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One my favourite occupations used to be drawing oil paintings by past masters - in coloured pencil.
Morning on the Seine early in morning light - a copy of Monet's work in coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell
One such was "Morning on the Seine" by Claude Monet - in a different colourway - which I drew some years ago. It's prompted me to think I should do more. I know I always learned a huge amount each and every time I copied a painting by an old Master.
I think the last time this drawing was posted on this blog was back in 2013!
However, for those contemplating the benefits of copying paintings, it's VERY important to remember there's a lot of difference between
copying somebody who's out of copyright (like Monet) and
copying an image by an artist or photographer whose work is covered by copyright
Monet's "Mornings on the Seine" is a series of 21 canvases painted in 1896 and 1897.
Monet often painted the River Seine and its river banks, near his home in Giverny, His aim was to capture the fleeting effects of dawn light on the River Seine n France - and create another series of paintings!
He painted the same scene at different stages of sunrise and in a variety of weather conditions.
He often painted from his specially equipped boat which he used as a floating studio.
Working from before dawn his aim was to record the subtle changes in color and atmosphere as the sun rose
Monet often painted emphasising misty, blue, green, pink and purple tones.
Having patiently scouted out views along the river, Monet then painted the pictures from a boat that he had converted into a floating studio. For an extended period he rose by dawn in order to paint the changing effects of light as the sun came up. He then lined up the canvases on easels in his studio to complete them together as a series. Fifteen were shown at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1898. Metropolitan Museum of Art
You can see some of the paintings below. They're all called Morning on the Seine near Giverny
In 1217, Henry III signed the Charter of the Forest, opening up the royal forests for the use of the people. To mark the 800th anniversary of this act, in November 2017 The Woodland Trust launches a new charter to recognise and protect those rights.
The appearance of the Arborealists in 2013 is an extraordinary phenomenon within the pervading orthodoxy in an art world that values post modernist objects, film and popular culture. Where events, interventions and installations engage the viewer, what can ‘tree painters’ (the Arborealists are for the most part painters), offer a public that is understandably titillated by Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst.
Trees in Illustration is at the V&A until next week and finishes on Tuesday 23 January 2018.
This display shows a variety of illustrations celebrating trees, woods and landscapes. Featuring watercolours by Beatrix Potter and Arthur Rackham, alongside drawings by E. H. Shepard for A. A. Milne's Pooh stories and his verses in Now We Are Six. Also included are Eric Ravilious' charming wood engravings for an edition of Gilbert White's classic The Natural History of Selborne. Exhibited here for the first time are Rolf Brandt's witty pictures for Stephen McFarlane's Story of a Tree.
I saw it last Friday and it has some simply stunning images - see above for just one example.
Trees have long been a source of inspiration for artists. This display explores the diverse representation of trees in photography – as botanical subjects and poetic symbols, in the context of the natural and human worlds.
This is not part of the exhibition but is a short video on YouTube by Bae Bien-U the Korean photographer who produced the stunning image at the top of this post. He has apparently been acclaimed for his treescapes - particularly ones of Korean Pines - for the last two decades.
I'll write more about the exhibition and the other marvellous images later in the week.
A Walk in the Woods: A Celebration of Trees in British Art
Web page for A Walk in the Woods at Higgins Bedford
A trip to Bedford will also be rewarded with another exhibition of Edward Bawden and his Studio if you go before 28th January.
The Higgins Bedford pays homage to the tree with a new exhibition celebrating the role of trees and woodland in British landscape painting. Drawn from the world-famous Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection, some forty watercolours, drawings and prints from the past two centuries will be on show and will include works by John Constable, John Sell Cotman, Edward Lear, Samuel Palmer, Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland and Lucian Freud. The show will highlight the importance and enduring popularity of trees in art, and explore various themes which have evolved in artists’ depictions of nature: magical and dreaming trees, trees in the countryside, the pleasures of woods and the lure of the exotic.
There's also a A Walk in the Woods Study Day on Saturday 20th January 10.30am – 2.30pm (
£20 Including lunch and tea or coffee on arrival - Booking essential)
This study day brings together speakers to explore further the subject of trees in British art. The day will start at 10.30 with refreshments and registration followed by talks by
Christiana Payne, Professor of History of Art at Oxford Brookes University, author of ‘Silent Witnesses: Trees in British Art 1760-1870’ and co-curator of A Walk in the Woods;
Fiona Stafford, Professor of English Language and Literature University of Oxford, presenter of The Meaning of Trees on BBC Radio 3, and author of the acclaimed ‘The Long Long Life of Trees’, a tribute to the diversity of trees.
