Winding down for summer - and what I've been up to

You may have noticed I'm posting less.  This is why and what else I've been doing.

It's very much a response to 

• a remarkable run of good weather - and a marked preference for being out and about and visiting places we love (mainly gardens!) rather than indoors writing!
• an extremely busy time between May and now with various important exhibitions that I love and meeting up with lots and lots of artists I tend to only see once a year
• getting older - as very busy times - with lots of photography and lots of writing - leave me rather more tired than I'd like
• a need sometimes to take "a breather" - time out from a regular routine for more "head space"

Plus as the school holidays come along, you all disappear on your holidays! So fewer people reading and responding (via Facebook to what I post).

So this is by way of saying I'm going to continue to post through August - but it will continue to be infrequent - before September revs back into action!

Anyway, here's a few photos of what I've been getting up to since May

I've also uploaded a phenomenal amount of photos I've been taking in exhibitions to albums on my Facebook Pages since May. - see Making A Mark (FB) and Botanical Art and Artists (FB)

With three of my fellow Judges of the SBA Fellow Art Grant Award
at the Society of Botanical Art (SBA) Annual Exhibition Plantae 2025
at a special PV on 27 May

This week, I've been drafting revised guidelines and application form - for review - for the next SBA Fellow Art Grant Award which opens for applications in September - when, as Head Judge, I give an online talk about it. Which I've yet to write!

With Sarah Gardner SBAF - and her painting which was a joint winner of
the CPGFS Botanical Art Award - at the PV for Plantae 2025

August is also my month off from being Treasurer of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society!

The Society of Botanical Artists' 40th Anniversary exhibition Plantae 2025 is probably the biggest and best botanical art exhibition by an art society that I have seen in years.

See 

Portraits of Children: Yvadney and her daughter at the NPG

Yvadney Davis and her daughter will be seen by rather a lot of people around London over the next couple of months.

"Inset Day" (2025) by Yvadney Davis
- and Yvadney with her daughter at the Portrait Award Exhibition
at the National Portrait Gallery

my self-portrait exploring my feelings around being an artist mum, balancing self expression with duty, priorities… legacy.

That's because "Inset Day" - a portrait of choices to made at at home when the teachers need training (roll eyes!) - is being used as one of the feature portraits marketing the Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

It's also currently the feature image on the website for the exhibition!

Yvadney's daughter was at school on the morning of the Press View - so could not be there to be photographed with her mum and Mum's portrait of the two of them.  There's a very funny story about what stopped their first planned trip  to view the painting together - which I’d love to share, but I won’t!

However school has now finished and Yvadney took her daughter to the National Portrait Gallery recently to show her "her portrait" and for both of them to have their photograph taken in the NPG with the portrait! (I'm sure she's got some at home of the them both with the portrait before it made it to the NPG!)

I gather visitors were very taken with the notion that they were seeing both subjects and the artist and that they both got a lot of attention during the visit. I think you'll agree they both look like they enjoyed themselves a lot. I love watching the double takes you get from gallery visitors when you see people realising they're seeing the people in the portrait!

What with all the parents which get painted, the Portrait Award sometimes feels a bit like a family affair.

I'll be interested to see which portrait wins the Visitors Choice Award. I've got a feeling this one might in the running along with a couple of others. Although I'm much better at picking the First Prize Winners than the Visitors' Choice Award Winners!

@yvadneydavisart has a background as a fashion stylist and did her Art Foundation, Camberwell School of Art, 2000 followed by a Fashion Bachelor of Arts, Central Saint Martins, 2004 and went on to a career in fashion. During the Pandemic, she returned to her love of painting during the pandemic and recently has developed her art from a lockdown hobby to an award winning practice. She celebrates Caribbean heritage and the Windrush generation and uses old wallpaper for her support. Since taking up painting and portraiture her artwork has been selected for a number of competitions in the last three years. She also featured in the semi final of Portrait Artist of the Year 2023

Photos of children with their portrait in the NPG

I've got a bit of a history of meeting children with their parents in relation to portraits selected for the exhibition. Some of them I get to meet again a few years later when they're back again with parent to see the latest portrait selected

I think Samantha Fellows holds the "Making A Mark record for most children in a portrait photographed in the NPG by me" - when viewing the latest selected portrait! Of which more below

How to develop large scale hyperrealistic graphite drawings

For all those interested in developing their skills in large scale hyperrealistic drawing with graphite. Which, as it happens, is a pretty niche field.

