Forthcoming Events

Forthcoming Events

Once again we will be having a marquee at Patchings Festival, Nottingham from 4th-7th June 2015.  Once again we would like volunteers to help us run this event.

Also we are delighted to announce that Caran d’Ache have invited us to share their stand at Art in Action near Oxford from 16th-19th July 2015..

Please contact Pauline Longley to express an interest in participating at these events.  We will require, demonstrators, workshop tutors and general helpers.

pauline@paulinelongley.co.uk

Caran d'ache 'Museum' Aquarelle competition

A number of UKCPS members will have entered pictures into the Caran D'Ache 'Museum' drawing competition, which was set up to celebrate the launch of their new 'Museum' aquarelle pencils.

My thanks then to Judith Crown for this:-

Hi everyone

I was just looking to see if there was any update to the competition and found the link to the pictures.  Quite a few of us have entered.  There are about 200 pictures

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRqzxEzlLYY

To save people time,  Suzy Herbert's picture is a new one and is different to the Lemon picture  entered in  the UKCPS exhbition.. ( It took me a few minutes to find it)  The lemons drawn with the new Museum are on the same plate, but are different lemons!

Good luck to all UKCPS entries!

Caran d'Ache -- Forthcoming competition

Try Colour Pencils - Wirral

Brenda Chappell

ONLY 10 PLACES LEFT - FIRST COME FIRST SERVED

Yours truly is hosting another 'Try Colour Pencils' day on Saturday, 29th September 2012, at St Chads Church Hall, Roslin Road, Irby, Wirral, CH61 3UH.  The day is suited to both beginners and those with some experience of CP.

Registration is from 9.30 am, and then the morning will feature a demonstration  of Caran D'Ache pencils and paints by Manchester artist, Brenda Chappell, followed by an afternoon colour pencil workshop.

A4 cartridge (200gsm) is provided, but bring your own colour pencils (of any type).  The workshop will feature a simple step-by-step drawing for those who are new to CP, but feel free to bring your own photos or reference material if you have a project to work on.

Coffee, tea, etc. is provided, but bring your own lunch.  COST: £8 (UKCPS Members), £10 (Non-members).

To book a place,  email me: alanmacann@btinternet.com

Alan McMahon

Try Coloured Pencils - on the Wirral

I posted a noatice of this event on 6th January last.  Please note that the event is now fully subscribed with 36 attending.  I am compiling a waiting list of those who wish to get first chance at a follow-up day to be held later.

Alan McMahon

Try Coloured Pencils - on the Wirral

I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WISH ALL OUR READERS ALL THE HAPPINESS FOR THE NEW YEAR.
Alan

Beginners and experienced CP users alike will be welcome to join me at St Chad’s Church Hall, Roslin Road, Irby, Wirral, CH62 3UH from 9.30 am to 4 pm on SATURDAY 25 February 2012, for a friendly day of coloured pencil demonstration, and ‘Have-a-Go’ workshop.

Our guest for the morning will be Brenda Chappell, a
well-known Manchester artist, who will be demonstrating
techniques using the famous Caran D’Ache range of pencils.
Brenda is a regular demonstrator at art societies throughout
north of England, at Art Materials Live in the NEC, and at
the Patchings Festival. A former textile designer, Brenda
now specialises in flower paintings, but also produces landscapes
and portraits.

Brenda will demonstrate the use of the Caran D’Ache excellent
‘Luminance’ pencils, their water-soluable pencils
and Neocolor II range, and other products from the Caran D’Ache range.

AFTERNOON WORKSHOP
Dig out those old pencils you last used in school (or bring along last year’s birthday present), and
‘have a go’ with other pencil artists. Paper will be provided. Bring your own subject matter or use some of the photographs available.

and all this for £6 (MORNING ONLY) or £8 for FULL day!!!


Entry forms and further details available from me at:
Alan McMahon
32 Noctorum Dell
Prenton
Wirral
CH43 9UL

Tele: 0151 670 1680   Email: alanmacann@btinternet.com

Deadline for UKCPS Open Exhibition entries: 12th June 2010

This is a reminder that the deadline for all entries to the 9th Open International Exhibition 2010 of the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS) is Saturday 12th June

Stamford Arts Centre

(Source: Google Streetview) 

This blog post Call for Entries: 9th UKCPS Annual Open International Exhibition 2010  summarises the conditions of entry. 

