AN ART BLOG IN 2013
Please note: LOBBYING IS NOT ALLOWED. However a selected artist can a link to this post on their own blog and explain how to vote - in a post of their own blog.
Others can feel free to share a link to this vote if you want to encourage people to look at the options generally - but please do NOT tell people to vote for anybody specific. I've had to eliminate an entry from the poll in the past for votes being distorted by lobbying.
Vote for the artwork you like the best not the person you like the best!!!
You have one vote for each category - so make sure you get the result right first time as you'll be blocked from changing your vote.
The deadline for voting is 23.00 hours (GMT/London) on Monday 30th December 2013
I suggest you view larger sizes of the images before voting - right click on the image and it should open in a new tab in your browser - so you can see all the work properly.
Decide which picture you like best (see images below) in each of the FOUR different categories below and then vote in the poll relating to each category.
When you've voted you can then:
view the results by clicking on the 'view result' link in the bottom left hand corner (just above the polldaddy link).
see the percentages of the vote which each piece attracts - but not the number of votes.
share a link to any of the polls on your own blog. Just click the 'share this' link for the poll you'd like to share
The work which attracts the most votes in total is also declared PICTURE OF THE YEAR!
I will announce the winner of each category in the Best Picture - Making A Mark Awards in a post on Tuesday 31st December.
[Note: At the end I've made a note of the things which struck me as I was making my choice of paintings to nominate]
The Making a Mark Prize for Best Portrayal of a Place
on an Art Blog2013
aims to celebrate and highlight excellence in creating pictures
about places in our environment - both landscapes and interior scenes
The monochrome palette and the vertical and lateral lines in this painting are exceptionally strong. They're relieved by small dots and dashes of movement and highlights. It certainly leaves you feeling as if you're sitting in an urban traffic jam.
I've seen this painting in the recent ROI Exhibition - plus it was saved by the artist since January for this exhibition - and it sold straightaway. Haidee-Jo has an excellent eye for colour and tone and her draughtsmanship is pretty good too. She paints in a looser impressionistic way. One of the things I like particularly about the way she works is that she keeps going back to the same place and painting what is basically the same scene from slightly different perspectives and in different seasons.
"Afternoon Siesta" bySarah Wimperis | The Red Shoes(Cornwall)
This particular nomination relates to a painting which takes me straight back to that particular sunny place and a painting holiday in Provence in 2011. I also chose it because it seemed to me the place category needed a bit of sunlight! Sarah is also an excellent example of a painter who produces a lot of paintings which sell.
NOTE: ANSWERS ARE RANDOMISED - check the names carefully
__________________________
The Making a Mark Prize for Best Artwork about People
on an Art Blog2013
aims to celebrate and highlight excellence in portraiture and/or artwork
on an art blog predominantly involving figures
(right click the image and open in new tab to see a larger image)
I review at least three top notch portrait exhibitions each year as well as seeing a lot of paintings of people - as portraits and figurative work - in other exhibitions. I had two thoughts when trying to find artworks for me to nominate this year:
I was amazed at just how many people paint portraits as "heads" which have no background and no interesting lighting.
Where's the background which explains who this person is?
Why stop at just the head?
Why was this view the of an individual person chosen from the options available options?
I cannot tell you how depressing it is to view images on blogs which come up in response to specific queries on Google. There are far too many bad copies of photographs of celebrities!
There are far too few paintings of people which incorporate more than one person - and far too few that then locate them within a context
It continues to be very difficult to find people who create paintings of people which avoid cliche! I also noted a fair number of people creating paintings of people who really need to attend a life class. That said - when do find people who have developed their artistic practice and skills around portraying people you can find some of the most satisfying artwork around.
Post: Night Scene (10 November 2013)
Nominated by: Natasha Kimstach
It's very rare to see such an animated person in a person - which is the reason I selected this painting from those nominated. I also like the use of chiaruscuro and the fact that not all the features are in the light and the painting might have used a photograph for reference but is not hyper-realist photographic in style. The foreground of bottles and glasses looks natural and is a good foil for the rest of the painting - while adding in a subtle threat that this might be a man who is out of control.
Portraits executed in a landscape format appeal to me for some reason - maybe because the space around the head gives them room to breathe. I'm also very fond of portraits which use a Holbein Blue background although this one has not adopted the smooth and flat approach employed by Holbein.
