British Museum: Prints and Drawings - The Solution!

Yesterday I highlighted the problems with accessing the Virtual Gallery of the Prints and Drawings held in the permanent collection of the British Museum. 

Today I have the solution

This page provides the Collection search guide.  It's one of those guides which provides a lot of information for what is obviously a really big database of images.

Collection online has been completely redeveloped, making it much easier to find what you want. It allows access to almost four and a half million objects in more than two million records. The search is more intuitive and now offers suggestions as you type.

Unfortunately they completely forgot to provide a shorthand version - with links to certain specific types of drawings e.g Drawings or Prints.

It's almost as if 

• they've started off from the perspective of the complexity of their collection 
• rather than 
• EITHER asking people what they'd like to search for 
• OR done any analysis of the search queries that bring people to the British Museum website. 

The latter is the one which keeps me on my toes in terms of me tweaking my own website to make the most popular also the most accessible!

Progressive refinement of key words and filters

However if you start at this Explore the Collection Page and put "drawings" in the search window you get this

• So I then selected "objects" as the filter type on the left - and got a lot of objects some of which clearly were NOT drawings. So I think I'd suggest a quality audit of the referencing by key words!
• Rather annoyingly the feedback link for the individual pages which are not relevant to drawing goes to the "Sorry we can't find that page" - suggesting somebody needs to do a major audit for DEAD LINKS!!

Started again and selected 'paper' as the filter (under 'drawings') and got a rather better set of results

I then added 'flower' as an additional key word - and got an even better set of results - given I'm particularly interested in flower / botanical drawings and came across some 17th century Persian Drawings of flowers that I've never ever seen before.

Artists

I next tried Artists. The trick appears to be quite precise as to what you want to see - and remember/spell names correctly!

Do NOT use quotation marks around the artist's name - I got a nil result when I tried it with one artist.

So for example, if you add in an artist's name e.g. Thomas Rowlandson - you get a great collection of Rowlandson's pen and ink and wash drawings

I added in Ehret and got nine examples of works by or associated with one of my heroes Georg Ehret ( see About Georg Ehret on my website) 

The quality of the digital image is FABULOUS!  But you must first click on the image, go to its individual page and use the plus (+) icons to go in as far as the image will let you.

Drawn by Georg Dionysius Ehret
collection of the British Museum

I tried again and inserted Joseph Mallord William Turner and got some fabulous watercolour sketches and painting which allow you to see his technique up close. 

crop of a Topographic representation of: River Washburn by Joseph William Mallord Turner collection of the British Museum

The total number of items related to Turner exceeds 3,000!  That's because - although he painted a LOT - the search query also picked up people like John Sell Cotman who created drawings "after Turner".

Conclusion

There is undoubtedly lots of wonderful things to see in database of digitized images of items in the Permanent Collection of the British Museum.

For me it'll be one of those links I'll bookmark and try out while having a cup of tea - to see what comes up under different queries and keywords. I think there are lots of surprises.....

Here's a few more I found 

• Hindu and Persian Miniatures and Penmanship
• Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual
• Tempera
• Rembrandt (3,206 objects)

One interesting fact - there are 12,595 objects related to Painting - but only 200 of these are oil paintings - one of which is a very fine paintings of Portrait of: Dr Robert Anderson (Director of the BM) by Tom Phillips RA who has 55 items in the British Museum.

It's the ultimate surfing sinkhole!

Life Drawing Live on BBC4 tomorrow

I forgot to include Life Drawing Live when I did my compilation of Art On Demand during the Pandemic #1 - British TV

Drawing the Nation Together is a new episode of Life Drawing Live and will be broadcast at 8pm on BBC4. Unfortunately if it's like last time you will be unable to see it later (unlike the Sky Arts portrait video arrangement).

The groundbreaking Life Drawing Live! returns to BBC Four, drawing the UK’s four nations together in the biggest-ever live, life drawing class. There has never been a better time to collectively get those creative juices flowing, as presenter and artist Josie d’Arby is joined by experts Lachlan Goudie, Diana Ali and Nicky Philipps to share their passion and knowledge in this inspiring event.