However you should also read the Call for Entries (downloadable form in pdf) in full.

Exhibition Venue: Stamford Arts Centre, 27 St. Marys Street, Stamford, PE9 2DL

Submissions due: SATURDAY 12th JUNE 2010

Submission is open to all living artists. The work must be original (concept, design and execution by the artist), 100% coloured pencil, demonstrate compositional and drawing skills, and ability to use colour from a pencil source. Entries must not have been shown in a previous UKCPS exhibition.
The Exhibition will run from Monday 13th September to Friday, 1st October 2010. Open during normal gallery opening hours - Monday-Friday 10.30am - 5.30pm, Saturday 10.30am - 5.00pm and Sundays 1.00pm - 5.00pm.

Awards: Caran d'Ache Award for Best in Show (£400), UKCPS Award for Reserve Best in Show (£300), the President's Award (£100), the Peter Weatherill Landscape Award (£75), the People's Choice Award (£50), plus other awards donated by our sponsors.

Call for Entries: 9th UKCPS Annual Open International Exhibition 2010

Any coloured pencil artist, anywhere in the world,
is invited to enter
the 9th Open International Exhibition 2010
of the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS)
sponsored by Caran d'Ache

The UKCPS has issued its Call for Entries for the Ninth Annual United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society Open International Exhibition 2010. Artists working in coloured pencil and living anywhere in the world are eligible to enter.

The exhibition will be held at the Stamford Arts Centre, 27 St Mary’s Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2DL between 13th September 2010 and 1st October 2010.

If you are thinking about entering and are wondering about the type and standard of work submitted to and selected for this exhibition, you can see images of exhibited and award-winning work in the blog posts below relating to last year's exhibition and also on the exhibition page on the UKCPS website

• UKCPS Annual exhibition 2009 - Award Winners
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2009 - Highly Commended
  
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2009 - now online

Winner of the Derwent Award for Best in Show (£400) and the People’s Choice Award (£50)
UKCPS Annual Open International Exhibition 2009
Old -Timers, One, Two, Free! by Kate Clarke
3x(39x26) cm, coloured pencils (£845)

Call for entries – what you need to know

The combined Call For Entries and Entry Form document was despatched with the March edition of Talking Point to UKCPS members last week and should now have been received by all members living in the UK.

Members, associate members and on members can also now download the formal Call for Entries (pdf downloadable form) and Entry Form from the calendar/events page of the UKCPS website. The form contains details about the topics identified above plus insurance, shipping, post, collection, sales and commission.

The key aspects of what you need to know when deciding whether to submit work have been set out below as a check list. However please ensure you read all of the call for entries form carefully before submitting your entry.

Eligible work

• Submission is open to all living artists. You do not need to be a member of UKCPS or live in the UK.
• Entries must not have been shown in a previous UKCPS exhibition.

Originality, reference material and copyright:

• The work must demonstrate compositional and drawing skills and an ability to use colour from a pencil source
• The work must be original (concept, design and execution by the artist)
• Any photographic reference used for the entire or as the primary source must be taken by the artist
• Subject to UK and International copyright laws, reference images may used to contribute and build up a final composition provided the final work does not resemble any reference source in a recognisable way.

Eligible Media

• The work must be 100% coloured pencil
• Coloured Pencils and crayons that are wax-based, oil-based or water-soluble (e.g. Caran d’Ache Neocolor II or Derwent Aquatone)
• Graphite pencil used in moderation under or between layers of coloured pencil
• Solvents or water used to dissolve the pencil
• Manufactured coloured support (paper, board etc.)
  
• Artist prepared uniform white background (eg gesso)

Ineligible Media/Work

• Pastel pencils; acrylic, oil, ink and watercolour
• Collage, montage, three-dimensional work
• An image produced by drawing over a digital reproduction
• Only one work can be marked 'not for sale'; any second and subsequent submission marked 'not for sale' would be ineligible
• The Society and the Stamford Art Centre may refuse to exhibit selected work presented for display if it is not up to the entry submission standard or pictures are not suitably framed.
• The Society has the right to refuse to accept works not meeting all specifications and conditions set in this prospectus. It is the artist’s responsibility to provide evidence that the work is in compliance if there is a challenge.

