7 reasons to find out what the Great British Photography Challenge can teach artists

I've been watching The Great British Photography Challenge since it started on BBC4 three weeks ago - and warmed to it straight away. In this post I'm going to set out what I think are the reasons why a lot of artists might get value from watching it too.

Good photographers take good pictures

Great photographers take great pictures again and again and again and again

Rankin

 

Programme website

Participants - three women and three men

 Reasons to watch the Great Photography Challenge 

I'm not interested in seding anyone home. We want to see what they can all bring in the coming weeks...
This process is also about how you take feedback and getting multiple viewpoints on your work. Rankin

1. There's a great professional practitioner in charge - Rankin has worked professionally for over 30 years and is uncompromising about his own standards. What that means is.....
2. This is NOT any sort of "knockout" talent show. It's a masterclass
• He makes a point at the beginning that he's NOT about sending anybody home or making it some sort of knockout competition. I get the sneaky feeling he made it a condition of doing the show. (Other professionals should do likewise!)
  
• He's very much about nurturing talent with constructive feedback and NOT about creating "a talent show".
• They really need to drop the "Challenge" bit of the title and insert "Masterclass" instead - for what will (hopefully) arrive as a repeat next year!
3. Rankin acts as a Mentor as well as a Judge - and when he makes judgements he does it a part of a team of experts
• The feedback is both positive and negative - and it's about what makes great images
• It's always about trying to make them better creatives, technicians and photographers.
• There's also much MORE constructive content given direct to the participants than there is in any other similar programme for artists
4. The series of four programmes pack in 12 assignments - 3 in each programme covering a wide range of subjects in the widely contrasting briefs - many of which are not unlike the subjects tackled by artists
5. The programmes bring in expert professional coaches for different topics and subjects -
• a huge variety of different people who each have something unique and different to say - and different approaches to their work
• His young creative team also provide extra lessons and tips and techniques and seem to me to be very competent at their jobs.
• I'm impressed with everyone he has used to date (and those who know my reviews in the past of other 'challenge' will know I'm NOT averse to saying when I find the hired help fall way short of what we should expect from a professional programme. There are people reading this who will know who I'm talking about!)
6. It involves six contestants of different ages, backgrounds and interest.  
• NONE of whom get knocked out 
• ALL of whom start out as competent photographers who have demonstrable ability to go further - which is a very refreshing change..... 
• ALL of whom grow and change with the process of tackling a wide variety of briefs.
  
• I get the feeling they took some care in the photographers they selected because there were only ever going to be six participants!
  
7. It treats them - and us - as adults! So much more impressive as an approach - to create an informative and entertaining programme which is also very educational.

The search is on for an exciting new name in British photography. Six talented photographers from across the UK embark on the photographic masterclass of a lifetime with Rankin.
BBC website

 I do hope we see the programme repeated with more series.

Reasons for artists to take photography seriously

I've often noticed that the composition, design, colour variation and patterns and tonal variations of good photos often seem (to me) to be a lot better than the artwork produced by people of similar levels of ability and standing.

Good photographers think about impact and how to create an image which captures the eye.

It's a bit the same as noticing the attributes of great illustrators who do pretty much the same thing.

They all work hard at the structure and picture quality of the image they want to create. How it tells the story and how it works with "what works" and their own values and qualities that they hold dear.

In addition, photographers often routinely work in series. Even if they are jobbing on commissions, there's very often a series of their own work going on in the background.

 

Could it be that photographers, designers and illustrators work much harder on what makes a great image - rather than about how to prefect their equivalent of how to lay down paint?

 

I know that in my own world of self-imposed art education, I regard instruction by those who know about photography and design at least as important as looking back at the lessons we can all take from art history - or tuition from contemporary artists.

 

It's emphatically not about taking better photographs to work from!

It's much more about learning how to see great images - and understanding why they work - and creating a perspective all your own.

I RECOMMEND THE PROGRAMME. I think it's got a lot of useful lessons for artists as well as aspiring photographers.

There's on episode left - broadcast next Monday on BBC at 9pm. Or you watch the entire series via BBC iPlayer

Episodes to date

 

VIDEO: Melissa Scott-Miller painting backs of houses, back gardens and urban landscapes in London

 

This is a wonderful video of Melissa Scott-Miller painting her wonderful detailed urban London landscapes in lush oil paint.

