8th UKCPS Open International Exhibition - Call for Entries

The exhibition page on the UKCPS website

Anyone, anywhere in the world, who likes to produce art using coloured pencils is invited to enter the 8th Open International Exhibition 2009 of the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS) sponsored by Derwent.

This annual exhibition will be held in 2009 in Gallery 2 at the home of the The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in Birmingham from Monday 21st September to Saturday 3rd October.

ENTRY: What you need to know

Here are some of the important things you need to know:

• Who can enter? This is an open competition - which means you don't need to be a paid-up member of UKCPS to enter....
  
• ....however it you would like to try and earn signature status from UKCPS you'll need to become a member before you enter! Check out the details of how to do this on the membership page on the UKCPS website. If you are successful in getting into this show three times within a five year span you can become a signature member and are entitled to put the letters UKCPS after your name.
• if your work is accepted into the exhibition, you become eligible to win one or more of the valuable Awards: Derwent Award for Best in Show (£400), UKCPS Award for Reserve Best in Show (£300), the President's Award (£100), the Peter Weatherill Landscape Award (£100), the People's Choice Award (£50), among other awards.
• the entry form for this exhibition has been despatched to all members in the March edition of the Talking Point newsletter. You can also now download the combined Call For Entries and Entry Form (pdf file) from the NEW exhibition page on the UKCPS website.
  
• IMPORTANT: The criteria for eligible work has changed in 2009. As usual we suggest you should read ALL of the details given in the Call for Entries/Entry Form very carefully. However, this year, you are recommended to pay particular attention to the definition of eligible work which has changed from that used in previous years. Using your mouse, you can right click on the image below to see the relevant part of the form - which states very clearly what sort of work is eligible to enter and what would make a work ineligible for the competition. Work which is submitted but ineligible will be refused entry.

Eligible Works: An extract from the Call For Entries

• to enter you need to submit a completed entry form plus image(s) (as a photo, print or high resolution scan on CD) by the deadline of 24th June to Pat Heffer, the UKCPS Exhibition Secretary
  
• Entry fees: These have also changed. As previously explained in Talking Point, every UKCPS member now gets one entry free and can submit up to 3 additional entries @ £5 per entry. The entry fee for all non-members is £17.50 each for up to 2 entries and as membership is £28 per annum for a UK member (and £33 for a non-UK member) you can see there's a slight financial incentive to joining UKCPS!
• Jury: A jury considers all images, plus the title and details of size. Artists' names, descriptions and CVs are not provided to jurors. The jurors this year are Vera Curnow CPSA (Founder of the Colored Pencil Society of America, author, editor and gallery owner), Paul Hipkiss RBSA of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and a representative of Derwent.
  
• Notification: Those accepted into the exhibition will be notified by 21st August 2009.

If you have any queries you should contact Pat Heffer, the Exhibitions Secretary. Pat's contact details are available on the website (Click the 'email' next to the Exhibition Secretary title to get the email address).

Alternatively leave a query by using a comment on this post (see below) and we'll make sure all queries submitted this way get an answer.

If you'd like to see the sort of work which got into last year's exhibition and the work which won prizes take a look at the links to past blog posts about the 2008 exhibition at the end of this post.

UKCPS would like acknowledge and thank Derwent the principal sponsor of UKCPS exhibitions in 2009, together with our other sponsors of the 8th Open International Exhibition 2009 - Faber Castell, Caran d'Ache and Great Art.

DATES: Finally a reminder of the key dates

• Closing date for entry: Wednesday June 24th 2009
  
• Handing in day: Sunday 20th September 2009
• Exhibition dates: Monday 21st September to Saturday 3rd October 2009

Links:

• 8th UKCPS Annual International Open Exhibition 2009 - key dates
• 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008 and AGM
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Award Winners
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Highly Commended
• UKCPS - new signature members
• Works selected for UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008

Entry Form for 7th 'World of Coloured Pencil' Exhibition 2009

The formal Call For Entries and Entry Form for the 7th World of Coloured Pencil Exhibition 2009 was despatched to UKCPS members last week. Members can also now download the document from the page dedicated to this exhibition on the UKCPS website.

The earliest sending in date is 30th March 2009 and the closing date for all entries is 16th April 2009.

