Jackson's Painting Prize 2022

The Call for Entries for the Jackson's Painting Prize 2022 has been published and this post summarises the key points.

Summary of Key Information

Jackson’s Painting Prize exists to champion exceptional artworks made by international artists at all points in their careers, with tailored prizes that aim to give successful applicants the exposure and resources to support them in their practice

DEADLINE for Entries: 1st March 2022

WHO can enter? This competition is open to 

• artists from all over the world
• all ages and abilities

WHAT can be submitted? 

• 2-dimensional ORIGINAL fine art works 
• in any painting or drawing media
• up to five artworks

All work must be your own intellectual property. This means we will not accept artworks that directly copy other people’s work (this does not include artistic interpretations) or works that are made from a tutorial. We are not accepting entries that have previously won a major competition or that have been extensively exhibited in any established galleries.

COST to enter? £5 Entry fee (£25 for maximum number of entries)

CATEGORIES: There are a number of categories

• Animal
• Portrait / Figure
• Landscape / Cityscape / Seascape
• Still Life / Botanical
• Abstract / Non-representational
• Scenes of Everyday Life

PRIZES: These are a mix of cash prizes for specific awards and £500 vouchers for art materials 

• Jackson's Painting Prize: £6,000
• Emerging Artist Award: £1,000
• Awards for winners of the individual categories: £500 (x 6)
• Each of the following will get a £500 voucher to spend at Jackson's Art Materials
• Amateur Artist Award'
• Outstanding Watercolour Award
• People's Choice Award

JUDGES: There are six Judges - and four of them area artists

• Curtis Holder - coloured pencil artist and winner of Sky Arts Portrait Award 2020
• Miranda Boulton - Artist & winner of Jackson’s Painting Prize 2021
• Marcelle Hanselaar - Artist, Painter and Printmaker
• Shanti Panchal - Watercolour Artist
• Jennifer Conner - Regional Managing Director, Affordable Art Fair, and Art Advisor, After Nyne Contemporary
• Claudia Kennaugh - Art Adviser 

HOW TO ENTER:

• This is the link to the Registration Page - https://jacksonsart.awardsplatform.com/ 
• You cannot use a store account to enter the competition. You must create a competition profile.
• Digital images MUST be 
• maximum file size: 3MB. 
• at least 1000px wide 
• with a resolution of at least 72px per inch. 
• the correct way up!
• Digital images MUST NOT:
• show any unnecessary or irrelevant content, such as frames, mounts, walls, tables or any other kind of background
• include a digital copyright or watermark
• READ:
• Guidelines and Criteria
• Frequently Asked Questions

TIMELINE (2022):

• 1st March (5pm) - Deadline for Entries
• 23rd March - Longlist announced; People's Choice Award voting opens
• 30th March - Shortlist announced
• 5th April - People's Choice Award voting closes

Winners of the following awards announced:

• 6th April - Amateur Artist Award
• 7th April - Outstanding Watercolour
• 8th April - Categories
• 11th April - Emerging Artist
• 13th April - Jackson's Painting Prize

Previous Years

The posts below unpack this prize a bit more.

• Call for Entries: Jackson's Painting Prize 2021
• Jackson's Painting Prize 2020 - time to vote - this provides an indication of which are the most popular categories and which the least populat
• Call for Entries: Jackson's Painting Prize 2020

This is a bit of a different Call for Entries - as I got asked to be one of the Judges for this one!

An Exhibition for Britain and the return of Grayson's Art Club

I was surprised and delighted to see that Grayson's Art Club was broadcast once more last Friday on Channel 4.

Grayson's Art Club - the website

The programme was all about "An Exhibition for Britain" - curated by Grayson Perry - and some of the artworks chosen for the exhibition by people who participated in Grayson's Art Club.

pic.twitter.com/kxpqWZjeIk

— Grayson Perry (@Alan_Measles) December 10, 2021

The exhibition is on at Bristol Museum and Art Club from 4 December 2021 until 4 September 2022 - and this is the only place and the only time you can see it. 