David Boyd Haycock, freelance writer, lecturer and curator specialising in British cultural history of the twentieth century. Author of ‘Paul Nash’ and ‘A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War’, David is currently writing a book called ‘A Grand Epoch: Young British Artists and the End of the Century’ for Tate Publishing.
Most of the time Linda Blondheim paints the fields, woods, swamps and trees of rural agricultural lands on farms in north Florida - when she's not offering smart business tips.
Linda Blondheim - Landscape Paintings of Florida
Right now she's evacuated from her field home and is hunkering down in her Paddiwhack town studio in Gainsville with her dog Henry, painting small bird paintings and hoping for the best.
So I thought I'd write this post highlighting her work and her great art tips.
If you feel moved to support a fellow artist and comment on Linda's blog or her Facebook Page can you PLEASE READ THE NOTES AT THE END first about Guidelines when discussing the hurricane with Floridians
Florida is my home, and I have painted and roamed the fields and woods here all of my life. I grew up around horses, cattle and dogs. Growing up in north rural Florida has given me a deep appreciation for agricultural land and trees. These subjects are the focus of my work. As our rural areas of Florida fall to development, I feel it is urgent to preserve these beautiful lands and scenes on canvas. Future generations will know how lovely natural Florida was during my tenure. I have a trail on my own land where my dog Henry and I walk every day. We enjoy the wild creatures who share the land with us. I’ve been a country painter most of my life and I love the culture and cuisine of this region. Many artists in Florida paint the tourist areas of Florida, offering massive numbers of reproductions. I only paint original paintings in oils and acrylics. My paintings are one of a kind and unique. I paint the natural world where my roots grow deep.
This is her Linda Blondheim Art Notes blog - where you can enjoy reading about the reality of an artist's life.
She talks about creating paintings and selling art. Lots of great stuff in there by a very experienced artist who has been making her living from making and selling art for a long time.
Linda tells it like it is. I especially recommend reading her notes for all those who have romantic ideas about being an artist - Linda will provide you with the reality of what an artist's life is really like.
Here's a few recent notes worth reading (plus you often get a free recipe at the end!).
Why not subscribe to her blog if you like what you read....
See Know Paint - about looking and how to get better at seeing
One of the hardest concepts to understand is how to really see. Objects do not look like we think they do. In my mind, I know what an elephant looks like but in reality, I have no idea.
Swell Fall - about the routines an artist needs to follow to generate sales - lots of great tips
Think about ways that you can be unique among artists. What makes you just a bit different or makes you stand out from the pack. That is not necessarily about your art. It could be about the extra level of service you provide. Gift wrapping and shipping services for paintings, delivery and installation, framing consultation are all little extras which will impress future collectors. The easier you make life for them, the more likely they will be to choose you instead of your competitor.
Shop Opening Studio - about why it helps to create your own place to sell your art
It is important to figure out what you will sell and how you will attract buyers. You must find a good location for your shop. Life is not like the film Field of Dreams. If you build it, they will NOT come unless you work very hard and market endlessly to get them there. You will need to either have a large marketing budget or be in a dandy location. If you must choose one, go with the great location if you can.
Life Artist - about the reality of being a professional artist. It's tough talk and Linda doesn't pull her punchy points. However she has ridden the economic storms in the past and present and continues to be positive
I will continue to study and offer the best work that I can do. I am very willing to face the challenges of life as an artist because I know there are enough people who do value art to keep my career moving forward.
Guidelines when discussing the hurricane with Floridians
Linda posted this post which is circulating amongst those living in Florida on her Facebook Personal page.
Entries are eligible for New York Botanical Garden Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals.
The reason for posting it now is drawing and painting trees tends to take a bit of time. Also relatively few botanical artists draw trees - and I think I detect in this subject an attempt by ASBA to interest more botanical artists around the world in recording trees for posterity.
To this end I'll provide my photos of artists who been rather successful in painting trees in this post.
Masumi Yamanaka with her painting of the Stone Pine in Kew Gardens - planted in 1846 See Review: Kew's Heritage Trees - paintings by Masumi Yamanaka
Since she painted it, the tree has lost three major branches in a big storm in 2013
- proving the worth of painting the tree.