I've just discovered - via a recommendation from an artist I greatly respect - Jono Dry and his amazing drawings. Not that I'm any sort of fan of the surreal content of his typical subject matter - but I do appreciate somebody who has developed his skills with graphite to this level.

This video has only had nearly 14 million+ views!

Dry has devoted his practice to pushing the medium of graphite. With experimentation as a fundamental aspect of hyperrealism, a sense of play and precision is kept at the core of his practice.

I very much like the educational ethos of a lot of the work he does. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: A lot of artists trying to work out how to teach online will appreciate this video.

I also respect an artist who has worked out how to monetise his drawing practice in terms of:

• limited edition prints of his artwork
• educational videos via YouTube (all those views add up!) - which include lots of practical tips about studio equipment and building a business
• developing a Patreon community

Dry has built a dedicated Youtube channel focused on the output of educational videos showing specific aspects of the drawing process, as well as sharing tools to build a business in the creative industry.

Interesting also that he declines to take on commissions.

What to do about artists who "rip off" or "pass off" your art?

Over the last 20 years of writing this blog I've seen very many examples of artists ripping off other artists (or art societies) - or "passing off" other artists' work as their own - and I've written about this, sometimes at length. (see the reference section at the end)

Yesterday another example was sent to me - which is now "done and dusted" but was drawn to my attention and I thought was worth highlighting to you all. However I thought it might be more useful to put some context around it.

This post is about

• WHAT IS "ripping off" or "passing off" in the context of art - examining definitions of:
• forgery
• imitation
• passing off
• WHAT HAPPENED in the latest example
• TOP TIPS for what to do should artwork being copied happen to you or your friends.

[NOTE: This post has been amended since first published]

Who are artists who "rip-off" or "pass off"?

Portrait Award 2025 - Artists with their paintings

The popularity of my "Artists with their Portraits" post every year - in relation to the Portrait Award Exhibition - is a great incentive to get as many pics as I can.

What my photographs help you to do - which the online gallery does NOT - is to see the size of the painting relative to the artist who painted it.

Inevitably, I don't manage to capture every artist. Although I've got most....

(Mainly, I think, because very many of the artists had not yet realised that the badge they get give to wear which says "artist" on it has a PURPOSE! ie. it enables all the journalists to recognise all those who have painted a portrait in the exhibition - so you can ask for a photo!)

At least this Press Preview morning was limited to the artists and their sitters and the press. Which was a HUGE improvement on past years where all the "hangers on" came along as well and well and truly got in the way.

So here are all the portraits of Artists with their Portraits. 
WARNING: This is A MAMMOTH POST and not a quick read. You will need sustenance to get to the end!

It provides:

• my photo of the artist with their painting
• LINKS for those who might wish to view/follow their work:
• website links are embedded in the artist's name - followed by their Instagram site 
• followed by text in quotes that has been written by somebody from information supplied by the artists but the author has included a few conclusions of their own and certainly has not understood all the words they used! See if you can work out which one I mean. The answer will be on Facebook in a few days
• Summary of education and appearances in exhibitions etc.

The latter might give some insight to aspiring artists as to the level of education and experience of most artists who are selected. That said, some are self taught and for at least one artist, this is their first exhibition!

Last year I organised my photos and associated artists in groups by country they live in.  

This year I'm organising the artists into groups by the TYPE OF SITTER - as follows

• Self Portraits
• Portraits of Parents and Children
• Portraits of Women
• Portraits of Men
• Portraits of Groups

The prizewinners come at the end of their relevant group.

Hopefully this will provide some insight into the very different ways people portray people who are "similar".

Self Portraits

I'm going to start with a couple of my favourites. The first is complex and needs three images! The second has a story behind it.

Shinji Ihara (Japan)

Light and Shadow (2025) By Shinji Ihara
Oil on canvas
(his self portrait appears in the shadow at the top - and....)

Shinji Ihara was in last year's Portrait Award with an absolutely stunning painting. He's returned this year with another one.

He's getting a special spot in this post because I think I'm going to be seeing him again (and again!). 

• His paintings are always about stories and are rather like a puzzle and get more and more interesting as you study them. His colouration and tonal control are also amazing!
• Last year he produced an an immaculate painting in terms of both story and the quality of the painting - where the focal point was a white cat which had just died.