The artworks made by the public, established artists, and celebrities are powerful and very personal responses to the pandemic. Collectively, they form a lasting artistic record of the unprecedented times the nation has experienced together.

Alongside Grayson and his wife Philippa, the contributing artists and celebrities include Alex Horne, Anneka Rice, Banksy, Boy George, Chila Kumari Burman-Singh, David Bailey, Derren Brown, Sir Frank Bowling, Holly Walsh, Jane Seymour, Johnny Vegas, Lianne La Havas, Lucy Sparrow, Mawaan Rizwan, Polly Morgan, Russell Tovey, Sue Perkins, Tom Allen and Yinka Ilori.

It's spread out over three floors of the art gallery so that pieces sit alongside other artworks in the collection

In Bristol, Grayson Perry curates a joyful, moving exhibition of the public's lockdown artworks from 2021, as well as works from leading artists and celebrities

I thought the Guardian review of the programme pretty much captured what it was all about. I know I was in tears at one point.

You try watching a girl who is so disabled she creates her art with her eyes - and then proceeds to produce one of the best every portraits of Grayson Perry!

Guardian review by Lucy Mangan

Grayson’s Art Club was a brilliantly and quickly conceived response to Britain’s pandemic-induced lockdowns. The first series covered the first two confinements, the second one our third – though you suspect not final – sheltering-in-place. The unflagging optimism of Grayson, and his equally indefatigable wife Philippa, framed the enforced hiatus as an opportunity for us to get stuck into something we might not otherwise do, and turn to art as a way of processing the unprecedented situation and expressing the otherwise inexpressible.

My overwhelming impression is how much better the British public are at recording one of the most momentous events in UK history when compared to very many artists.  Contributions from "the celebs" were also pretty good and some were very memorable. 

I've been going to art society exhibitions and looking for art inspired by the pandemic - but have found precious little. Whether this an issue to do with what artist produce or what selection panels choose I really don't know.

What I do know is that it is an amazing achievement to have an exhibition in Bristol of some amazing artwork made during and, in part, reflecting the pandemic. I applaud all 17,000 of you who submitted artwork and those who had their artwork selected.

If you didn't catch this programme last Friday I highly recommend you watch it on catch-up on ALL4 - it made me feel proud to be British!

The return of Grayson's Art Club

Many of you will be pleased to hear that apparently Grayson's Art Club is returning in 2022. A third series has been commissioned.

I think Channel 4 understand that they've got a winner on their hands with this programme which connects with people across all communities and all areas.

Armed with a new set of themes, Grayson’s Art Club promises to represent the ever-changing mood of the nation, and once again we will see Grayson in his studio making his own art responding to what has got the nation talking. Grayson will speak with celebrity guests and high-profile artists who’ll share insights into their processes and will feature art made by the great British public. Restrictions provided, Grayson will finally be able to throw open his studio doors and welcome in his celebrity guests and their art.

The six-episode run will see Grayson incorporate weekly themes for members of the public to submit artwork to. Themes and submission information will be made available in early 2022.

Review: Semi Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 8)

Last night was the semi final of Series 8 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year - and this is my review.

I’ll writing this on my iPad Pro as my iMac looks like it also need surgery!

To be completely honest, in comparison to previous semi-finals, I was somewhat underwhelmed. 

I’m also amazed that somebody somewhere in the Sky Arts monolith has committed a monumental system fail. The way I access this programme via Now TV means that the first half of the heats can no longer view be viewed online - or on my television screen - because the episode is only available for 28 days NOT for the duration of the series. That just seems to me to be a completely nonsensical given that every episode of every other series of this programme CAN be accessed online and on my television!! If anybody from Sky Arts is reading this review PLEASE get this fixed so that those who come late to the series can watch ALL the episodes all the way through in the correct order.

