Learning about Art & the Art Business - Making A Mark Art Blog Award Nominations 2012

Have you learned about art or the art business from somebody writing a blog post or art blog this year?

If so, YOU are invited to nominate any art blogger who you value who has promoted learning about art and/or being a successful artist in today's art business.

The next section of the Making A Mark Awards relates to Learning about Art and the Art Business.

This category has three awards:

• The FAQs and Answers Really Useful Medal
• The Make Me Think Gong
• The Best Book by an Art Blogger Blue Ribbon

Awards in The Learning about Art & the Art Business Category focus on our personal development - whether that's via:

• regular posts on a blog wholly focused on the development of artists
• a really good series of posts on a particular topic of major relevance to artists
• a new art instruction book
• a new book about the artist and the art business

Nominations requested by 24 December 2012

Nominations for this category are NOT limited to artists but they must write about art or artists. They can be

• artists with an art blog
• non-artists writing about art, artists and/or the art business
• anybody who has not won the award in the last three years

Detailed instructions on how to nominate for these and other awards are set out at the end of this post.  In summary, leave a comment on this post with your nomination for a specific award with the reasons why.

LEARNING ABOUT ART AND THE ART BUSINESS

The FAQs and Answers Really Useful Medal

The FAQs and Answers Really Useful Medal for the blog which aims to share useful information for artists including what they have learned with/from others

Daphne Todd Exhibition at the Mall Galleries

I went to the Private View of the Daphne Todd exhibition at the Mall Galleries on Monday night. It is an excellent exhibition and looked extremely impressive in the Threadneedle Space.  I can only imagine more and more of the FBA artists will want to start having focused exhibitions of their own work in this space.

Landscapes by Daphne Todd
Threadneedle Space, Mall Galleries

I had a chance to speak with Daphne before the exhibition opened and she told me about the paintings in the exhibition and also about her experience of being an Official Artist on a Royal Tour.

The exhibition is open until Sunday 23 December 2012, 10am to 5pm.  It's an excellent complement to the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters which opens today in the other two galleries.

About Daphne Todd 

For those who not familiar with Daphne Todd OBE PPRP NEAC, she's well known as an advocate of representational and figurative artwork - and the traditional values of painting from observation rather than from photos.

She's is best known for her portrait work and is the Past President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (1994-2000) - and indeed is the first and only woman to hold that role to date.  In 2010 she won the BP Portrait Award (which is when I first interviewed her) with a portrait painting of her mother on her death bed. She'd previously won the 2nd prize in the same competition back in 1983. Daphne is also a member of the New England Art Club.  In 2002 she was awarded an OBE for her services to the Arts.

She did her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Slade School of Fine Art (when Coldstream was Principal).  She spent most of her six years at the Slade painting in the life room - which I guess is something that would be very difficult to do these days

She considers herself simply an analytical painter of the seen world.

Official Artist on a Royal Tour

Getting Out of the Studio - Making A Mark Art Blog Award Nominations 2012

You are invited to NOMINATE artists and their art blogs for the Making A Mark Art Blog Awards summarised below.

• The Painting Plein Air Plus Prize
• The Travels with a Sketchbook Trophy
• The Going Greener Gong

Instructions on how to nominate for these - and other Making A Mark Awards - are set out at the end of this post.

GETTING OUT OF THE STUDIO 
- CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 2012

The Painting Plein Air Plus Prize 

Which plein air painter has taught you the most by sharing their plein air work on their art blog in 2012?

The Painting Plein Air Plus Prize for excellence in plein air painting plus a strong commitment to sharing information

Generating Art - Making A Mark Art Blog Award Nominations 2012

The aim of the Making A Mark Art Blog Awards is to identify:

• excellence in blogging about art and artists; and 
• the art blogs which set high standards and are the most influential.

I started these awards in 2006 so that the efforts of artists and others who are blogging about art could be valued and recognised.

YOU can nominate which art blogs YOU think are excellent and which art blogs influence YOU. For the last three years I've asked all the readers of Making A Mark and the wider community of art bloggers to nominate the art blogs that they think are the best - in different categories

I've been keeping a note of the art blogs which have "made a mark" on me during the course of 2012 but I also really want to hear from all of you as to the blogs have had an impact on you.

This post and the next three posts on Making A Mark invite nominations relating to the categories which you can see at the top of the right hand column.

First how to nominate - and then the three awards in the category of Generating Art.

Nominate an art blog for a Making A Mark Award

It's very simple! Basically all you need to do is leave a comment on the relevant post.

• WHICH AWARD: 
• Identify the title of the Making A Mark Award that you want your nominee to be considered for
• Leave a comment on the post on this blog which invite nominations for that award - BEFORE 29th December 2012
• WHICH BLOG:  Identify
• the name of the blog, its URL (eg "The Art Blog" http://theartblog.blogspot.com) and
• the name of the blogger
• (Note:  art bloggers are not eligible for any award that they have won in the last three years)
• WHY:  Say WHY you think this blog should be considered for a Making A Mark Award.

Artists who have won an award in the last three years are not eligible to be nominated for the same award.

I'll collate all your nominations and comments in relation to each award and consider alongside those blogs which I have in mind as being worthy of consideration.  I'll then share the shortlist with you when the results are announced.

The Making A Mark Awards will be announced on the 29th and 30th December. Note:  All nominees and nominators are linked to both from this blog and my main website page where all the past awards and nominees are listed

So over to you - who do you think merits being nominated for the three awards below? Answers as a comment on this post please.

GENERATING ART

Today I'm looking at nominations for three awards relating to generating art

• The Painting A Day Stickability Shield
• The Best Art Blog Project Virtual Challenge Cup
• The Best Art Society Blog Prize

Leave a comment on this post (see above) nominating the art blog you think should get one of these awards in 2012.

Nominate the Best Artwork (Natural World) on a blog in 2012

You are invited to NOMINATE an artwork on an art blog for

The Making a Mark Prize (2012) for Best Picture - Nature

This prize values the natural world and its plants and animals and 

celebrates excellence in portraying every aspect of nature

The final category for the Best Picture on Art Blog in 2012 is the Natural World - covering botanical art, wildlife and natural history.

You are invited to nominate an artwork for The Making a Mark Prize for Best Picture - Natural World 2012. This post covers:

• eligibility of the artist
• eligibility of the artwork
• who can nominate
• how to nominate

Previous winners of this award (created in 2010) - who are both ineligible for this year's award - are:

• 2011: Ant by Suzanne Berry (Suzanne Berry) 
• 2010: The Right Side by Gayle Mason (Fur in the Paint)

PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK WITH OTHERS WHO MAY BE INTERESTED

Tell us all whose artwork involving portraiture or figures you appreciated in 2012.

Eligible artwork (drawings / paintings / prints):