My book - a small teaser

This is by way of a teaser. I'm going to start doing some posts about my book next week.

That's the one about drawing and sketching which has three different publishers for three different English language areas (UK, USA and Asia) - and three different titles and three different covers! This is a crop of a photo of my advance copies of the three titles side by side.  As you can see the outsides are very different even thought the inside is identical - apart from a few changes for spelling preferences.

This week I've been finding out about how to set up

• an Author Page on Amazon (which varies between Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk) and 
• a Facebook Page for a book - which is very different from setting up a Facebook Page for an artist.

Next week I'll be introducing the different titles and their publication date, showing you the covers for each book and a bit more I hope.

David Titlow wins Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2014

The photograph which won the £12,000 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize for 2014 is Konrad Lars Hastings Titlow by David Titlow.

Exhibition

The photographs of the prizewinners highlighted below can be seen as part of the competition's exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery which opened today and closes on 22 February 2015.

59 portraits have been selected for the exhibition from 4,193 submissions entered by 1,793 photographers.  (This competition is even more popular than the BP Portrait Award!). It seems to me that this competition becomes more international with every year that passes.

(This) showcases the work of some of the most exciting contemporary photographers from around the world, including emerging talent, established professionals, photography students and gifted amateurs.

Prizewinners

I spoke with each of the prizewinners yesterday and this post contains the winning images and information about each photograph and the photographer - plus some views of the exhibition.  For recommendations as to how to get a photograph into this exhibition please take a look at last year's review - cited below.

Winner of the 2014 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize - £12,000

Konrad Lars Hastings Titlow
Copyright: David Titlow

The winning photograph reminds me very much of the chiaroscuro lighting seen in paintings by Caravaggio and other artists. It also has a lovely flow between the subjects.

However it wasn't set up. David's account of how it came about indicates the photo was taken very quickly. The subject is his son being introduced to a dog on the morning after the night before - which was a big party to celebrate Midsummer - on the longest day - on the farm of his Swedish girlfriend's parents (in Sweden).  They go every year - but this was the first time they'd been with their new born son.  His son has just been handed to a group of relatives and friends.

The light in the photograph is coming from the left - as it does in many classical paintings. He adjusted his camera to minimise the noise in what would be a photograph in low light.

In the foreground are the beer cans which have not yet been cleared away. The baby is outlined in rim lighting and is sitting on the knee of his girlfriend's sister. Another friend's eyes are seen peering over the top of the dog's neck. In the background is a Larsen like wall paper in very subdued light.

In summary it is both a totally natural moment and a very complex image with many of the attributes of a fine art painting.  David took lots of photos and when reviewing them this one jumped out straight away as "special".

David Titlow with his portrait of his son being introduced to a dog on a Midsummer morning in Sweden

David Titlow (b. 1963) works as a photographer in fashion and advertising. He has exhibited widely and has been commissioned by numerous magazines and newspapers, including The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, Vice and Vanity Fair. Originally a musician from Halesworth in Suffolk, Titlow switched to photography in the early nineties and has since worked in the industry.

David maintains a daily photo blog called Die Rache. He's represented by Skinny Dip.

John Kobal New Work Award - £4,000 

This is an Award given to a photographer under thirty whose work has been selected for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition. It's the second most valuable prize being worth a cash prize of £4,000 plus a commission to photograph a sitter connected with the UK film industry for the National Portrait Gallery Collection.

The John Kobal New Work Award has been awarded to Laura Pannack for her photograph Chayla at Shul, a portrait of a young Jewish girl.

Chayla at Shul 
Copyright: Laura Pannack

So many poppies..... So many men lost......

At 11.00am GMT today a two minute silence marks the one of the more formal commemorations Armistice Day in 1918, following the end of the First World War

We visited the Tower of London yesterday and saw the completed Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. 

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red 10 November 2014

It was quite a sight against the sun and blue skies and the white walls of the Tower of London. In fact it's so enormous it was a little difficult to take in what it means. I read a comment yesterday that people are so overwhelmed by the impact of the ceramic poppies that they forget for a minute that these represent the 888,246 British military fatalities in the First World War - and that a fitting way of reminding people what that means would be for a tank to come in and break them all up. Which was certainly a comment which reminded me what this installation is all about

The view of the installation in two sides of the moat around the Tower of London

You can see a (rather big) video of the installation below - as seen from the air now the moats are filled.

The Wave -from the entrance to the Tower of London into the South Moat

a close up of the poppies in the sun next to the wall
of the Tower of London

All the poppies have now been sold - for £25 each - for the benefit of the six service charities.

