UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Highly Commended

Today, UKCPS News features those artists whose work has been awarded a Highly Commended Certificate in UKCPS's 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008.

They are listed in alphabetical order below. Links are to UKCPS members' galleries (where applicable) or the artist's website.

Please remember that the copyright to each image belongs to the artist and they should not be downloaded without written permission.

Richard Childs 'Journey's End' and 'Out to Grass'

Margaret Edwards 'Bertie's daydream' (left)
Pamela Green 'Grandma's Garden' (right)



Alastair Howie 'Calle Mercaderes, Cuba' (left)
Roger Lewis 'Fascination' (right)



Pauline Longley 'Floss' (left)
Jonathan Newey 'Scruffy' (right)



Elizabeth Riordon 'Sunrise Amaryllis' (left)
Peter Woof 'Red Cloth' (right)

Each artist will be receiving a pack of 20 mixed sheets of Rising Stonehenge paper from Legion Paper plus a pad of Stonehenge paper.

All the works on display in the exhibition can now be seen on the 2008 Annual Exhibition page on the website. These provide more details about each work and, if you click the image, you can see a larger image of the work.

Tomorrow, the blog will be featuring those UKCPS members who have achieved signature status or a change in their signature status.

Links:

• 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008 and AGM
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Award Winners

UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Award Winners

The artists and works winning Awards were formally announced at the Private View for UKCPS's 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008 in Bristol yesterday.

All the Award winners were selected by Neil Murison, the Curator of the New Gallery of the Royal West of England Academy where the exhibition is being held.

Faber Castell Award for Best in Show (£400.00)
UKCPS Annual Open International Exhibition 2008
"Facing the Enemy" by Peter Höhsl
coloured pencil, 29 x 21cm, £3,050

UKCPS Award for Reserve Best in Show (£300.00)
"Black Watch" by Carol Bramley
coloured pencil, 23 x 16" (framed 36 x 31cm) £425

The Presidents Award (£100)
'Night's Agents' by Nicole Caulfield
coloured pencil, 28 x 36cm (43 x 50cm) £3,200

The Founder's Award for Best UK entry (£100)
'Bad Hair Day' by Bev Lewis
coloured pencil, 26 x 20 cm (42 x 32cm framed) Not For Sale

The Staedtler Award (£100)
'Green Plate' by Peter Woof
13 x 19 cm (39 x 46cm framed) £665

The Derwent Award (£100 voucher Derwent catalogue products)
'Me me, You me' by Kate Clarke
coloured pencil, 27 x 43cm (41 x 57cm framed) £320

The Chairman's Award for Best Landscape (£75)
'View of Torquay' by Galini Dimitriadou
coloured pencil, 30 x 40cm (45 x 55cm framed) £535

Sophie's award for the most innovative entry (£50)
'Self Portrait II' by Suzy Herbert
coloured pencil, 25 x 59cm (35 x 70cm framed) £350

The Caran D'Ache Award (presentation box of pencils)
'Watching and Waiting' by Margaret Edwards
coloured pencil, 41 x 31cm (54 x 64cm framed) £350

The Lyra Award (presentation box of pencils)
'Dry skull Ranch' by Elizabeth Riordon
coloured pencil, 35 x 45cm (51 x 61cm framed) Not For Sale

Links are to members galleries on the UKCPS website or their own websites.

Please remember that the copyright to each image belongs to the artist and they should not be downloaded without written permission.

Peoples Vote: This will be awarded at the end of October after the exhibition closes on 28th October. This award is based on the number of votes each work receives.

Sponsors and judges

UKCPS very much appreciates the support it has received from:

• this year's three excellent jurors who selected the works to be exhibited in the show - Janie Gildow, Hannelore Warning and Neil Murison
  
• Faber Castell, the sponsors of this year's exhibition and the Best in Show Award. Faber Castell are of course the manufacturers of Polychromos artists´ colour pencils and Albrecht Durer artists´ watercolour pencils.

Exhibition details

Later today, the UKCPS website will have a new page displaying all the works in the exhibition. I'll provide a link in this post once the new page has been published.

If you want to visit the exhibition you can find it for the next three weeks in the New Gallery of the Royal West of England Academy, Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX. It's open until Tuesday 28th October. Opening hours on Monday to Saturday are from 10.00am - 5.30pm and on Sunday it's open in the afternoon from 2.00-5.00pm. Last admission is half an hour before closing.

For further details see this post 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008 and AGM.

Works for sale

All works are for sale unless otherwise indicated. Shipping and associated insurance costs are not included in the purchase price.