Post: Collagraph: Breakfast Alarm Nominated by: Katherine Tyrrell (Making A Mark) Belinda del Pesco is a figurative artist rather than a portrait artist - which means she regularly creates artwork based on her observation of the things around her. This one ticks the boxes for grouping, context and not being afraid to portray a person while not showing all their face or features. What I like about this image is you get two 'portrait's for the price of one. It also has context and a reality which will amuse all cat owners who are very familiar with this particular tactic for getting breakfast served! Plus it's a collograph accented by the use of coloured pencils - and I always like people who explore the full range of media available to an artist.
This painting appealed to me for three reasons - first this painting also has more than one person and a context! Second, I'm a big fan of both Karin Jurick and her paintings. Third, I'm a big fan of Georgia O'Keeffe so to get both Karin and Georgia in one painting is fabulous! I was also greatly amused to learn from her post that both she and I spend time and effort on our floors in terms of colour, tonal value and reflections! I see so many paintings where people have filled the space in round the people in a fairly cursory way whereas people like Karin think about the whole space. Finally, Karin Jurick is also the mistress of the natural pose and the cut in with respect to negative painting. Her paintings repay careful study.
NOTE: ANSWERS ARE RANDOMISED - check the names carefully
__________________________
The Making a Mark Prize for Best Portrayal of Nature
on an Art Blog2013
values the natural world and its plants and animals
and celebrates excellence in portraying every aspect of nature
(right click the image and open in new tab to see a larger image)
Some strong nominations in this category this year and it was difficult picking the two to carry forward to the Poll. This year we're seeing more flowers and plants nominated in a category which has to date been dominated by the animals and birds.
I could select this painting just because it's a fine painting. However these awards are about by art bloggers and what also distinguishes this painting is the wealth of information contained in its associated blog post. Eunike repeats this process of writing about her artwork and providing excellent images in all her blog posts.
I love compilations with a theme - particularly if they're of natural items. Creating a pattern which varies line, form, colour and texture while at the same time maintaining unity is rather like a puzzle - and it's great when you see someone who has worked hard to arrive at her very effective solution. I like the way Claire takes us through a complete year and all the seasons in a welsh wood of oak trees.
I've had the pleasure in 2013 of seeing Sarah's work hanging in exhibitions and in my opinion, while images on her blog are excellent, they don't do justice to the work in real life. She never disappoints me. I also chose this work because it's monochrome and a drawing.
Many times I hear that wildlife artists have to work from photographs because they can't get close to or access to the wild animals. By way of contrast, I especially like artists who demonstrate to me, time and time again, that those who have an excellent eye and a practised hand can draw and paint plein air (often via a field telescope) if they do it enough (i.e. putting in the hours enables many people to become excellent at whatever you do). Museums also offer a wealth of opportunities to draw animals shapes from observation - and with the huge benefit that the animals do not move! These sketches - as a double page spread in a sketchbook - is an excellent example of the sort of keenly observed animal art I admire. I could have nominated any number of works from Federico's sketchbooks and blog but this one caught my eye because of the multiple subjects.
NOTE: ANSWERS ARE RANDOMISED - check the names carefully
__________________________
The Making a Mark Prize for Best Still Life
on an Art Blog 2013
aims to highlight and celebrate excellence in creating pictures
which help us to reflect on how the small and/or still can be beautiful
(right click the image and open in new tab to see a larger image)
In an era of apparently endless dayglo still life paintings it's really nice to see a painter who knows how to balance out hue and tone to best effect. I'm very impressed with the coloured grey!
Nominated by: Katherine Tyrrell (Making A Mark) Three very convincing truffles which have greater impact because of the space above them which allows them to have a presence. It's also nice to see the treatment given to what are in effect three simple spheres.
NOTE: ANSWERS ARE RANDOMISED - check the names carefully
__________________________
Notes on my choices
I started to make notes as I was looking for art to nominate and posted them to my Facebook Page - and I'm repeating them below.
It's fascinating how I can be reviewing images only (ie not names or media or price), and I think I spot a definite possible - only to find that it's somebody who has won in previous years who's not eligible!
I don't pick artists who are trying to copy the style of other artists - I'm looking for those who develop their own unique style
It's very frustrating when trying to pick out work to be totally unable to tell from the post whether or not this was produced in 2013. I note a fair few artists who I'm pretty certain are posting their archive.
The problem with artistic licence and 'faking it' is that somebody people know the view you're painting!
I've been finding painters who do remarkable work and have art blogs - but fail to post their work to their blogs!
I stop looking at art pretty quickly on blogs which have image files which are too big and load too slowly.
At the weekend, two more posts continue the Making A Mark Awards for Art Blogs. You can still nominate art blogs that you value for these awards - see the side column