The Exhibition
This Triennial follows on from the very successful and much travelled Weird, Wild, & Wonderful exhibition) associated with the Second Triennial.
The exhibition will be at The New York Botanical Garden between November 18, 2017 - April 22, 2018 - and presumably will then embark on a long tour as the last one did.
Call for Entries
The American Society of Botanical Artists has published the Call for Entries
The theme of the Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial will be trees in gardens, inviting artists to capture images of one of the planet’s most important and beautiful resources. These tree subjects must be found in a botanical garden or arboretum, and each entry will include the location(s) of the entered tree(s) We encourage artists to seek out unique trees in botanical gardens and arboreta, in any season, and depict whatever aspect of them they find most engaging and inspiring.
It doesn't specifically state that the tree must be one found in the USA so I'm guessing that any recognised botanical garden or arboretum will be fine - especially if the exhibition is going to attract international entries - which I'm sure it will.
Update: The Exhibition Director informs me that
the arboretum or botanical garden does not have to be in the USA, as long as it is a recognized botanical garden or arboretum.
the goals relating to the exhibition’s theme include:
recording notable trees in public collections for the historical record
developing relationships between artists and these institutions and organizations, and encouraging artists to learn about and depict trees
educating the public about the contemporary practice of botanical art, the value of trees worldwide, and the important tree resources that botanical gardens and arboreta provide.
RHS Botanical Art Exhibition: Best Exhibit in Show Lauraceae in Korea by Hye Woo Shin
GOLD MEDAL 2013 awarded to Hye Woo Shin
(see Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners) copyright: images - Hye Woo Shin; photo - Katherine Tyrrell
What you can enter
Up to three entries
Two-dimensional original botanical artwork, size limit 40” x 46” either horizontal or vertical.
The subject MUST be trees grown in botanical gardens or arboreta - and you are required to state its location on the entry form
Titles must include genus and species if known (and botanical gardens and arboreta tend to be good at labelling trees!)
Artwork must be available for exhibition for the full period stipulated i.e. artwork must be available to travel from 2017 through 2019.
Who can enter
The only people who can enter are current members of the American Society of Botanical Artists - irrespective of where they live.
So - if you want to enter and are not already a member then you need to consult the ASBA Membership Page on their website.
How to enter
Deadline for Entries: After the exhibition dates changed, the original deadline of September 30, 2016 has now been changed to April 28, 2017
Your entry comprises:
signed and completed entry form
payment of the fee (Fee per entry: $35 payable by check or PayPal)
Image requirements: Images of the artwork should be submitted as digital files. The constraints are as follows:
High resolution i.e. 300 dpi
Size: an image which will print at 8” high (it might be worth checking that this is the longest dimension),
tif or jpg files are acceptable (in practice tif files will provide better resolution but larger file sizes)
On a CD labelled only with artist’s name and artwork(s) title(s).
Alert! Artists should read the small print which states
If the artist withdraws the artwork before exhibition, the artist will not be eligible to show at any ASBA exhibition for the following two years.
Note that all
artwork must be framed in specific L-profile, maple exhibition framing. Full information will be provided to accepted artists. (I'm assuming that arrangements are made to assist international entries and avoid shipping disasters through framing in the USA)
Artists are responsible for shipping to the New York Botanical Garden and for its return shipping at the close of the exhibition. Artists are not responsible for shipping between venues.
An RHS Gold Medal in 2015 was awarded to Kimeo Maruyama for her paintings of Pine Trees
How to get started
ASBA suggests the following as appropriate ways of getting to grips with drawing and painting suitable trees
explore your local botanical garden or arboretum
contact horticultural staff of the Botanic Garden or Arboretum to learn what trees they believe are worthy of note.
other art societies or art groups of ASBA Chapters - develop a concurrent exhibition on the same subject
plan a group sketching trip to a local botanical garden to explore the opportunities and possible approaches
ASBA recommends the use of the following resources
ArbNet and The Morton Register of Arboreta which is is a comprehensive list and database of arboreta and public gardens that have a substantial focus on woody plants
View of the main gallery and some of Masumi Yamanaka's paintings
Display boxes contained other drawings, paintings and books about trees in the Kew Collection
Armand's White Pine (Chinese White Pine) and Masumi Yamanaka
- this excellent botanical painting is now in the private collection of
Martyn Rix, Editor of Curtis's Botanical Magazine who contributed the tree descriptions to the book about the exhibition
The Gallery currently has three exhibitions on display - although this is not obvious from the "what's on" on the Kew website. The final day of the exhibitions is 9th August.