However you can still make a dedication in the Roll of Honour with respect to the name of a fallen soldier

You can view the dedications on the website.

Viewing the Poppies

We went very early yesterday and there were huge crowds at 10am in the morning!

I suspected the crowds would be very big later in the day - as indeed they were - people were standing 5-6 deep around the perimeter of the moat.

The cascade of poppies from the Tower

I understand it will also take until the end of November to dismantle the installation - which obviously needs to be done carefully as all those poppies are now sold!

So if you still haven't seen it get along in the next week or so and you'll see as much as people did back in August!

and finally.... another video - this time by HM Forces News.

(Note:
1. The installation has been created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins. He's be assisted by stage designer Tom Piper.
2. You can read more about the installation in my earlier post 888246 poppies - Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red).

£15,000 Lynn Painter Stainers Prize 2015 - Call for Entries

This is a rather late overview of the call for entries for the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2015

Created in 2005, the Prize aims to encourage the very best creative representational painting and promote the skill of draftsmanship.

I must confess I have been thoroughly confused by the timetabling of the Lynn Painter-Stainer Prize in recent years. It has moved dates for call for entries and exhibitions and even cancelled it one year. It would be great if the Prize could settle down and stick to a routine!

Anyway - the bottom line for 2015 is that the deadline for entries is 8th December 2015.

Here's what you need to know.

The Craggs at Dawn (from Carlton Hill) - a section of the winning painting in 2014
by Catherine Davison

Prizes

I normally only post about art competitions where the first prize exceeds £10,000. In this instance the prizes are as follows:

• First Prize: £15,000
• 5 Runner-Up Prizes: £1,500 each
• Young Artist Award: £2,500 (For an artist who is 25 years of age or under)
• Brian Botting Prize for Figurative Drawing: £5,000 (For an artist who is 30 years of age or under)

You'll note this is a good competition for younger artists to enter!

The Exhibition

For the 2014 Exhibition, 85 drawings and paintings by 78 artists were selected.

This year's advice is that c.100 artworks will be exhibited at the Mall Galleries between 16th and 21st February 2015. (Free admission).

Viewing the prizewinning paintings 2014

Information for Artists

Who can enter

• Living artists over the age of 18, who are resident in the British Isles - irrespective of whether or not they are a British citizen.
• British citizens living abroad cannot enter.

Eligible artwork

• Original, two-dimensional works in any painting or drawing media. 
• These MUST have been completed in the last three years and not previously exhibited.
• You can submit up to 4 works
• All works must be for sale, except for commissioned portraits.
• The longest dimension of each entry - including frame - must not exceed 60 inches (152 cms).

Entry fees and commission

• Entry is £20 per work (£8 per work for students).
• You can pay by Paypal or via Paypal using your credit card
• Commission of 40% + VAT @ 20% will be charged on works sold during or as a result of the exhibition, or by means of the website. This means that you will receive a net sum equivalent to 52% of the price you state.

How to enter

• Submit your entry online using this online form

Online image constraints

• Your digital image for every artwork entered should have a resolution of 300dpi but with a maximum file size of 500KB. 
• Only the following file formats are acceptable: JPEGs, TIFFs or PNGs.  
• Each image file must be named with your surname, first name and brief title e.g. SmithJohn_Title.jpeg

(Personally I find this nonsensical - but then I've just submitted a 300 dpi pic to London Transport for my Boriscard and I know what the actual size of that was!  The problem with a file size limit of 500kb @300 dpi is it will be TINY!) I don't understand why the organisers don't use Dropbox which would allow much bigger images to be uploaded all of which can then be viewed in Dropbox by all the judges! 

Key Dates

• 8th December 2014 - Deadline for online entries, by 5pm
• 19th December 2014 - Results of initial judging emailed to artists by this date
• 9th January 2015 - Shortlisted artists submit works to FBA - not so wonderful for those with jobs and/or living elsewhere in the UK (however do take a look at off-peak train fares via theTrainline.comhttp://www.thetrainline.com which have become a lot more reasonable if you travel off peak and get the timing right). A list of approved art carriers who can offer collection and delivery services for the final judging will also be available to all shortlisted artists.
•  14th January 2015 - Results of final round judging emailed to artists by this date
•  17th January 2015 - Unaccepted short listed works available for collection at the FBA 10am-5pm
•  16th February - Private View and Prize Giving
•  16th - 21st February - Exhibition at Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1, 10am-5pm daily

The 2015 Selection Panel

The selectors will be looking for work that demonstrates the very best in creative representational painting and promotes the skill of draughtsmanship.