Only UKCPS members can enter (entry is free) and each member may only submit one picture. Work must be original (concept, design and execution by the artist) and should demonstrate compositional and drawing skills as well as an ability to use coloured pencils. Work can be in mixed media so long as coloured pencil is the main medium.

The form plus image - in the form of a photo, print or digital file on a CD - should be submitted to Dave Richards (address and contact details are on the Entry Form). All entrants will be contacted and advised whether they have been successful by 30th April.

This exhibition is sponsored by Derwent and Leisure Painter.

Feedback on Talking Point

I asked Ann Holden, the Editor of Talking Point to let me know about the feedback she's had about the 'new look' for Talking Point following its despatch to all the members of UKCPS last week.

You can find what had to say below. If you'd like to let her have any feedback you can

• either leave a comment below
  
• or you can contact Ann by email by clicking here and finding her email address in the contacts part of the UKCPS website.

____________________________________

An image from Step 5 in "Journey's End" - a masterclass on working with Mylar
by Richard "Chumley" Childs UKCPS
an article in Talking Point (March 2009)

By now, almost every member should have received their copy of Talking Point. On this occasion I knew exactly when the copies had been mailed and it has been an eye-opener to find out how variable the delivery times have been – and this was only in the UK.

However, I have been much relieved by the response to the ‘new look’. The comments that have reached me have been unanimous in their approval of the overall appearance – ‘a proper magazine’, ‘professional publication’, and so on. The e-mail I particularly valued was one from the Society’s Founder, Bob Ebdon, saying (amongst other things) ‘Wow!!’

But, of course, the magazine would have been nothing without the people who contributed articles and news and I am very grateful to all of them.

In future issues, members have said they would like to see more pictures – and so would I! So please send me copies of pictures you’ve completed and are happy to be included.

If possible, add a few words about the picture (eg size, paper/support, media used, why you chose the subject, whether you’re happy with it, and so on). I’d also like to have pictures from newcomers to CP, not just from those who can draw water with their eyes closed!

I look forward to hearing from you

Ann Holden, Editor

Talking Point - March 2009

The March 2009 edition of the UKCPS newsletter Talking Point has been published and despatched to all members of the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS).

Members need to watch out for the delivery of this one because it is special for three reasons:

• it contains the entry form for The 7th UKCPS 'World of Coloured Pencil' Exhibition 2009
• it contains the entry form for The 8th UKCPS Open International Exhibition 2009
• the newsletter has a new look and format!
  

The newsletter should now have been received by virtually all members living in the UK - mine arrived yesterday. Members living overseas should all be receiving it shortly.

I'll be posting more details about the exhibitions next Friday, 27th February. Details of entry to the open exhibition will also be published on the website on the same day.

If you're interested in becoming a member of the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society you can find out more about how to join on the UKCPS website.

The TP Newsletter Editor, Ann Holden would be interested to hear from UKCPS members if you have any comments on the new look and format of Talking Point. You can find out how to contact her on the back page on Talking Point or here.

CPSA Explore This! 5 Online Exhibition

The CPSA Explore This! 5 Exhibition and catalogue are now both online and available to view.

CPSA changed arrangements this year so that the exhibition is only online. This means that the exhibition will now run online all year until January 31 2010. It also means that the Society does not have the expense of an additional exhibition space to fund and the exhibitors do not have to fund the cost of carriage of framed art to and from the exhibition.

There are a number of pages on the CPSA website which relate to the The Explore This! exhibition. The navigation menu runs along the very bottom of the page on most pages. These are:

• The Explore This! 5 Exhibition Title/entry page
• The actual exhibition
• Details of the various awards and Award winners
• An exhibition catalogue of all the works in the list of artists. This provides details about the dimensions, the media and support used and the price of the work.
  
• More information About the exhibition
• and information About the Juror - Gwen Chanzit

There are some innovations in presentation of the exhibition online which are worth noting.

• Each award winner now gets a mini profile and a link to their website. It's very nice to be able to put a face to a name, learn a bit more about the artist and to able to see more of their work.
• The online catalogue is really great for anybody viewing online. Information about dimensions is particularly valuable as a digital image can so easily misrepresent size and this information has not previously been provided.
  