They are:
Kew's Heritage Trees (Galleries 1 and 5) - paintings by Masumi Yamanaka
The Joy of Spring (Gallery 6 Paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection)
I have no idea why the other two exhibitions are not identified as exhibitions to visit on the Kew Gardens website. However the Kew Gardens website is not easy to navigate and frequently omits information for visitors. I can't work out why this is but it's extremely unhelpful to the fans of botanical art and this is a gallery that gets a lot of visitors!
Below you'll find
a review of Kew's Heritage Trees and there will be another post later in the week about the other two exhibitions
10 facts about Masumi Yamanaka
a big innovation associated with this exhibition!
Review of 'Kew's Heritage Trees'
This exhibition focuses on what are known as the Heritage Trees and include paintings of the trees known as the "Old Lions" which have been living at Kew for over 250 years.
Any regular visiter to Kew will know that the gardens include some really wonderful trees - some of which are very large, some of which are very old and some of which are both!
I know I spend time when visiting Kew enjoying seeing the old and big trees at different stages of their annual life cycle. I've taken more than a few photographs of most of them over the years in part because Kew is somewhere where trees can grow to their full potential and they are simply stunning!
Below is a map of the trees that have been painted and are included in the exhibition.
Location of the Heritage Trees
The majority are related to the location of the Old Arboretum between the Orangery and the Palm House
There is no guide to the Arboretum - and how trees are grouped across the site - or a map of the old trees on the website.
There have been some drawings of the trees done in the past but no one artist has ever attempted to do all the trees as a collection.
Masumi Yamanaka works on a freelance basis at Kew - an "Artist in Residence" - and had felt for some time that the old and treasured trees at Kew needed to be drawn and painted as well as photographed.
Masumi's interest in the trees started when she painted the Indian Bean tree for a portfolio of nine works exhibited at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2010 - for which she won a gold medal. I particularly enjoyed this series - it's one which certainly ought to be studied by all those aspiring to a gold medal!
A series of paintings of Indian Horse Chestnut Aesculus Indica
She started to paint more of the heritage trees after this project and it's taken her five years to develop the portfolio she has created and which is now on display. Fortunately she managed to capture some of the trees before the big storm in 2013 which damaged a lot of the trees at Kew - including the heritage trees.
It's important to note this was not a commission - this was an initiative by Masumi.
MY TIP for botanical artists: When thinking about what to do for a project why not try something nobody has done before - which also has links to the historical or iconic or both?
Not all the paintings are of the full tree although there are some significant paintings of the shapes of some of them. Other paintings focus on the shapes of leaves and seeds and/or cones - which are beautifully painted. In total they make a very worthwhile collection.
I found the paintings of some of the pines to be quite breathtaking. I also love the fact that as a result of the exhibition I now understand much more about the trees and know more about what I'm looking at on my regular visits to Kew. Plus where to find all the heritage trees - I do hope they put that map on the website!
Initially Masumi asked whether she could do an exhibition of her paintings in one of the side galleries. However after Kew saw what she had produced - she's now done 40 paintings - they decided that she could have the main gallery for the exhibition!
View of the exhibition in the main gallery of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
This is a video about the exhibition
Find out more about the trees and the paintings
The book of the exhibition
I was very fortunate yesterday as
Masumi walked into the exhibition while I was there
However you can:
find out more about the trees on the website:
Kew's Heritage Trees is a blog post which describes the development of the collection and shows some of the paintings next to photographs of the originals.
This blog post - Celebrating the tree - tells us more about some of the artwork from the archives in the existing Kew Art Collection.
The exhibition is rounded off with a publication called 'Treasured Trees' published by Kew. It includes colour plates of the 40 paintings in the exhibition plus a detailed description of each tree and how it came to be included in the Arboretum at Kew. The tree descriptions are written by Martin Rix, Editor of Curtis's Botanical Magazine and the Introduction was written by Christina Harrison, Editor of the Kew Magazine. Read more about it.
10 Facts about Masumi Yamanaka
Masumi Yamanaka with her painting of the Stone Pine - planted in 1846
Since she painted it it has lost three major branches in a big storm in 2013 - proving the worth of painting the tree.