Selection

• The 2010 judges will include: Ann Swan (an RHS gold medal winning botanical artist), a representative of Caran d’Ache and a representative of Stamford Art Centre.
• Judges review images which are anonymous. Only details of the title and size are provided.
• Judges will be asked to select works to produce a varied exhibition showing the full range of capabilities of the coloured pencil medium.
• Every effort will be made to maintain true quality to the submitted image, recognizing that the print or electronic medium may affect the viewed image.

Awards

• Cash prizes include: The Caran D’Ache Award for Best in Show (£400), the UKCPS Award for Reserve Best in Show (£300), the President’s Award (£100), the Peter Weatherill Landscape Award (£75), the People’s Choice Award (£50).
  
• In addition, each of the exhibition's commercial sponsors (various manufacturers and suppliers of coloured pencils - see side column of this blog) will provide awards involving art media and materials. There will also be other smaller prizes of art materials for highly commended works.
• The judges present on 12 September will select the works for the Awards (except those specifically given). The decision of the judges is final.

Method of Submission

• NO ORIGINAL WORKS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED. NO SLIDES.
• Fees are payable with each submission and vary depending on the status of the entrant. Members are able to submit the first work free. Payment should be by cheque or via online payment only (see form)
• Initial submissions should comprise entry form, fee and image only by post. Good prints or photos (no larger than A4/8.25” x 11.7”) or high resolution scans on a CD. Both prints and file names need to indicate the name of the artist clearly.
  
• Both sides of the entry form must be completed and submitted with the image. Framed & Unframed sizes need to be supplied in centimetre. All prices must include commission.
• Include a short CV (resume) and for each entry, give brief details including type of pencils and support used and reasons for choosing the subject. The CV and descriptions will not be part of the judging process, only for the interest of the public during the exhibition.
• All entries should be submitted to the Elizabeth Frearson, Chair of UKCPS (details on the Call for Entries form)
• Artists whose work is selected will be notified of detailed arrangements for submission of the artwork proper. It's been possible to arrange regional collection points in the past and UKCPS will endeavour to make this service available to entrants again this year if possible.
  

Artists intending to submit entries should note that, with submission, they grant permission for the UKCPS use of the accepted images for publicity and promotion for purposes wholly related to UKCPS.

All queries should be directed to Pat Heffer (details on the Call for Entries form)

Important Dates

The Exhibition will run from Monday 13th September to Friday, 1st October 2010. Normal gallery opening hours are 10.30am - 5.30pm from Monday to Friday, 10.30am - 5.00pm on Saturdays and 1.00pm - 5.00pm on Sundays.

Key dates include the following

Key Date/Deadline	Action/Event
12th June 2010	Deadline for receipt of all submissions
w/c 9th August 2010	Notification of judges selection sent to artists
10th September 2010	Last date for receiving works by post or courier
11-13th September 2010	Handing in of artworks (Pat Heffer will advise re arrangements)
13th September 2010	Judging, Opening and Private View 6pm to 9pm
13 September – 1 October 2010	Exhibition open
1 October 2010	4:00 – 5:00 removal of works 5:00pm Annual Meeting (AGM)

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

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.

HM Queen opens new Derwent Factory

HM the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh opened the new Derwent pencil factory at Lillyhall Business Park, Workington, on June 5th - and got a lovely box of pencils for their trouble! Sorry it has taken me a while to get the pics of this up, but Patchings Art Festival was extremely tiring for me. Anyway, many congratulations to our friends at Derwent for such a prestigious opening, and for having a brand spanking new factory where they can produce even more wonderful pencils for us. One good point about the day from our perspective was that Her Majesty was introduced to at least one of our members - David Cook.

More pics on the Derwent site.

The Patchings Festival was very successful for the Society, mainly due to the efforts of Peter Weatherill, again, who made very useful contacts with our friends at Caran d'Ache. They had a special team over including their chief chemist, Eric Vitus, who was giving technical talks each day. Wish I could have gone! But it was also great to see many members, including Janet Pantry, Judith Waugh, Will Johnson, and probably loads of others. By Sunday I was kind of bleary!

