Want to watch the Portrait Artist of the Year 2023 being filmed?

As per usual the Heats of Portrait Artist of the Year are being filmed at the Battersea Arts Centre in April 2023. The Series 10 episodes will then be broadcast in the Autumn.

What it really looks like on "the set" when filming is taking place

This is what "the studio set-up" looks like rather a lot of the time. Judges talking to artist and cameraman, sound person and assorted others standing and sitting around. Other artists trying to concentrate and finish their painting. Spot the sitter!

However the way it's going to work will be DIFFERENT this year. See below for more information which includes:

• Venue: Battersea Arts Centre - and how to get there
• Dates: PAOTY Heats Series 10 x 6
• Be in the Audience: how to book to be there when the filming takes place

An empty Grand Hall, Battersea Arts centre - before the set-up and people arrive

Portrait Artist of the Year:
Series 10 - Filming of the Heats

Venue: Battersea Arts Centre

Battersea Arts Centre - on Lavender Hill

The address for Battersea Arts Centre is Lavender Hill London SW11 5TN. I know! No clue as to where.

However 

• this is the page about "how to find us" on the Battersea Arts Centre website
• if you go to Google Maps, this is the route from Clapham Junction, which is the nearest station - and the one I use when visiting - to Battersea Arts Centre
• for "non-Londoners" I find Citymapper a really good app for getting to a location in London from any other part of London. It's the one I use all the time and its estimates of time to allow are oretty good - so long as you use accurate intended depart times or arrival times and the correct day.

Invite to attend

The website for Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year has provision for people to sign up for notifications about the series - including when and where filming takes place.

That's the best way of keeping in touch with what's happening - and there are can be last minute changes on occasion.

The Public are invited to attend - particularly those who are fans and/or have previously entered but not got in. 

This year, Stuart Prebble (who runs Storyvault Films who make the series) has said that 

We are welcoming back an audience to watch art in action at the Battersea Arts Centre. Spaces will be limited so entry shall be on a first come first served basis for each date. This includes our family friendly day on the 18th of April. NB: Please be aware that “first come first served” does mean that you may arrive but not be admitted due to overcrowding.

After feedback from people in the Facebook Fan Group who said that they wouldn't want to travel long distance and then find they couldn't get in and/or can't afford a hotel to be sure of getting there early in the morning, the arrangements have been changed relative to previous years.

We have revised our arrangements for admitting the public to the recordings of Portraits. We have decided to offer 2 sessions a day for members of the public to come along to watch the filming of PAOTY Series 10 at Battersea Arts Centre.

We will be welcoming audience on to the set both in the morning (arrival of 8:45am) and the afternoon (arrival of 1:10pm). Please can you register which session you would like to attend by email to portrait@artistoftheyear.co.uk

Please note, if you would like to attend the entire day, apply for both the morning and afternoon sessions and we will try our best to accommodate your request.

Dates of the Heats

This year the dates for the filming at Battersea Arts Centre are listed below.

By the way, the order of the Heats - as filmed - is NOT the order of the heats as shown in the episodes.

There are eight heats - which means one of them will be for Celebrity PAOTY - but they don't say which one!

WEEK 1

• Tuesday 18th April (family friendly) AM or PM Family friendly means small children are welcome. Which I take to mean, by implication, not so much on other dates! Don't forget it's a film set so wailing babies or very noisy kids may well need to be removed from the Hall because of the sound.
• Wednesday 19th April AM or PM
• Thursday 20th April AM or PM
• Friday 21st April AM or PM

WEEK 2

• Monday 24th April AM or PM
• Tuesday 25th April AM or PM
• Wednesday 26th April AM or PM
• Thursday 27th April AM or PM 

WEEK 3

The semi Final is interesting - but more difficult to see what's happening because they're all looking at one sitter - and they're at a fair old distance! Plus cameras need space to get in front of / at the side of and behind each artist!

The challenge is to try and work out which three will go through to the Final - based on the heat portraits at the back of the hall and the portraits of the celebrity sitter being developed in front of you. I picked all three correctly when I attended this semi-final!

Look at the distance between easels and sitter

• Wednesday 3rd May (semi final) AM or PM

Reviewing the semi final portraits of Elaine Page in April 2019
for PAOTY 2020

WEEK 4

The Final has traditionally been filmed at the National Portrait Gallery - but it doesn't reopen for another two months so the Final is at Battersea.

• Thursday 18th May (final) AM or PM

There are facilities on site for getting refreshments - but there can be long queues so you may think it better to bring your own.  

It's also a VERY long day. It starts early and finishes late. You need to factor that in if staying for the afternoon session

Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2023: Last Call for Entries

I missed the announcement of the Call for Entries for the £10,000 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2023 - hence why this is a "Last Call for Entries" as the deadline for all entries is Midnight on the 31st March 2023!