THE SEMI-FINAL

The sitter was Nick Mason who has been the drummer for Pink Floyd for nearly 50 years - plus he likes driving fast cars 

Nick Mason and Joan Bakewell

The semi-finalists come from the 72 artists selected to participate in the eight heats at the Battersea Arts Centre earlier in 2021. Each won their heat - and are as follows:

Five Professional Artists

• Episode 3:  Sarah Harvey [Facebook | Instagram) - born in London in 1981. Art education at Chelsea School of Art and Newcastle University, graduating in 2004. Has her studio (Mallard Studio) in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire - big enough for her usually large scale paintings. However she's recently switched (due to you the big P) to painting in watercolour on her dining room table. You can see her many drawings and paintings of healthcare workers and families that were affected personally by covid19 created during the lockdown. One of her drawings was in the NHS Magazine in 2020
• Episode 4:  Lucy Threlfall [Facebook | Instagram] - Studio in Royston in north Hertfordshire. Graduated with degree in Art History at UCL. In 1990 she went on to study at Charles Cecil Studios in Florence. From 1997 she worked principally as a portrait painter, undertaking portrait commissions while looking after a young family. Completed an MA in Printmaking at the Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge in 2012. She has painted portraits since 1997.  
• Episode 5:  Calum Stevenson  [Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube] - graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone and I’m now studying for a MA in Fine Arts at Glasgow School of Art. He spent 80 hours on his self-portrait and focuses on getting a good likeness from the get go.
• Episode 6:  Gabriella Cohen [LinkedIn] - from Staines, Middlesex.  Digital Content Creator/ Fine Artist who graduated with a first class degree in Fine Art from Bournemouth - who enjoys creating characters in her work.  Submitted a self-portrait with a futuristic quality - and aimed for a slightly unusual edge to her portrait.
• Episode 8: Christos Tsimaris [Instagram | Saatchi] Lives in London. Participated in PAOTY 2020 and reached the semi-finals where he had a bit of a meltdown and a bad day - as I stood and watched. (see my review of the semi-finals - which incorporates comments on what I watched - in April 2019 - but did not make the screen)
• 1996 - 1997 - Masters Degree, European Fine Art, Winchester School of Art, Winchester
• 1995 - 1996 - Post Graduate Studies, Byam Shaw School of Art, London
• 1988 - 1993 - B.A. Hons Degree, School of Art of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Three Amateur Artists

• Episode 1:  Kat Hughes (Facebook) - Her self-portrait took 40 hours to complete. 
• Episode 2:  Ruhkiah Johnston - Medical student from London. No website or social media presence
• Episode 7: Mark Oliver [Facebook | Instagram | Twitter ] - An award-winning illustrator with a background in graphic design who lives in Worthing, West Sussex.

The Set-Up

Look at the distance between artist and sitter!!!

The set-up is rather different - with all nine artists lined up in an extended semi-circle facing towards the sitter sat in front of a large gong - which apparently isn’t actually a gong - which Mason has been carrying around on all Pink Floyd Tours - surrounded by very many pink panels!

They’ve got to think about what the set says about who they’re painting

Kate Bryan

I can’t believe that it’s taken me to until now to understand why the set background was PINK!!!

The important point from the artists’ perspective is that they are a HUGE distance from the sitter. No reputable portrait artist would ever consider painting a portrait from this distance! The programme makers really have to come up with a better way of doing this because for me while it might work for those who use technology it’s grossly unfair for those who paint from life.

THEMES

What are the semi-finals actually about?

Surgery postponed - my list of exhibitions in London to visit

I made it all the way to the ward, unpacked and knew when the operation was likely to take place when it was CANCELLED (long story not for this blog!). It's hopefully in the process of being rescheduled for mid January.

So coming home again I started making a mental list of exhibitions to try and go and see.... 

and these are they....

ART EXHIBITIONS to see in London

Courtauld Museum

https://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/

....has reopened after its major transformation project and I'd like to try and get to see old favourites again.