Masumi Yamanaka was born in Japan in 1957 but has lived in London for the last 26 years
The earlier part of her career involved working as a designer for ceramic manufacturers and retailers
She studied botanical art with Pandora Sellars who is a professional botanical painter and illustrator contributing to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine
Her illustration of a Hippeastrum won the SBA's Margaret Grainger Memorial Silver Bowl, is included in the SBA Book 'The Botanical Palette' and now forms part of the Kew Art Collection.
Masumi's botanical artwork has been exhibited in four previous exhibitions Kew’s Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art:
‘Trees’ (Winter 2009)
‘Bulbmania’ (Summer 2010)
‘Kew Artists’ (Spring 2011)
‘Inspiring Kew’ (2014).
Masumi won an RHS Gold Medal in 2010 for her illustrations of Aesculus indica ‘Sydney Pearce’, illustrated from the specimen at Kew. (Note: The exhibition includes the nine paintings exhibited at the RHS)
Her drawings and paintings are held in the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and private collections throughout the world.
She is the Japanese Exhibition Coordinator for the forthcoming exhibition ‘Flora Japonica’ which will be held at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in 2016.
Masumi has been a freelance artist based in the Herbarium since 2007.
The paintings of the Heritage Trees were done on her initiative. She feels it's important that they should become part of the Kew Collection - especially as some
Sponsor one of the paintings
One of the innovations with this exhibition is definitely worth talking about.
Each piece depicts one of Kew’s most significant trees and epitomises the living collections here at Kew. We would like to add as many of these pictures to Kew’s art collection as we can. Unfortunately, our current funding will not allow us to purchase more than two of these pieces. So there is a real danger most will be lost to Kew forever. These paintings are a living record of the history of Kew’s Heritage Trees and with this in mind, we have launched a fund to help us to purchase these important pieces, and keep them at Kew.
Masumi can sell these paintings - she wasn't commissioned to do them. On the one hand her income has been limited by the time given over to undertaking this project so it would be great if she could sell some. On the other hand, she feels strongly that the paintings should form part of the Kew Art Collection given the iconic nature of the trees which they portray. However Kew's funding has been cut and can only afford to buy two........
The idea of sponsorship is that a third party - a supporter of Kew and its art collection - pays the not unreasonable prices asked - and the piece is then added to the Art Collection at Kew.
What you get as a sponsor is a certificate, a high resolution print of the painting and an invitation to an event to meet the artist. Plus your name goes on the exhibition label for the painting every time it is exhibited anywhere in the world.....
I know I want my Executors to secure a bench at Kew in my memory when I go - but maybe it's time to think about sponsoring a painting instead?
Why not sponsor one as a gift to celebrate a special birthday, anniversary or event or to commemorate the life of a loved one?
I think both Kew and Masumi are also hoping that in due course international sponsors might want to try and get the exhibition overseas. It's certainly well worth it - I've never seen another exhibition quite like it.
PS. The next new exhibition at the Gallery will open on 29 August 2015. I've put in my diary!
Something like 85% of digital drawings in The Arrival of Spring sold before David Hockney's new exhibition opens tomorrow at Annely Juda Fine Art. However the stars of the exhibition are a new set of charcoal drawings completed in Spring 2013 - and they're not yet for sale. I imagine when the time comes they'll either be donated to a major art gallery or museum or they will be sold as a complete set - and if that ever happens it will take somebody with very deep pockets.
"Woldgate, The Arrival of Spring in 2013" - 4 of the five series of five drawingscharcoal drawings
"The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011"
The 20 colour prints in "The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011" were drawn on Hockney's iPad and were part of the set of some 50 works shown at the Royal Academy of Arts in his blockbuster show in 2012. They were all drawn knowing that at some point they would become large prints. In this show a few of them have become very large prints! There's one new print in the show
The colour prints are now being marketed for the very first time which perhaps explains the very keen interest despite the fact that the prices of these small limited edition prints are eye-watering.