"I like to feel I'm portraying the essence of an area"

LEARN:

• what the inside of an artist's home really looks like (oil paintings occupy every wall while they dry and wait for exhibitions, canvases for painting stack against walls)
• how to paint with an easel on the stairs
• why shopping trollies are a wonderful way to transport kit for plein air painting
• how to respond to really irritating people who want to talk about your painting while you're working (keep responses brief and don't encourage more questions and be nice to those who nice to you)
  
• how to respond to "how much" questions
• how painting plein air facilitates marketing - so don't forget to take your business card!

"If I really had my own way, I'd just be painting backs of houses

The video was created for the recent Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2021

We follow Melissa Scott-Miller RP NEAC RBA as she paints in her studio, on the stairs, and out in the streets of London.

Growing up among the tall red-brick mansion blocks of Kensington, Melissa Scott-Miller was an enthusiast for London's streetscapes from an early age. She has made the urban landscape her specialty, choosing metre-square canvases to record the rich detail of the city.

The video was made by Jack Elliott Hobbs, digital content creator and documentary filmmaker.

Peter Wegner wins $100,000 Archibald Prize 2021

In its 100th year, Peter Wegner has won the $100,000 Archibald Prize 2021 - for his portrait of fellow painter Guy Warren, who turned 100 in April.

That's a lot of 100s. I guess if people had thought about this in advance, the answer to who would win this prestigious Australian portrait prize was pretty obvious! I'm inclined to pat Peter Wegner on the back for maybe thinking that painting a 100 year old artist who has previously won the Archibald Prize himself (in 1985 with Flugelman with Wingman) would do him no harm in the selection stakes.

Guy Warren with Peter Wegner's award-winning portrait of Guy Warren!

'Peter Wegner’s tender portrait of Guy Warren provides a moving insight into the artist’s state of mind as he navigates his 101st year with characteristic grace and good humour. The fact that Warren was himself an Archibald Prize winner in 1985 adds a wonderful layer of history to the poignancy of the portrait. Who wouldn’t want to look this content at the age of 100?’ Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand

I feel really sorry for Peter Wegner - who was stuck in Melbourne due to a recent lockdown there. So his participation was by video link only.... 

[Note His surname is spelt everywhere but in the subtitles as Wegner!]

This is a video about the announcement of who won and includes commentary from both Peter Wegner and Guy Warren.

  

About Peter Wegner

About the artist - Peter Wegner

The artist must have resident in Australia or New Zealand for the whole of the previous year.

• Age: b.1953 in New Zealand; his career has spanned 40+ years
  
• Nationality: Australian
• Occupation: Artist
• Current home: Melbourne
• Art education:no art training initially. two-year AME Bale residential painting scholarship under Sir William Dargie followed by graduated in fine arts from the Phillip Institute of Technology, from which he later also gained a postgraduate diploma
• Previous appearances in this award: an Archibald Prize finalist in 2020, 2016, 2011, 2004 and 2000 and was also a finalist in the Archibald's ‘Sporting Portrait Prize’ in 2000.
• Website:https://www.peterwegner.com.au/
• Facebook: n/a
• Previous Awards: 
• a four-time finalist in the Dobell Prize for Drawing 
• 2006: awarded the Doug Moran Prize in 2006
• 2012: exhibited in BP Portrait inLondon & Edinburgh
  
• 2013: awarded the $20,000 Gallipoli Art Prize

• Artwork in Collections: His works are held in the collections of

• the Art Gallery of NSW, 
• National Library of Australia, 
• National Portrait Gallery, 
• State Library of Victoria, 
• Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne. 
• and several regional galleries. 

His portrait is part of his Centerarian Project

The Centenarian Project started in 2013 with the first drawing of my Aunty Rita who reached the age of 104. It occurred to me while drawing Rita that there must be other Centenarians who were still living lives with mobility, curiosity and purpose. The nucleus of this series began to form.

Over the last 8 years l have drawn 100 Centenarians within Victoria and New South Wales, about half of whom are living in their own homes with outside support, the other half live in low-care residential accommodation. Each drawing was completed from life in an afternoon or morning with little alteration to that first impression, they are moments captured within a time allowed.

The exploration of ageing and how well we age is central to this project. Maintaining human dignity and independent living are important issues as we age, alongside the question of what it means to have a productive and meaningful life.

references:

• Peter Wegner | Wikipedia - includes images of his work and extensive references to works, awards and collections
• Peter Wegner | National Portrait Gallery
  

About the sitter - Guy Warren

Guy Warren won the 1985 Archibald Prize with a portrait of artist Bert Flugelman, which is included in the Archie 100: A Century of the Archibald Prize exhibition at the Art Gallery. 