 

Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything

https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hokusai-great-picture-book-everything

Venue: Room 90, British Museum

Dates: until 30th January 2022

Ticket prices - cheaper to go in the week rather than the weekend

In a global first, this exhibition will display 103 recently acquired drawings by Hokusai, produced in the 1820s–1840s for an illustrated encyclopedia called The Great Picture Book of Everything. For reasons unknown, the book was never published, presenting the opportunity to see these exceptional works which would otherwise have been destroyed as part of the woodblock printing process.

Depicting scenes from Buddhist India, ancient China and the natural world, the brush drawings not only showcase Hokusai's inimitable style and skill, but also reveal a version of 19th-century Japan much more intrigued by the wider world than previously thought.

Dürer's Journeys: Travels of a Renaissance Artist

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/durers-journeys-travels-of-a-renaissance-artist

Venue: Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery

Dates: Until 27 February 2022

Ticket prices: Standard admission £20 Monday – Sunday plus concessions

This is the exhibition which should have been held in 6 March 2021 – 13 June 2021 - but got caught by the lockdown.

I was really miffed I was going to miss this one so pleased I can now get to see it as I'[m a big admirer of Durer.

The first major UK exhibition of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer in nearly 20 years.

Through paintings, drawings, prints, and letters, this exhibition follows Dürer’s travels across Europe, bringing to life the artist himself, and the people and places he visited.

Charting his journeys to the Alps, Italy, Venice and the Netherlands, the exhibition will explore how Dürer’s travels sparked an exchange of ideas with Netherlandish and Italian Renaissance artists, fuelled his curiosity and creativity, and increased his fame and influence across Europe.

Hogarth and Europe

Venue: Tate Britain
Dates: Until 20th March 2022

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/hogarth-and-europe

One that had completely passed me by - but I am partial to Hogarth. I often wonder why more artists today - with the exception of Grayson Perry - don't follow in his footsteps in terms of recording daily life.

Funny video provides a new take on the story!

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2021

Review: Series 8 Episode 8 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2021

This is my review later than usual review of the last Episode  of Series 8 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2021. 

Judges reviewing the self-portraits in the final episode of #PAOTY 2021

If I'm still around and not in brain-numbing pain after my ankle surgery on Monday,  then the review of the Semi-Final will follow next Thursday. 

For the record, I monitor social media each week before writing these reviews to see what the wider public think. I start by using the hashtag #paoty and noted this week that Instagram beats Twitter by a ratio of 2:1 - and Facebook has very, very little (i.e. lots over time - but very little for this series).

THE ARTISTS

I've got the impression that portrait artist of the week was used as some sort of melting pot for identifying potentially good people for the main event. I've noticed a lot of the artists taking part this year have 

• also taken part on Facebook in Portrait Artist of the Week.
• got a site on Saatchi

The Artists sat outside during the Judging

Professional Artists

I've got the overall impression that there haven't been as many professional artists participating in this series compared to previous series. I haven't counted - it's just an overall impression. I wonder why that is?

The three professional artists in this episode are:

• Jane French [Instagram | Twitter] - Gets my prize for the best written short summary of who she is on her website. Since September 2021 she's been engaged in a 100 Heads project which she is posting to her Instagram account

Based in Leicester, Jane French is an accomplished figurative artist and portrait painter. She is a proud member of the Contemporary British Portrait Painters collective (CBPP) – a group of some of the best portrait artists working in Britain today. Having originally studied Fine Art at Newcastle University, and later an MA in Design at De Montfort University (Leicester), Jane worked as an illustrator and graphic designer before focusing professionally on her own practice. She is also an art and design tutor, working online and at art centres and FE/HE institutions across the UK.