From the artworks submitted the 2023 prize judges will select 

• a winner of the £10,000 Ruth Borchard Prize and 
• a number of distinguished entries will be acquired for the Next Generation Collection.

Before you start reading you might want to know that 

• the fee for an entry is £38 and 
• this competition attracts artists from across the spectrum including professional and prize-winning portrait artists.

If you're interested, you can see examples of the works selected to hang in the exhibition of the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2019 at The Kings Place - in an album on my Facebook Page.

one wall in the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize 2019 Exhibition
at The Kings Place, Kings Cross, London

Who can enter?

All ages and abilities can enter. Individuals under the age of 16 wishing to enter are required to have consent from a parent or legal guardian.

Artists of all backgrounds, established and emerging, are invited to enter. Even if this is your first ever self-portrait or artistic creation we welcome your contribution.

What can you enter?

You can use any size and medium. I've seen some huge works in past exhibitions!

However these are the details in the T&Cs

• The artwork must be a self-portrait. 
• All variations of work – figurative or abstract, alone or in a group, from life or from memory – will be accepted.
• The artwork must have been created in the year of or after 2000.
• There are no restrictions of size of work.
• Multi-part works, i.e. works in the form of a diptych or triptych etc., are eligible and will be regarded as one work.

We welcome a wide variety of media, including but not restricted to; painting, drawing, digital art, photography, sculpture, tapestry and ceramics. 

an exhibitor in the 2019 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize Exhibition
(happy to give credits if anybody recognises the work)

How to enter

All works must be submitted online via the Self Portrait Prize Zealous portal. Access to the portal can be found at: https://ruthborchard.org.uk/self-portrait-prize/

You can enter more than once - but every entry requires a separate submission.

To enter you MUST:

• upload a high quality image of your self portrait
• provide all the details about the artwork
• complete the application form and agreement to T&Cs. This needs to include as supporting information:
• Artistic Statement – maximum 200 words – this is a space for you to tell the judges anything you feel is relevant to the application and/or about you or your artwork.
• CV (optional) - Whether you are a full time professional artist or have a completely alternative career the option to upload a CV allows the judges to find out more about the individual behind the artwork
• gallery representation (optional - not considered as part of the judging process - which suggest the above two are!)
• personal details and contact information
• pay the fee for entry

This is £38.00 from a UK based bank account and £48.00 if payment is being made from overseas.2 Ruth Borchard Collection and Self-Portrait Prize are funded by a charitable foundation and the submission fee goes a small way to covering the cost of running the Prize.

View of the 2015 Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2015 Exhibition at Piano Nobile

If selected, how your work will be exhibited

From the submissions 250 artists will be invited to participate in an exclusive online selling exhibition. Shared and promoted via 

• an exclusive Ruth Borchard Collection virtual gallery and 
• Artsy online viewing room 

this gives artists the opportunity to have their work seen by international collectors.

If you win your artwork will hang in a curated selection of distinguished and shortlisted artworks to be exhibited at The Atkinson Museum, Southport, from September - December 2023. The exhibition will coincide with the Liverpool Arts Biennial.

The last exhibition in 2021 was at Coventry Cathedral.

So far as I'm aware there's no plans to bring any sort of physical exhibition to London.

The Judges

 The judges include 

• Gabriele Finaldi (Director of the National Gallery), 
• Melanie Gerlis (Financial Times Art Market Columnist), 
• Andrea Rose (former Director of the British Council), 
• Stephen Whittle (Principal Manager The Atkinson Museum), 
• Lucy Jones (2021 Prize Winner) and 
• David Borchard (grandson of Ruth Borchard)

These are the Judges from 2021 talking about the artwork entered into the exhibition. It gives you an insight into how Judges can look at artwork and what their expectations are - albeit this year those views might all be different because it's a different set of Judges.

Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2021 film from Ruth Borchard Collection on Vimeo.

How artists are selected for PAOTY or LAOTY

This post is about how artists get selected by the Judges for the Artist of the Year competitions on Sky Arts - and how the communication process works.

My next post is about how to watch the heats of Series 10  being filmed in April.

Judges deliberating during a heat at Battersea Arts Centre
with a self-portrait I remember very well in the background

This week people who applied for Portrait Artist of the Year have been getting their notifications as to whether or not they've made it into Series 10 which is due to start filming in April.

As usual, for those who've not got selected  the sentiments range from 

• phlegmatic and stoic ("I'll just apply again next year - and go paint another self-portrait") 
• to sad ("Again!") 
• and then there are some who are rather irritated and imagine all sorts of dire reasons why they've not been selected!!

For the record there's a LOT of people who do end up in heats who did not get in the first time they applied - so do not despair if you got the "not successful" letter

How artists are selected for PAOTY or LAOTY

Today's post is going to be about how artists are selected to avoid some of the rumours which periodically do the rounds in relation to why some people get chosen and others do not.