I hope you are all now working hard to get your entry for this year's Exhibition finished - you have less than a month!

Bits and Bobs from Bob

Richard Childs, "Hope of Sepilok"

Several short pieces in this blog. Let us start with several big congratulatory cheers, with possibly more to come! First, for members Richard Childs and Jonathan Newey, who have both been accepted into the Mall Galleries Exhibition for the Wildlife Artist of the Year, run by the David Sheppard Wildlife Foundation, between 24th and 28th June this year. The final winner will be announced on the Preview Evening - we are keeping our fingers crossed for both members. Richard's piece is "Hope of Sepilok", which was a prizewinner in the 2008 UKCPS Exhibition, and which has been instrumental in raising a good sum for the Orang-utans in Borneo.

Graham Brace, "Dancing Trees"

Next, congratulations to member Graham Brace, who has a five page article in this month's (May) Artist and Illustrator magazine, with several examples of his beautiful work. Also in this magazine is a reference to the UKCPS Colour Comparison Charts, so we hope for more orders of those.

Next, a request from one of our members, Karen Coulson, to publicise her local art shop, which, despite the name, is in Lymington, Hants! Happy to do so, on recommendation of our members. This very friendly store may soon be stocking the new Luminance pencils from Caran d'Ache that are causing a stir at the moment, but it already has a good stock of Derwent and Caran d'Ache as well as some harder to find papers like the Art Spectrum Colorfix. Clicking on the picture above will take you to their site. See what Peter Weatherill, Nicole Caulfield and others think of Luminance here. While on the subject of members recommendations, if we have any members in North Queensland, Australia - and yes, we do have some in the Antipodes! - they might be interested in contacting Frieda van Aller to talk about visiting artists in the Port Douglas region.

Finally, if you have not already done so, get this book. Arlene Steinberg, known to many of us through "Scribbletalk", has written what I feel sure will become a standard in the coloured pencil world. I received my copy yesterday, and devoured it in one sitting, and am now going through it again to savour it. The best way I can sum it up is to say that Arlene does not just teach you how to become a coloured pencil artist - she shows you how to be an artist. And remember if you buy this book through the Society Book page, we benefit by a few pennies - which we can do with!

New Year, New Opportunities!

A hopefully useful little pocket money idea to spend some of Auntie's Christmas Cash, to kick off the New Year. Some years ago I did a colour conversion chart, comparing colours across a few of the major brands, which UKCPS members will vaguely recall getting a copy of in their joining packs. With the demise of Karismacolor and the arrival of Derwent Coloursoft, I thought it would be worthwhile updating this and this time including swatches of colour. I have done this and some of you may have seen trial packs at the NEC in November. After some tweaking of the printing process and decisions on pricing, the Society is now offering these for sale. I stress that ALL proceeds go to the UKCPS, nothing comes to me.

The charts are divided into approximate colour groups - the Yellow/Orange page is shown above. Where there is possible ambiguity - is Pumpkin Orange an orange or a brown? - colours are repeated on different sheets. The aim is to find replacements for Karisma, so they are in the first column, and I try to match these colours to Derwent Coloursoft, Derwent Artist, Faber Castell Polychromos, Caran d'Ache Supracolour, Lyra Polycolor and Staedtler Karat Aquarelle. With 10 million colours to choose from, it is not surprising that this is a difficult task, and often no proper match is available. Even given the limitations of colour printing though, I believe this chart does give you a good guide where to start looking. One other possible use, for example, would be to try to find a more light-fast alternative to a colour that you know is fugitive in one brand.

Peter Weatherill has kindly agreed to take on all of the mailing and printing of these charts, and the Society is offering them at £5 including postage for UK residents, £6 ($12) including postage to overseas, with a £1 ($2) discount to UKCPS members - quote membership number with order.

To order, please e-mail Peter at wpweatherill@fireflyuk.net - if you have a PayPal account you can also "Send Funds" to this e-mail address. If you need to send a cheque, Peter will give you details. This offer will also appear in the next "Talking Point", but online members have a chance to get theirs early!

For a review of this chart by member Katherine Tyrrell, please have a look at her blog: http://makingamark.blogspot.com/2007/11/coloured-pencils-colour-comparison.html

And a very Happy New Year to all UKCPS Members!