"The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011" by David Hockney (Left to right) 1 January 2011, 4 January 2011 and 18 December 2011 The print on the right is a new one which was not included in the RA show and records winter rain
"The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011" by David Hockney (Left to right) 18 March 2011, 25 April 2011, 1 April 2011, 18 January 2011 and 23 February 2011 139.7 cm x 105.4cm
"Woldgate, The Arrival of Spring in 2013"
"The Chinese say black and white contains colour, and so it can"
David Hockney
On the third floor are six series of charcoal drawings, all drawn on an entire sheet of Arches Aquarelles with the impressed makers name always bottom right - plus a video. These comprise
5 series of drawings - each series containing five drawings - all done between January and May 2013
a series of drawings titled "Vandalised Totem". which had been first vandalised and then cut down - made in November 2012, following a minor stroke
a video made in winter 2010 of the road along Woldgate in heavy snow.
Vandalized Totem by David Hockney
charcoal drawings 57.5cm x 78.8cm
signed and numbered
November - December 2012
He was making these drawings having recently suffered a minor stroke. The first drawing in November 2012 took two days but after that he says he found he concentrated more - and for the next six months he did nothing but draw in charcoal.
One knockout aspect for me was the charcoal drawings - which were simply stunning. I never ever tired of looking at these - but only appreciated the relevance of him drawing trees and wood in charcoal on my last visit.
Gregory who runs the business end of Hockney back in Los Angeles said he felt that the drawings were different from the ones before. To my mind, one very obvious reason they look different is because they're a considered series of five drawings of a place he now knows very well indeed. Walking into the third floor space, one is immediately made aware of the impact of charcoal drawings when done as a series of drawings of the same space over a period of time. The drawings also remind you very much of the subtlety that charcoal has in the hands of somebody who knows how to use it.
Woldgate - from the Arrival of Spring in 2013by David Hockney
(left to right, top then bottom) 6-7 February, 6 May, 12-13 May, 20-21 May, 27 May
I personally found that they kept reminding me of Van Gogh's reed pen drawings of the countryside and trees in Provence. Hockney uses the same variety of in notations and mark-making used for trees and leaves and grass which felt very familiar and comfortable. (I'm a huge fan of Van Gogh's drawings - if you'd like to find out more about his drawings you can download the catalogue of the exhibition of Van Gogh's drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on their publications website - for free)
I definitely recommend this exhibition to anybody who is a fan of Hockney, a fan of landscape drawings, a fan of digital art or charcoal drawings - and if you're all of these, as I am now, you'll have a truly wonderful experience!
Plus the video of Woldgate continues to mesmerise - just as it did at the RA!
One of the nine screens displaying the journey along the snow road of Woldgate in 2010.
You can play 'spot the totem' as it used to be!
The catalogue is also excellent - very good reproduction and well presented.
Back in 2008 I did a drawing class with Sarah Simblet about Drawing Trees at the National Gallery. She talked about a major project she had embarked upon to draw trees.
Little did I realise at the time this would lead her to illustrating a new and revised version of a very old book about trees. The New Sylva- published this month - is an updated book about trees which takes as its starting point John Evelyn's Sylva(A Discourse of Forest Trees, and the Propagation of Timber in his Majesty's Dominions) published in 1664 - which was the world's first book about Forestry.
That wasn't illustrated - and this one is - with 200 new pen and ink drawings of more than 100 tree species.
Images from the book can be viewed on Facebook
The original book was for landed estates which grew trees. The new book is for everyone.
Prizewinners in the last three years (2010-2012) are ineligible for this award.
Who can nominate
Nominations are ONLY accepted from peers i.e. people with an art blog.
Anonymous nominations are not permitted. (This is purely to stop spammers as I link to the blogs of all those who have nominated in a later post summarising the nominations!)
An artist can nominate their own work
All nominations must be in English.
What you need to do
To nominate - just
COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST
providing all the necessary details (see below)
BEFORE 24th December 2013.
Use the comment function on this blog post to:
nominate an artwork which YOU think is the best artwork about Nature in 2013. You must state:
the title of the piece
the name of the artist,
the size and medium (if possible)
the name and URL of the blog (eg The Art Blog - http://artblog.blogspot.com)
the date, title and URL of the blog post in which the artwork appears (you MUST provide a the precise URL for the location of the post and not just the URL for the blog. Try clicking the title or the date of the post - that sometimes gives you the unique URL of the post)
say WHY you think this artwork deserves to be nominated
SAY WHY YOU LIKE THE WORK - this bit is really important so please do the best you can. Remember that nominations are open and transparent and that it's good to share a genuine tribute to a piece of work you like
You need to ask the artist if their work can be posted on my blog - and let me know what the answer is. This can happen after the nomination and BEFORE 24th December.