The 2015 judges include:

• Angela Flowers, Founder, Flowers Gallery
• Ken Howard OBE RA NEAC, Artist
• Brian Sewell, Critic
• Ruth Stage, Artist and winner of the Lynn Painter Stainers Prize 2013
• Andrew Wilton, Visiting Research Fellow at Tate Britain

Sponsors

The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers dates back to 1502.

The Painters received an Inspeximus in 1466 and a Grant of Arms in 1486 and in 1502 the Paynters united with the Steyners, to form the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers.

Past members of the Company have included Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Sir Peter Lely, Sir James Thornhill, William Dobson, Peter Monamy, Lord Leighton, Sir John Millais, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Alfred Munnings, Sir Thomas Monnington, Sir Gerald Kelly, Sir Charles Wheeler, Sir Hugh Casson and Sir Roger de Grey.

It supports the art and craft of painting - primarily through this Prize. 

The Lynn Foundation is a charity devoted to children, the disabled, music and the arts. Its contribution is the prize money totalling £25,000 and an engraved gold medal for the winner of the First Prize.

Previous Years of the Lynn Painter-Stainer Prize

Links to previous Making A Mark posts about the Lynn Painter Stainer Prize and Exhibition

2014

• Review and video of the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize Exhibition 2014
• Catherine Davison wins £15,000 Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2014
• £15,000 Lynn Painter-Stainer Prize 2014 - deadline approaches

2013

• Lynn Painter Stainer Exhibition 2013: Review
• Lynn Painter Stainers Prize 2013 - Selected Artists
• Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2013: Call For Entries (13 Oct 2012) Overview of Call for Entries for the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2013 for representational painting.

2012

• Review: Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2012 Exhibition (01 Apr 2012) - review of the 2012 Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize Exhibition yesterday at the Mall Galleries
• Antony Williams wins Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2012
• Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2012 - Selected artists & artwork
• Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2012: Call For Entries

2010

• Rachel Levitas wins Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2010 16 November 2010
• 65 Artists selected for Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2010 28th Oct 2010
• Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2010 - Call for Entries 03 Aug 2010

2009

• Exhibition review: Toby Wiggins wins Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize17 Nov 2009
• Shortlist for Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2009 04 Nov 2009
• 82 works selected for Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 16 Oct 2009

2008

• Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize - selected artists 18 Sep 2008
• Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2008 and Exhibition 19 Nov 2008

Who's made a mark in art? October 2014

This post is a round-up of my posts since my last "Who's made a mark in art?" post a month ago - plus links to interesting news about the art world that I've spotted during October.

Below is Ben Johnson's painting which won the £10,000 Visitors Choice Award - chosen by visitors to Threadneedle Prize Exhibition. (see below for more details)

Threadneedle Prize 2014 - Winner of £10,000 Visitors Choice Award
Room of the Revolutionary by Ben Johnson

I've got family commitments at present which means my posting is a bit ad hoc at best at the moment until the situation has stabilised. Anybody with 'an elderly p' will have their own interpretation of what that means!

Artists

Artists on Film

Mr Turner opened! Then Jonathan Jones commented in A brush with Mr Turner: why can’t films about painters get the painting right? My own view is that one could also ask why can't the critics get the analysis of the painting right! I'm more forgiving of those creating a film than I am of those making a documentary. At least Timothy Spall took lessons in how to paint for two years! I'm much more critical of critics who comprehensively demonstrate they haven't got a clue about how drawing or sketching or painting actually works.

Artists on Television

It's the time of year when the British television channels begin to 'get cultural' and we've begun to have some significant programmes about art and artists.

• The major event has been Grayson Perry - Who Are You? - on TV and at the NPG. Another wonderful and insightful series of television programmes on Channel 4 and various works of art about identity in the modern world. The series finished this week - but the exhibition continues at the National Portrait Gallery (details in Exhibitions below). This is an article about it by Isobel Morrish on the RA Blog Grayson Perry RA’s portraits of Britain 
• BBC2 had two programmes which relate to the new exhibition of late portraits (see exhibitions below) by Rembrandt van Rijn at the National Gallery
• If you missed Simon Schama's film about Rembrandt's portraits painted in his later years you can catch up on iPlayer - Schama on Rembrandt: Masterpieces of the Late Years is still available for the next 8 days.
• The Culture Show's contribution is Rankin shoots Rembrandt - as the photographer John Rankin Waddell (aka 'Rankin') addresses the challenge of interpreting Rembrandt's portraits of old age, adapting the Dutch master's techniques for his camera.  Also available for the next 8 days.
• Andrew Graham Dixon has been delivering a short series on The Art of the Gothic.
• The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour 1. Liberty Diversity Depravity (8 days)
• The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour - 2. The City and the Soul (20 days) 
• The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour 3. Blood for Sale: Gothic Goes Global (28 days)