Stuart Prebble, the Chairman of Storyvault Films, the independent television company who make the series for Sky Arts has explained how selection works

Hi. May I take the opportunity to clarify the processes carried out for selecting the artists who appear in both Landscape and Portrait Artist of the Year? I do so because I have seen one or two inaccurate or misleading claims - and I'm keen to put them right. Stuart Prebble

and 

we know that artists entering our competition go to enormous trouble to do so, and we want to reassure everyone that the selection process is fair, thorough and has integrity. Stuart Prebble

Here's my bullet point summary of what he said because his was a very lengthy explanation . It's got my commentary after stages/points in burnt orange.

What The Judges Do

• Every Judge looks at every single one of the self portraits submitted
• In most cases, they also look at the second and third artworks

(I'd take this to mean you can't redeem a bad self-portrait, but second and third works should do what they're intended to do and will help establish whether a "possible" artist should go forward or not)

• Each Judge looks at all the self portraits on their own.
• They give a tick to every artist they think should go through.

(They will be looking at the digital images wherever they do their quiet focused work. I've done this myself when judging other art competitions and to do it properly you really don't want to be anywhere with distractions as you need to stay very focused to get through all the submissions. I understand there's been about 1,200 entries this year)

• Subsequently they all meet together and every entry is reviewed again in terms of the ticks awarded while working solo
• All entries which receive three ticks are likely to go through automatically

(I'm guessing somebody will then tell them how many of the 72 places for Heat Artists artists (eight heats in 2023 x 9 artists in each heat) they have filled - and how many more they need to fill. I'd love to know how many of the three tick people end up winning heats!)

• The Judges then review all artists receiving two ticks and discuss their merits. This is to see whether any Judge wants to change their mind and add or remove a tick.
• Finally, they then review all the artists with only one tick - and the judge awarding the tick gets the opportunity to make a case.

(Ultimately how much time they spend on each 'tick section' depends on:

• how many places need to be filled. 
• the calibre of the entry
• the number of artists awarded three or two ticks)

• Producers are available to provide any information about the artist that is requested. However they play no part in the selection process

(Unlike reality shows, where you can work out the 'characters' which have been cast!)

What the Producers do

After the selection has been made, there are more jobs which need to be done before artists can be informed

• Artists have to be allocated to heats. 
• Producers try to get an interesting mix taking account of factors like media they use, gender and age

(I'm guessing they also probably mix up the three tick people with the two tick peole so that they don't have all the ones who look like they might be really good in the same heat! Sometimes they get this right and sometimes they don't - and we all notice when this happens! I've never ever noticed any predisposition to allocate people to the heat which is local to where they live. I make a point of recording where they come from and it's always very mixed)

• Successful Artists then have to be contacted. 
• They check details and availability and then take 48 hours to try to contact the artist. 
• They can cease trying to contact an artist if not contacted within that time - and move on.

(You get a message to ring a number if you don't answer your phone. Now Stuart maintains that they can't remember a time when they've been unable to contact an artist. However, I had somebody wrote to me recently who had a very good reason why she couldn't be contacted by phone - but presumably forgot to explain this clearly in her submission! So her phone got the message but she didn't have access to it and couldn't ring back within the 48 hours. Now she may of course have been mistaken and the message was about something else completely.  I'll follow up with Stuart on this individual who contacted me. I've seen the self portrait and the supporting artwork so I'm clear she entered)

• Next everybody who has not been successful gets an email to say they have been unsuccessful this time.

This doesn't mean that their work is inferior in any way at all - we all know that art appreciation is entirely subjective, and we rely on the opinions of our expert judges - who have done a difficult but excellent job for nearly ten years of the series.

Stuart Prebble

(I've seen them. They're very helpful and supportive emails)

OVERALL my conclusion is that they're running a very fair system.  It's also a pretty standard system these days for a lot of art competitions - albeit there can be variations on a theme elsewhere.

Splitting individual views from the group process used to select people for the heats is a very good idea. It avoids "Groupthink" - which can occur when people sit in groups and look at images on a screen - as happens at many art society selections "in person". 

Fortunately the Pandemic has now got lots of judges very used to independently screening and assessing digital images online on their own before they ever get to contribute to the next stage!

They're also not using other people to screen out the 'total no hopers' (i.e. people whose artwork is very adrift from the calibre of artist they're wanting to see in the Heats.) I know that this does occurs in some other art competitions (I'm not naming names!) - and frankly with some you need to do this because of the sheer amount of poor quality work which can be submitted. Bear in mind in other art competitions, a number of the Judges will be working for free - which I don't think applies in this instance - and to get them to judge, organisers need to keep the time required to something reasonable!

My one recommendation would be that I think that it would be very useful if an explanation of how the selection and notification process works could be online and available to all to view. I think this would be very well received by all those interested in applying. 