• People wishing to purchase an artwork can contact the artist via the Exhibition Director. This means that all exhibitors have an opportunity to exhibit their work on a very reputable website and sell their art online for the next year.
  

Patsy Lindamood UKCPS in PaintAmerica Top100

Tern Talk by Patsy Lindamood
18 x 24 color pencil & water color pencil
with water soluble wax pastel (Caran d’Ache Neocolor II) on Ampersand Pastelbord
copyright Patsy Lindamood

A coloured pencil work "Tern Talk" by Patsy Lindamood PSA, UKCPS, AFC has been selected as one of the Top100 winners in the 2008 PaintAmerica competition. This is is an annual juried competition and exhibition designed to illustrate American life. Her work will now be seen as part on an annual on-line (to be posted soon) and touring exhibition during 2009.

You can see images of the exhibition prizewinners in PaintAmerica Annnounces 2008 Top100 Winners! on the PaintAmerica blog

Patsy lives in Gainesville Florida and is one of UKCPS's American members. She became a signature member last year when she had her work exhibited at the Annual International UKCPS exhibition for the third time in three years. Prior to this she won the Faber Castell Award in 2007 for Wood Stork Watch.

For those who like the details “Tern Talk” is an 18 x 24 color pencil & water color pencil with water soluble wax pastel (Caran d’Ache Neocolor II) on Ampersand Pastelbord. "Tern Talk" was also accepted into the 16th Annual Colored Pencil Society of America International Exhibition held in Seattle, WA, July 2 - September 29, 2008.

You can see more of Patsy's artwork on her website Wild Things Artwork. On her home page she has a number of pieces where she talks about where and how she got her reference photographs and comments on her observations about the animals or birds that she photographed. This is what she had to say about Tern Talk.....

"Tern Talk" is based on a group of terns I photographed extensively at the beach at Sebastian Inlet, FL, over the Thanksgiving holiday 2007. I lay on the beach for some half an hour watching these birds interact with other. A select few of these birds engaged in a kind of squawking behavior, always directed at one individual bird. For me, it looked like "she" was giving "him" a piece of her mind, saying "if you would only. . . and if you had just . . ." while he just gazed out over the ocean as if he didn't hear a word of it!

A second piece by Patsy, “Glacier Blues” (pastel), was also accepted into the competition.

Glacier Blues by Patsy Lindamood

UKCPS members interested in this competition will want to note that artists from anywhere in the world may enter, but that their paintings must depict any of the 50 states.

Entries should also be representative art that depicts the beauty and grandeur of American nature, landscape, seascape, cityscape, etc. Paintings may also represent lifestyle scenes from America.

Note:
UKCPS members whose coloured pencil artwork is accepted into national art competitions or other significant art competitions/exhibitions are invited to contact the UKCPS Blogmaster and/or the Talking Point Editor with details of their news plus a file copy of the relevant image. See the side column for contact details.

Manga Colouring Competition - Announcement of Winners

Rachel Stirling writes: A very big thank you to all the children who entered the Manga Colouring Competition at the Art Material Live Event at the NEC this year - sponsored by Derwent and Hannemuhle.

We have received a huge number of entries of a very high standard and it was a great pleasure to see the work of so many budding artists.

With difficulty we have made our final decision and the results are as follows.

FIRST PLACE - Elle Shrive (14) Solihull

Elle entered two pieces of such high quality that it was difficult to pick the ultimate winner. In the end we settled for the Japanese Chibi because of the quality of the colouring and her attention to developing a 3D feel by using tone.

Congratulations Elle!

Elle receives a boxed set of Derwent Gothic Manga goodies.

SECOND PLACE

Catherine came a very close second with her beautifully detailed and colour co- ordinated Goth Chibi. One of our artists now wants those trousers!

Well done Catherine!

THIRD PLACE - Amelia Norfolk ( 11 ) Worcester

Amelia impressed the judges with the smoothness of her colouring and her attention to detail. A very beautiful Chibi Princess.

Well done Amelia!

FOURTH PLACE – Peter Stockbridge (11) Warwick

Peter was one of the few young artists to devise a background for his Chibi. He shows a remarkable understanding of perspective and light. This is a young artist to watch.

Well Done Peter!

The Runners up all receive a pad of Hahnemuhle Manga Illustration paper.