Art on Video

• More videos by the creator of 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art - Philip Scott Johnson is the chap who made the famous video where portraits of female sitters over 500 years morph from one to the other. However this is not the only videos about art that he has made. (He now seems to have turned his attention to architecture)

Artists in Books

• 33 Artists in 3 Acts by Sarah Thornton – review is about Sarah Thornton's new book. The author of the very excellent "Seven Days in the Art World" has turned her attention - and stories - to an analysis of different artists on different continents - with a view to identifying what makes them the same and what makes them different and what makes an artist. She has two (questions). “What is an artist?” And then a killer followup: “What kind of artist are you?”

Art Business & Marketing

• RECOMMENDED READ! Thanks to Shevaun Doherty for highlighting Molly Crabapple's 15 rules for creative success in the Internet age
• An important US Tax Court Ruling for all US artists - This is about a particularly important tax ruling in the USA. It affects in particular all artists who are also teachers. Most particularly it affects all those who earn more from their teaching than they do from their art.  It relates to "The Hobby-Loss Rule".
• For all those sending their art to purchasers via the Post Office - they've got a new "larger" size for small parcels New Small Parcel Size | Post Office
• Do artists ever retire? came about because I had a BIG birthday earlier this month. 

"Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" at the Tower of London

- photographed from The Shard on my birthday.

Art Education

Art Education

• Learn about Why some Art students almost never get high grades. Your approach to learning very often influences outcomes and the benefits that can be achieved. That's why learning how to learn is as important as what you learn. Read this article if you want to know some of the reasons why people underachieve at art - and some of the strategies for tackling faulty reasoning.

Drawing

• The Big Draw month is October - and this post introduced the range of events across the UK and further afield. This is The Big Draw Gallery - showing images of drawings from various events. I found I couldn't get on with their new way of presenting information about events. I think they need to have a rethink for next year.
• Graphite... a Perfect Medium Despite the Chaos! is a great blog post by SBA member Dianne Sutherland Artist SBA full of useful tips about drawing with graphite pencils. 
• You can see an event from The Big Draw at the end....

Coloured pencils

• Nicole Caulfield shares an ebook about portraits in coloured pencils - this is an amazing FREE gift for those who love portraits and coloured pencils!
• Well known wildlife artist Alan Woollett who works in coloured pencils has got a book deal to with a well known art book publisher. It will be about his art and art techniques

Painting

• Carol Marine's new book Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often To Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist is now in circulation for reviewers (I've got my copy!). I've already recommended it on my Facebook Page having only skim read it. The section on the Top Six Mistakes that Students Make was one of the things - amongst much really useful stuff - which caught my eye. I'm not in the least bit surprised to that her book is already ranked at #1 in the Painting Section of Amazon Books!

Art Competitions

Botanical Art

• Two posts about photographers and the botanical artists who won Gold Medals at the RHS Autumn Show
• HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Three RHS Gold Medals for Botanical Art and a video interview - includes a fantastic video interview with Denise Ramsay which really demonstrates the sort of work which goes into winning a Gold Medal!  In fact, DeniseRamsayArtist not only won an RHS Gold Medal for her series of watercolour paintings of "Papaver Orientale" - she also sold the complete series to Dr Shirley Sherwood! 
• Reflections on the RHS Botanical Art Show Autumn 2014 - more lessons for those thinking of applying to exhibit in future. All artists displaying work have to be juried into the exhibition.
• A brand new RHS Show for Botanical Art has the information about dates for the RHS's Main Botanical Art Show in 2015 - note the dates have changed

Figurative Art

These are my posts relating to Threadneedle Prize:

• Threadneedle Prize 2014 - The Shortlist
• Tina Jenkins wins Threadneedle Prize 2014
• Interview with Winner of Threadneedle Prize 2014
• Review: Threadneedle Prize Exhibition 2014

The photorealist artist Ben Johnson won the £10,000 Visitors Choice Award that was voted for by people visiting the exhibition. Apparently only six votes separated first and third place after thousands of visitors had voted.

Friends of the author can play "spot the blogger" on the picture below. I was tweeting on my new iPhone when it was taken.