Call for Entries: UKCPS Annual Open International Exhibition 2023

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

Awards

There are a number of awards

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

Terms and Conditions of Entry

The call has gone out for submissions to the exhibition.

The deadline for entries is 15th June 2023.

Who can enter?

Any artist can enter this exhibition if 

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

What can you enter?

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

The artwork MUST be 

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

AND

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

Artwork is ineligible IF any one of the following apply:

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

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

copyright Curtis Holder 
Coloured Pencil over acrylic gouache

How to enter

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

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

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

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

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

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

Entry fees are as follows

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

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

Selection

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

Money Laundering, NFTs and artists selling their own work.

NEW WEBPAGE: Money Laundering and the Art Market

Back in April 2021, I wrote about how I needed to update my Art Business Info for Artists website for new law, rules and regulations for the Art Business and Artists.
For example:

• completely new law and regulations relating to Money Laundering in the Art Market

• updates for existing law and regulation eg international trade and shipping for post Brexit ramifications (some is done - but this is still a work in progress as things work their way through - I'm waiting for the resolution of the Irish angle)

I started my Money Laundering Page - but it soon became clear that there were going to be a lot more developments so I held off from Publishing.

A number of other industry sectors, such as banking, have long been the subject of an anti-money laundering regulatory framework. The reason for now extending that framework to the art market is a concern that the art market could be used by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime such as drug trafficking, modern slavery, tax evasion, corruption or theft.

Today I published the new page - in part in response to an artist friend who wrote to me about the nuisance (scam) communications relating to NFTs - to which my response was "they're scams - it's all about money laundering!" 

However to write about the NFTs I needed to provide some context in terms of the MEGA changes in law and regulations which MUST now be complied with by a variety of those who are active players in the art market - so I can highlight how most NFTs approaches to artists are linked to money laundering. 

It's all about a very welcome exemption from the Regulations for artists trading their own art.

NEW: Money Laundering & the Art Market

So this is my new page: Money Laundering & the Art Market: Anti Money Laundering (AML): Law, Regulations and Practice

Plus here's the main reason why I held off.......

• The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019 took effect on 10th January 2020. This introduced the notion of the Art Market Participant who must comply with the regulations
• The 2019 Regulations indicate that the definition of Art Market Participants (AMPs) is as follows

  “a firm or sole practitioner who by way of business trades in, or acts as an intermediary in the sale or purchase of, works of art and the value of the transaction, or a series of linked transactions, amounts to 10,000 euros or more”

• In 2022, the Money Laundering Regulations related to the draft legislation recorded the fact artists are not included as AMPs 

The changes introduced mean that from 10 January 2020, AMPs as defined in the MLRs (which excludes artists selling their own work (my underlining) – see paragraph 19 below) must: 

• Register with HMRC before they carry on with their business, where this involves a transaction of 10,000 euros or more, or a series of linked transactions of 10,000 euros or more 
• Carry out a written risk assessment of the extent to which they are exposed to money laundering 
• Maintain a written prescribed range of policies, controls and procedures 
• Carry out CDD measures on customers before they conclude a transaction 
• Appoint a nominated officer 
• Train staff appropriately 
• Report suspicious transactions to the authorities 
• Keep appropriate records of CDD and of transaction

• Last month (6th February 2023), the British Art Market Federation's Guidance on Anti Money Laundering for Art Market Participants - approved by HMRC - was published and is the current up to date summary of how the law now works for different organisations and people participating in the art market and selling art.

This is the relevant link to the supporting HMRC Page Guidance - Money laundering supervision for art market participants

This is the new guidance on artists in relation to AMPs ( my bold )

19. Artists selling their own work, whether as an individual/sole practitioner or through a business they own, are not within the scope of the MLRs, and so are not required to register as an AMP. This extends to sales of an artist’s own work through their business, which only sells their work (but not for sales of other artists’ work if also sold through their business). Similarly, sales out of an artist’s estate, or sales of an artist’s work by someone employed by the artist, or the artist’s business, to sell the artist’s work, are not within scope of the MLRs.

How this affects artists and NFTs

The major change affecting artists is that artists are now NOT identified as "art market participants" (AMPs - who must register and comply with all the legislation) any more IF they are only selling their own art.

It's odd how artists are now being bombarded - mainly via Instagram - with requests to make their artwork available for NFTs.

Hence, given they are excluded from the monitoring requirements, artists are now prime targets for those wanting to launder money.

So if you are one of those being bombarded with NFT requests:

• just be aware, and stay away from unconventional sales of unconventional art commodities if you want to play it safe and avoid being involved with money laundering.
• make NFT a term which means that a message cannot be sent to you
• ALWAYS check that you know who you are dealing with - particularly if the transaction is international.

NOTE: I've still to do a detailed note and update about NFTs for the Money Laundering page.