ELIGIBLE ARTWORK MUST BE:
original artwork about Nature - botanical, natural history or wildlife
a painting (in any media) or a drawing (in any media) or a fine art print (using any method) created using hands. Digital artwork is eligible
completed in 2013 - and appeared on an art blog in 2013
by an artist who has an independent art blog(i.e. websites don't count - this is an award for art bloggers!)
by an artist who has not won the award in the last three years
submitted with the approval of the artist i.e. you need to identify an image which can be used on this blog.(you can seek their agreement after the nomination and BEFORE the announcement of nominations in a post on this blog on 24th December)
Artwork which is NOT eligible includes:
photography
over-reliant on an image taken by another person
The Making A Mark Awards 2013
The Making A Mark Awards (a page on this blog (see top) explains the awards and highlights past winners
I'll be embedding links to more blog posts about nominations for the following awards over the next week
Making A Mark Nominations: Best Picture of the Year on an Art Blog
He was an extraordinarily prolific painter - I understand there are about 2,200 paintings in total. The video below is a tour of his house - which is now a museum - and it gives you a sense of both the impact of the paintings and their size. I was amazed at how big some of them are.
I like his paintings of boats and people at work and leisure on the beach - he has a particularly fine eye for the colours associated with the water and the marine atmosphere in a sunny climate. His brushwork is also very seductive - it's looks very relaxed - but the approach and skill level approaches that of John Singer Sargent.
However I'm also very partial to his paintings of gardens. That's not unexpected given I'm also rather partial to sketching gardens as those who know my sketchbook blog will appreciate.
He typically painted these later in life. Like Monet he painted his own garden. You don;'t have to move the easel very far!
His style is sketchy but his use of colours is almost always impeccable. I particularly like the way he varies his greens. So many people paint gardens and forget how many greens there really are.
I've also created art in one of the gardens he used to paint in.
My pastel drawing (above right) was done plein air while sat on the shady verandah of a building in the grounds of the Real Alcazar de Sevilla - which is a Spanish palace which started out life as a Moorish fort. It remind me of the heat of the day and the value of the shade. (BTW I know the pillar is leaning! I have an awful problem with verticals... particularly when working plein air!)
Sketches by Katherine Tyrrell hung in The Art of Urban Sketching Exhibition at Foyles
Who's made a mark this week is going to be published tomorrow. I've been a bit busy yesterday and today converting sketches in sketchbooks into prints, matted and framed and then transported from my kitchen floor - see below - to the wall of The Art of Urban Sketching Exhibition which opens at Foyles tomorrow.
Sketches of London by Katherine Tyrrell
for The Art of Urban Sketching Exhibition at Foyles Bookshop
16-22 July 2012
This exhibition is being held this next week - 16-22 July 2012 - in The Gallery at Foyles, Third Floor, 113-119 Charing Cross Road. Foyles is an independent bookseller who won the prestigious National Bookseller of the Year 2012. The Charing Cross store is its original and flagship store.
Exhibition Poster - in Foyles window fronting Charing Cross Road
There will be a post on Urban Sketchers London with photos of exhibition - including each set of sketches and the correspondent who produced them.
How to produce prints of sketches for an exhibition
Here's the process I used for getting sketches framed for an exhibition
First I selected those pen and ink and coloured pencil sketches which looked like they might read across a room
I chose two themes - art galleries and a favourite sketching location - Kew Gardens
I scanned or photographed the double page spreads
Then converted the image file into a tiff file (lossless compression) - to improve the quality of the printing.
I produced a printed version of the image on an A4 page of Somerset Enhanced Velvet (which is a matt paper with some tooth)
I had to restate the coloured pencil to get back to the colours and values of the sketches in my sketchbook. Fortunately the paper is very accepting of coloured pencils
They were given a glass clean inside and out before my better half applied the brass mirror plates for screwing the works to the wall of the gallery.
Finally many thanks to Nathan Brenville (Tinmouse) who helped me by screwing the frames to the wall. (My right hand doesn't grip too well!)
I'd be interested to know if anybody else has ever tried converting sketchbooks to prints - I'm still umming and erring about the authenticity of the centre fold in my double page spread sketches!
PS Anybody notice the consistent theme to my sketches?
before I realised there was an exhibition!
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