The Threadneedle Prize Awards Dinner
- spot the author (sat inbetween the winner's husband and one of the Judges!)
- spot the painting which won the Visitors Choice Award (behind the speaker) 

Portraiture 

• There's A new £15,000 prize for portrait painting - which is open to international artists and is being run in conjunction with the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Artists. The first prize will be awarded at the 2015 Annual Exhibition of the RSPP

Art Exhibitions

Major Museums and Art Galleries in London

I'm way behind with my quarterly update on major exhibitions in London due to personal commitments relating to health. In the meantime here are the major new exhibitions which have opened in London - or are about to open

• National Gallery 
• (Sainsbury Wing Basement) - Rembrandt - The Late Works (until 18 January) 
• opening this week - Peder Balke and Norwegian landscapes at the National Gallery
• National Portrait Gallery: These are the recent exhibitions and displays which have opened - and I still need to write up two of the reviews:
• Anarchy & Beauty: William Morris and His Legacy, 1860 – 1960 in the Wolfson Gallery until 11 January 2015 
• The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered until 1 March 2015 in Room 1, 2 and 3
• Snowdon: A Life in View until 21 June 2015 in Rooms 37 and 37a. (Admission Free). See my review Snowdon and the world of arts
• Grayson Perry - Who Are You? until 15 March 2015  in the Gallery’s nineteenth and twentieth century rooms on Floor 1. (Admission Free). I'm looking forward to finding all the portraits.
• Dulwich Picture Gallery - From the Forest to the Sea, Emily Carr in British Columbia opened to the public on Saturday 1st November 2014. This is my review - Painting Canada 2 - Emily Carr at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. It includes a video interview I did with Ian Dejardin, Sackler Director of the Dulwich Picture Gallery and co-Curator of the new exhibition of sketches and paintings by famous Canadian artist Emily Carr.

Art Societies 

These are my reviews of the annual exhibitions of the major national art societies.

• Review: Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Annual Exhibition 2014. If you're intrigued as I am by artists who produce incredibly small works of art in oil, watercolour, acrylic, wood, bronze, silver etc you're likely to be very interested in my review of the 2014 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers at the Mall Galleries in London. There's a lot of images of prizewinning paintings in my review plus I also discovered why Miniature Art is like the 'Tai Chi' of Painting!  Finishes next Sunday.  There are demonstrations by RMS members in the gallery every day except the last. 
• Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists - Review (Part 1) - I'm always impressed with the standard of painting and sculpture at this annual exhibition - and this one is no different. It looked really good. 
• Video: 2014 Exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists - You can see more of the work displayed here. I had hoped to post more about this exhibition last week but commitments up north prevented this. However I will be reviewing it this week although it closes today as I know my reviews are read by people who hope to submit work in 2015.  You can also see a copy of the exhibition catalogue on Issuu - which means you can see the prices being charged for the artwork on display!   Below are some some very impressive bronze sculptures of small birds with long tails on a wire by Adam Binder

Fourteen Long Tailed Tits (£18,500) © Adam Binder 

at the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists at the Mall Galleries

• Well done to the Society of Botanical Artists on yet another successful international exhibition OUTSIDE the UK. I wonder why more art societies don't take the opportunity to put on exhibitions in other countries? Here are some blog posts about it:
• Shevaun Doherty - SBA Palmengarten Exhibition, Frankfurt
• plus you can follow the full story on Gaynor Dickson's blog gaynorssflora

Art Galleries

• Lewis McNaught, the Director of the Mall Galleries is now on Twitter. You can follow him on @Lewis_McNaught.  Those having record sales at their exhibitions look like they're going to be highlighted in future. 

Hard graft and great work rewarded with record sales @swlanaturaleye @mallgalleries. Well done Harriet and team. pic.twitter.com/G3QHMD03Dy
— Lewis McNaught (@Lewis_McNaught) October 31, 2014

Techies - websites, webware and techie stuff for artists

• I was reminded earlier today that I wrote this blog post - Artists on Facebook - The Scope and The Rules - about two years ago - for all those Artists who are confused about the difference between a Facebook Account and a Facebook Page and how to comply with the rules and make the most of the scope they offer. Plus a bit about Facebook Groups - and how these are used by artists. It probably needs updating - but it's still better than nothing for those who are confused by Facebook!
• A new gmail phishing scam is about a new gmail phishing scam which targeted me - or at least it's new to me!

and finally......

First the next Urban Sketchers London Sketchcrawl will be at Trinity Buoy Wharf on 16th November

...and this is what happened when The Big Draw visited The One Show at the BBC