 

This is the seventh time he has been an Archibald subject, including a self-portrait in 1996. 

 

Warren started his working life at The Bulletin magazine, which was founded by JF Archibald, whose bequest established the Archibald Prize in 1921. 

The Archibald Prize

The Archibald Prize is awarded to the best portrait of a person ‘distinguished in art, letters, science or politics’ painted by an Australian resident. 

 The Archibald Prize winner is decided by the Art Gallery’s Board of Trustees.  

The Packing Room Prize ($3,000)

For the 30th annual Archibald Packing Room Prize the Prize goes to Kathrin Longhurst for her portrait of the celebrated Australian singer and songwriter Kate Ceberano. 

Packing Room Prize 2021 winner Kathrin Longhurst Kate © the artist

The Packing Room Prize is a cash prize awarded to the best entry as selected by the staff of the Art Gallery of New South Wales who have to handle, receive, unpack and hang the Archibald Prize entries. This year, the prize money has doubled, increasing from $1,500 to $3,000 for the winning artist. 

Their Head 'Packer', Brett Cuthbertson, gets 52% of the vote i.e. he gets to choose the winner whatever!

‘Kathrin’s work fits my criteria. It’s a portrait of a well-known celebrity and it looks like her! I met Kate Ceberano many years ago and Kathrin has really captured her likeness. As soon as I saw the work, I thought “that’s it”. This is also the first time in my tenure as head packer that I have awarded the Packing Room Prize to both a female artist and female sitter. I have been on the lookout, but this is the first time it stood out to me as a clear winner.’ Brett Cuthbertson

The German-born, Sydney-based artist is mostly self-taught and was previously a finalist in the Archibald Prize 2018 and Sulman Prize 2012.  

The ANZ People’s Choice Award ($3,500)

This is voted for by those visiting the exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. The winner will be announced on Later in the summer.

The 100th Archibald Prize Exhibition 2021

For the first time the Archibald Prize Exhibition - at the  Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia - features more women artists than men.  

• For the first time, there is gender parity for artists selected as Archibald finalists: 26 women and 26 men. 
• Female sitters outnumber the men (although that is not a first).
  

(Note to self - maybe start counting the ratio of male to female artists in future exhibitions?)

They had the second highest number of entries. 938 paintings were entered and 52 were elected.

Part of the exhibition

 

Selected artists

[will be added in tomorrow)

You can see all the paintings on this page - click the painting and it takes you to a page about the artist and the sitter.

What you don't get a sense of is their relative size.

Articles about the Archibald Prize 2021

• Archibald prize 2021: Peter Wegner wins $100,000 prize for ‘brilliant’ portrait of Guy Warren at 100 | The Guardian
  

More about past posts about The Archibald Prize

 

• Tony Costa wins $100,000 Archibald Prize 2019
• The Archibald Prize 2017 - Selected Artists and the winner
• "Australian Artist Guy Maestri has won the prestigious $50,000 Archibald Prize with his large portrait of blind Aboriginal singer Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu" in 15th March 2009 - Who's made a mark this week?
• Second Archibald Prize for Del Kathryn Barton
• Finalists for The Archibald Prize 2013 + The Packing Room Prize
• Tim Storrier wins the $75,000 Archibald Prize 2012
• Finalists for The Archibald Prize 2012 + The Packing Room Prize
• Ben Quilty's portrait of Margaret Olley wins 2011 Archibald Prize

Pricing a marine artwork & RSMA Annual Exhibition Metrics

This is about the sales of artwork - by members and non-members - and the average prices achieved in each price band at the Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2020. Plus what can be deduced from these numbers when pricing an entry in 2021.

It follows on from

• yesterday's blog post about Call for Entries: Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2021 
• my post last year - Review: Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2020

I've written extensively on the topic of pricing How to price your art (on this blog and Art Business Info for Artists) and I'm writing this post about pricing because:

• it's unusual for artists to review and analyse how much art sold for (as opposed to what prices were asked)
• to provide a more practical context for how they should set their own prices
  

This post considers three aspects

• the number of artworks sold in each price range - analysed between member and non-member artworks
• pricing lessons for artists selected via the open entry
• observations on sales - in different price bands - for both members and non-members.

Why artists need better advice and guidance about pricing

I've thought for some time that there ought to be clearer guidelines on pricing given to artists entering open exhibitions and art competitions.

I'd really fed up of seeing silly prices - and good artwork hanging on a wall unsold. 

To my mind this is:

• Either a failure of marketing (i.e. the right people are not attending the exhibition)
• Or pricing by member artists - despite past trends on sales and prices in annual exhibitions (assuming they get such data) i.e. are they not told or do they ignore the data?
  