Viewers will be able to watch live and draw along, as amateur artists at home and in our socially distanced studio, capture a series of life model poses, based on classical works of art. Class starts at 8.00pm and is open to everyone with artistic skills, and those who think they have none, to pick up a pencil and draw!

BBC4 tried out Life Drawing Live earlier this year.
READ my two blog posts - before and after - earlier this year

• Views about the Nude and Life Drawing Live - on BBC next week
• Live Drawing Live - my results and conclusions

This time it's going to be a bit different - as Lachlan Goudie explains below



However

• there's absolutely NO INFORMATION ON THE BBC4 WEBSITE about how to access the screen on which you can see the model continuously during the programme
• assuming that it works in a similar way to last time - but with social distancing due to the pandemic - this is what you will need to do (see video below). You'll be using the red button on your computer.

No need to be 2 metres from your screen though!



I recommend you watch the programme on one screen and have the model on the red button on another screen.

Katie Sollohub wins Derwent Art Prize 2020

Yesterday the Prizewinners in the 5th Derwent Art Prize - sponsored by Derwent were announced.  See Derwent blog post.

This blog post is about the prizewinners, the exhibition and how you can vote for the People's Choice Award.

Plus a comment about the experience of viewing competition artwork as a digital file in 3D software

Prizewinners

• see the artworks which won prizes 
• find out about the artists who created them

Exhibition

• find out about the new arrangements for the exhibition in the current coronavirus context
• learn how to view the exhibition online
• issues arising from digital images and 3D software

People's Choice Award

• learn how to vote for your favourite artwork in the online exhibition

This was my blog post about the Call for Entries - 5th Derwent Art Prize 2020. You can see more blog posts about past Derwent art prize exhibitions at the end of this blog post.

Prizewinners

The first thing that struck me was that the Derwent Art Prize is now very much an international prize and one seen as prestigious to the careers of young up and coming illustrators.

Two of the prizewinners - the winners of the Young Artist Awards - are both Chinese - although one currently lives in the USA.

The next thing which struck me was that both winners of the main awards are women. (Cheers!)

I can't think what's happened to men who use drawing materials - but I dare say there are a fair few in the exhibition (of which more below)

First Prize

The First Prize of £4,000 plus a year’s supply of Derwent products was awarded to Blue Bedchamber (Strawberry Hill House) by Katie Sollohub

Winner of Derwent Art Prize First Prize
Blue Bedchamber (Strawberry Hill House), 2017 by Katie Sollohub
60 x 84cm cm (h x w), charcoal on paper
£850

Effortlessly evoking a feeling of light and breeze, her winning piece represents Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham, a heritage site where she worked in 2017.

• Nationality:  British
• Occupation: 
• artist (in residency or working on commission / "roaming residencies") and 
• art teacher (teaching art to all ages for over 20 years)
• Current home: Shoreham on Sea, Sussex
• Art education: studied Social Anthropology at Sussex University and Fine Art at Northbrook College
• Previous appearances in this award: none
• Website: https://www.katiesollohub.co.uk/
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KatieSollohubsCreativeJourneys/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiesollohub/
• Twitter https://twitter.com/katiesollohub
• Previous Competitions: Lynn Painter Stainers Prize (2015-2016); ING Discerning Eye (2015); RA Summer Show
• Previous Awards: Awarded £9,500 grant from Arts Council England to undertake Guest in Turner’s House residency, Twickenham
• Title / Media: Blue Bedchamber (Strawberry Hill House) 2017, 60 x 84cm cm (h x w), charcoal on paper

Her interests include

• documenting and recording the places she lives and works in through drawings, paintings, performance, photography and poetry.
• drawing and painting the interiors of buildings - on commission

Katie’s work explores the narrative components surrounding objects, memories, interior and exterior spaces, brought to life with her spectacular use of colour and detail.

As a teacher she champions drawing as a fundamental element of art practice.