• Karen McKeon [Facebook |  Instagram | Saatchi] 4 years at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland - has a Dip AD. Originally studied sculpture. Now a practising professional artist painting in thin oil on canvas. She lives in Var in France.
• Christos Tsimaris [Instagram | Saatchi] Lives in London. Participated in PAOTY 2020 and reached the semi-finals where he had a bit of a meltdown and a bad day - as I stood and watched. (see my review of the semi-finals - which incorporates comments on what I watched - in April 2019 - but did not make the screen)
• 1996 - 1997 - Masters Degree, European Fine Art, Winchester School of Art, Winchester
• 1995 - 1996 - Post Graduate Studies, Byam Shaw School of Art, London
• 1988 - 1993 - B.A. Hons Degree, School of Art of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Amateur Artists

The six amateur artists in this episode are:

• Terry Coyle [Facebook | Saatchi] - a part-time maintenance worker and amateur artist who comes from Derry in Northern Ireland.
• 1996-1999 University of Ulster: Belfast College of Art - Batchelor of Arts , Fine and applied art.
• Robbie Jeffcott [Instagram] Based in London. Studied Fine Art Westminster and then trained as a tattoo artist.
• Hlumelo Konini [Instagram] studying architectural technology at Aberdeen University
• Helen Kelly [Instagram] - Mother of three small children; Studied fine art and printmaking and used to be an FE Lecturer but now works as a horticulturist focusing on health and sustainable habitat in Stourbrige
• Amber Lewis [Instagram] Based in Birmingham and wants to study art at University.
• Jacob Walden [Instagram] Age 16, studying for his A Levels and lives in Warwick.

SITTERS

The final sitters for Episode 8 were:

• Ian Hislop - Writer, broadcaster and Editor of Private Eye (I never knew he lived in Sissinghurst - but I do now!)
• Emma Dabiri - an Irish author, academic, and broadcaster. She is a teaching fellow in the African Languages, Cultures and Literatures section of the African department at SOAS, a Visual Sociology PhD researcher at Goldsmiths and has written some seminal books
• Daniel Mays - actor who starred in Series 3 of BBC drama Line of Duty as Sergeant Danny Waldron

THEMES

Have you experience of painting Hair - from too little to a LOT?

Hair had a starring role in this week's episode. Emma Dabiri (author of Don't Touch My Hair has a huge amount of wonderful hair, Ian Hislop has very little and looks positively cherubic at times as a result and Daniel Mays favours prominent gangster stubble!

Catch our muse @EmmaDabiri striking a pose on @SkyArts tonight at 20:00 on Portrait Artist of the Year. 🎨🖌 #portraitartistoftheyear #paoty #mypaotw #skyarts pic.twitter.com/MNXUv6PR1p

— KBJ Management (@kbjmanagement) December 1, 2021

All three therefore had everything from lots of hair to very little which, in turn, provided a major challenge for the artists in terms of structure, shape, volume, tone and colour - because there is nothing that undermines a portrait more than not getting the hair (or lack of) right.

For me the important thing is to recognise that you need to work out the shape of the skull underneath the hair before drawing / painting the hair - otherwise you run the risk of getting it very wrong.

I'd urge artists contemplating an entry in next year's competition to make sure they practice painting hair - because this episode proves it can be a make or break factor in the final assessment!

How to cope with painting in 4 hours

As always the four hours is not four hours - unless you work straight through the lunch break - because you get interrupted etc etc etc.

It's always interesting to watch 

• how different artists determine different strategies and shortcuts to employ for dealing with the time constraint; and 
• whether they arrived at the Battersea Art Centre with a thought through strategy - and practice under their belt 
• or whether they were making it up on the day in terms of how to paint this sitter in under 4 hours.

Most interesting was Hlumelo Konini who decided to continue his 'letterbox' perspective on subjects - and just drawing the eyes, nose and ears.  However, although interesting, it doesn't provide the scope to demonstrate that you can do more than that.

Working from dark to light

It's a treat for me when we get a properly trained painter working in oils who works from dark to light. 

Even better if he or she is also an art teacher who can verbalise the mantras provided to students about how to approach painting from dark to light.

Don't rush the highlights - highlights are the treat at the end of working from dark to light 

Jane French was a major treat in this respect. I loved the fact that she was not in the least bit put off by one of the Judges commenting half way through to the effect that her face shadows were very dark - when she's been laying in the underlying darks and not fussing with the lighter tones which SHE KNEW would come later!