• Or failure to provide good guidance to artists submitting to an open exhibition / art competition via the open entry. Many artists need useful guidelines for pricing their artwork

 

Why I write about pricing and have written this post

One way or another, obvious failures for artists to price effectively needs to be addressed - and this post is by way of me "doing my bit".  

One of the reasons why I'm going to write about pricing is I like to see artists do well - and sell their art.  You also need to bear in mind that I'm an ex-Finance Director and analyst who likes crunching numbers!

I'm also probably the ONLY independent person in the UK who 

• regularly monitors prices and sales of art
  
• across both national art societies and major art competitions 
• provides feedback on such pricing to artists aspiring to develop a professional career.
  

You can read more about pricing art on

• my Art Business Info website - see How to Price Your Art 
• my blog posts about pricing for open exhibitions (at the end of this post)
  
• and why I'm qualified to comment on pricing.  

 

One reason artwork does not sell is price

I often see excellent artworks in exhibitions at the Mall Galleries (both art competitions and art societies) - entered by those who were selected from the Open Entry - which do not sell.

I also see paintings by members which are 'adorning the wall' but not selling because they are overpriced for the venue and the audience. Presumably with a view to marketing commissions - but if they're not doing that either, then it's an expensive use of space.

The reason good to great artworks do not sell, in my view, is primarily often down to how they've been priced - and whether pricing decisions were well-informed.

One of the factors critical to sales is the marketplace the exhibition is taking place in. A marketplace can be defined by the characteristics it exhibits as to ceiling prices and what sort of work sells.  

 

RSMA Annual Exhibition Metrics 2020 - Sales and Pricing

This is a partial view only of the metrics for sales at the RSMA Annual Exhibition in 2020. The numbers available can be sliced and diced in various ways.

The Chart and Table BELOW show the number of artworks sold in different price bands.

The numbers are derived from the online exhibition and the sales recorded on the Exhibition Page on the Mall Galleries website. 

• Given there was no catalogue last year, this is the only visible record of artwork in the exhibition. 
• You can still see the 2020 artworks - with details of medium, size and prices - on the Mall Galleries website - and which ones sold!
  

RSMA 2020: Chart of member (dark blue) and nonmember (pale blue)
sales of artworks across different price bands

• Average prices for each price band are show in the table below - along with the figures for number of sales for members and non-members. 
• The percentage column indicates how the NUMBER sales within price bands contributed to total sales - in a cumulative basis. 
• The latter is NOT the same as how sales within each band contributed to the total value of sales made.

RSMA 2020: Number of sales and average price across different price bands
Plus how each price band cumulatively contributed to total sales (Numbers only)

 

The Table ABOVE indicates

Call for Entries: Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2021

You have six weeks left to submit artwork for the Annual Exhibition in 2021 of the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA. The deadline for entries is 9th July 2021.

The RSMA wants to see submissions of art inspired by the sea and marine environment for its annual exhibition which opens on 30 September 2021 at the Mall Galleries in London.

The RSMA seeks submissions of art inspired by the sea and marine environment, including harbours and shorelines, traditional craft and contemporary shipping, creeks, beaches, wildlife - in short anything that involves tidal water.

RSMA Annual Exhibition 2020 - East Gallery

Three good reasons to enter

The Annual Exhibition by the Royal Society of Marine Artists

1. ALWAYS attracts a lot of people interested in buying marine artwork - and people who like boats a lot often have funds to spare to buy artwork! This exhibition has typically had good sales in the past.
   
2. ALWAYS has a LOT of decent prizes
3. Prizes awarded in the past have been dominated by strong work by non-members - which is always good to see for those who submit work via the open entry. 

However, You need to have and demonstrate a genuine interest in marine art to do well. Expert and enthusiastic customers also mean those who can spot errors in artwork painted by those new to the subject. I well remember being taken round the exhibition once by somebody who pointed out all the "made-up" paintings.

This was my Review: Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2020 - which also shows you the range, type and quality of artwork on display.

Call for Entries

This is an OPEN EXHIBITION which tends to display paintings, drawings, sculpture and prints.

Below you can find

• a summary of how to enter the next annual exhibition.
• a list of prizes
• an archive of posts about past exhibitions - which contain a lot of images of the type of artwork that gets selected for exhibition.

What sort of artwork can you submit?

SUBJECT: The RSMA seeks submissions of art inspired by the sea and marine environment. 

 

It makes two statements about the scope