A List of UK based Online Art Suppliers

A list of online suppliers of fine art materials in the UK

Due to the closure of all non essential shops as from this morning, all art shops you can visit in the UK should now be closed - which means ordering online or via email or telephone to replenish your supplies of whatever you need for your art.  Or working your way through the stock of art materials you've been building up for some time! ;)

I made a list a little while back of online suppliers for a website I'm building about Fine Art Materials - paints, pastels, pencils, paper, canvases, art equipment etc.

Unlike my list of art shops (which is ordered geographically), this list of online suppliers is organised alphabetically - because of course it doesn't matter where you live or where they are based so long as they can ship to you.You can find that list below. I've not checked every detail of what I've written - but every link should be live.

If you have more online art supplies retailers to recommend please leave a comment - with name and url address and WHY you recommend that supplier.

UPDATEL 25 MARCH 2020: I've updated this morning for links or notes about what websites are saying re Covid-19 Updates

(I've reopened comments and am sincerely hoping I'm not going to go back to the spamfest of the past!!) 

Banner for the as yet unpublished "UK Art Shops and Online Art Supplies"

Important notes

• Pricing: Online suppliers can choose to offer deep discounts on prices found in retail stores. 

• Suppliers who have both retail and online supplies may have two different pricing structures and/or deals which are only available online. 
• Overseas customers should remember to check with their Customs whether they will have any import tax to pay.

• Check the shipping costs and agents used - What might seem cheap on an item by item basis may start to look a lot more expensive by the time you've added in the shipping. 

• Work out what is the best size of order to take advantage of any deals on free shipping. 
• Beware suppliers who use UPS - they have been known to say they called when the artist was at home and knew they hadn't.  Check who the online supplier uses for deliveries.

I've had a twitter reply from UPS to say consider it "lost in transit"
an artist I know 

• You have the option if your supplier is local to choose your own courier to pick up direct from the retailer (if they will allow this). 

• Coronavirus has generated a lot of orders - It's apparent that some of the art suppliers are being overwhelmed with orders for art material for kids. So if you need any art supplies I wouldn't leave it to the last minute - or you might like to try a new supplier who doesn't stock art materials suitable for kids.

• Europe is no longer shipping supplies - so if you want supplies from European suppliers yu'd be well advised to order sooner rather than later - but PLEASE do not order more than you need and DO NOT HOARD!

Attention online suppliers of art materials and equipment!

I will be noting the artists who write and comment either online or via private emails/messages to be about performance.
So if you don't want an adverse comment on your company as a supplier of fine art materials do try to make sure 

• you stick to your delivery timescales 
• and/or make sure art supplies actually arrive!

A

• A.P. Fitzpatrick Fine Art Materials - A unique, specialist art materials store in Bethnal Green close to the very many galleries and artists' studios in the East End of London.  Shop online from specialist supplie Covid-19 Update: All shop business including online sales temporarily SUSPENDED as of 21.03.20.
• Art Discount - Online store for art supplies, craft materials and artist's equipment. They claim massive discounts and speedy delivery. They use reputable carrier services who require a signature on delivery Covid-19 Update: online store is open and operational as usual, UK delivery services remain largely unaffected at this point.
  Unfortunately due to the current circumstances we will not be able to take any further orders for Winsor & Newton Canvases
• Artesaver - Artesaver - The online site for Seawhite. Art Materials at Factory Prices. Art and design equipment and supplies, sketchbooks, holdalls, foamboard, presentation etc... all at competitive prices. (Linked to Seawhite of Brighton - see retail section)
• ArtiFolk - all your art supplies under one roof in the UK. The prices you see are what you pay, no VAT to add, and post and packing only if you spend less than £40 (UK Mainland). You can order online and use either our secure payment facility or pay. Very good reviews.
• Artistmaterial - online home of Turnham Arts & Crafts based at 2 Bedford Park Corner, Turnham Green Terrace, London W4 1LS Tel: +44 20 8995 2872. Covid-19 Update: you can continue to place orders online but there may be delays in delivery