DECISION TIME

Sitters choose a portrait painting

Daniel Mays chose the painting by Karen Mckeon. Like Daniel I also loved this painting - but it didn't look like him! However it'll look good on his wall. 

Ian Hislop chose the remarkably good painting by Jane French which had the advantage of being an excellent portrait which also looked like him in 'contented cherub' mode.

Interestingly all the paintings of Ian were good - but very different.

Ian Hislop by Jane French

Emma Dabiry chose the portrait by Christos Tsimaris. I think this may be because it 

Judges choose a shortlist

Did you work out which were the five they made their final choice of three from?

"It was difficult going from five to three"

Waiting for the shortlist

The three artists the Judges chose were:

• Helen Kelly
• Christos Tsimaris
• Jane French

Paintings by Helen Kelly - self portrait plus heat painting of Daniel Mays

Helen Kelly was extremely surprised to be shortlisted. I'm guessing quite a lot of other people might be too. However when you see the two paintings together, it's obvious that this is an artist who has a well developed sense of what she wants a painting to look like.

However I did think for a very long time that she was never going to correct the awful distortion of the head shape which was present for a very long time as this painting developed. But she did!

Plus I thought it was pity she gave him a beard when in fact he has heavy stubble. It completely changes the sense of the individual.

However, and you may think surprisingly, I think she actually captured the best sense of Daniel Mays. 

Paintings by Christos Tsimaris

Tai very obviously loves what Christos does in terms of process and application of paint. Which is basically about saying he does things which Tai finds very absorbing. However, while I can well understand the enthusiasm for the technique, in my book, that doesn't necessarily make you a good portrait painter.

I thought Kate's comment about the portrait "looking a bit shrunken" was absolutely spot on. My feeling was that her arms are just plain wrong and her arms and torso seemed to be out of proportion with the size of her head. i.e. her head was smaller and her hair was bigger. Too much focusing on the face and hair and not enough on proportions and the rest of the painting to my mind.. However I did think his self-portrait was very good - but quite limited in the sense it's just a head and shoulders.

My main gripe about Christos is he has a tendency to "go murky".  My main concern about him is I think he gets quite nervy in competitions of this sort and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the semi final this time.

Paintings by Jane French - self portrait and heat painting of Ian Hislop

The Judges commented that Jane is a traditional painter who is very good at painting clarity of form and light - and that she brings some airiness to her paintings. Which I'd call giving a sense of volume and of being a real person sitting in front of you.

I thought Jane was exceptionally good at capturing both form and likeness, tone and colour - and her paintings look 'clean' for wantof a better expression i.e. the reverse of murky!

I also liked the fact her self-portrait was her upper torso including both hands - and both those hands are rendered extremely well

Although her painting of the clothing was unfinished, I think that it's very likely that she will get a large number of commissions on the strength of her appearance on this programme.

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The winner of Episode 8

The winner of Episode 8 was Christos Tsimaris.

I wasn't surprised - because anybody who gets asked back and/or selected for the heats for a second time is obviously favoured by the Judges to some degree.

My winner was Jane French.

Next week - Semi Final

The Sitter for the Semi Final is  drummer Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, who now looks like a very dapper bloke who used to work in the City of London.

Nick Mason - the sitter for Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 semi finals

Series 8 of PORTRAIT ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 starts 13th October 2021

• How Portrait Artist of the Year actually works in practice

• Review: Episode 1 of Portrait Artist of the Year Series 8 (Autumn 2021)

• Review: Episode 2 of Portrait Artist of the Year Series 8 (Autumn 2021)

• Review: Episode 3 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 (Series 8)

• Review: Episode 4 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 (Series 8)

• Review: Episode 5 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 ( Series 8 )

• Review: Episode 6 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2021 (Series 8)
• Review: Series 8 Episode 7 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2021