All sales of work in the exhibition are managed by the RWA Gallery. Purchases can be paid for by cash, cheque or credit card or interest-free credit (the latter involves using the Own Art Scheme). Payments are made direct to the RWA. All enquiries about purchasing without visiting the Gallery must be directed to the RWA Gallery. If you have any other enquiries please contact Pat Heffer, the Exhibition Director (right click to copy the email address).

...and there's more to follow

This week I'm highlighting different groups of people in the entries over the next few days:

• Tuesday: Highly Commended entries to the exhibition
  
• Wednesday: UKCPS Members awarded signature status as a result of their acceptance into this year's exhibition
• Thursday: List of Works and Artists selected for the exhibition.
  

7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008 and AGM

UKCPSA Private View Invitation
'Black Watch' by Carol Bramley, Coloured Pencil 23 x 16cm

Yesterday, the 7th UKCPS Annual Open Exhibition opened at the New Gallery of the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol,

This year the Exhibition attracted a total of 152 entries from 74 people in 11 different countries! This is a huge increase on previous years. The number of entries was up 30% while the number of people entering increased by a massive 42%! However, it's also very pleasing to record that the the standard of entries received has also been very high as already indicated by Pat Heffer, Exhibition Director, in September's Talking Point.

The three jurors who selected which works would be hung in this year's exhibition were:

• Janie Gildow, the well-known American CP artist and author of two instruction books,
  
• Hannelore Warning, Group Product Manager, Art & Graphic for Faber Castell - this year's sponsors
• and Neil Murison, Curator of the New Gallery at the Royal West of England Academy.
  

Private View and Prizewinners

Members will be aware from the website, the September edition of Talking Point and the Private View invitation that you will have recently received (see top) that you were all invited to attend the Private View tomorrow afternoon (5th October) between 2pm to 5pm.

Final decisions about the complete list of prizewinners are being made tomorrow morning and then the prizewinners will be announced:

• at the Private View on Sunday 5th October
• in a post on this blog on Monday morning.
  

The website is also being updated with images of the work being hung and will feature the prizewinners after they are announced. I'll let you know on this blog when the new page is published.

UKCPS very much appreciates the support it has received from this year's three excellent jurors and Faber Castell, the sponsors of this year's exhibition and the manufacturers of Polychromos artists´ colour pencils and Albrecht Durer artists´ watercolour pencils.

Gallery opening and sales

The exhibition runs until Tuesday 28th October. It's open Monday to Saturday from 10.00am - 5.30pm. On Sunday it's open in the afternoon from 2.00-5.00pm. Last admission is half an hour before closing.

Most works in the exhibition are for sale. The RWA are approved by the Arts Council England to run the scheme called Own Art which helps people to make the purchase of art more affordable. See this page for more information.

Getting to the Gallery

The exhibition is in the New Gallery of the Royal West of England Academy, Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX.

Click here for directions to Royal West of England Academy. It is expected that parking will not be a problem as there is free on street parking in the streets around the Academy. People coming by train are warned that the station is quite a distance from the Academy.

Annual General Meeting

Just a reminder to all UKCPS members that, as previously notified, they are all invited to the AGM which is being held tomorrow Sunday 5th October in the New Gallery of the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol starting at 10.00am.

Please refer to the Chairman's article in the last edition of Talking Point which refers to some of the matters which will be discussed tomorrow.

Please note that it's expected that there will be at least an hour's break between the AGM and the start of the Private View when the winners will be announced.

Note: The Royal West of England Academy is one of only five Royal Academies of Art in the UK. It is a registered charity which has been self-supporting for over 150 years and possesses an outstanding Grade II* listed building, galleries and permanent fine art collection

Links:

• UKCPS website - Exhibition page
  
• RWA - New Gallery details
• Faber Castell International website
• Janie Gildow
  

Botanical Illustration by Valerie Oxley

Valerie Oxley is a member of both UKCPS and the Society of Botanical Artists and specialises in botanical illustration.

She also teaches across the UK and this week saw the publication of her long awaited book Botanical Illustration. This will be particularly welcomed by Valerie's past and present students who have been urging her to write about the subject for many years!

Botanical Illustration by Valerie Oxley
Crowood Press (September 2008)

Valerie's botanical art credentials are impressive. Valerie developed the Diploma in Botanical illustration at the University of Sheffield, Department of Lifelong Learning (TILL). She's also the Vice-Chairman of the Northern Society for Botanical Art and the Chairman of the Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens.

Her new book has been written for students of botanical art - for those new to this aspect of art as well as for those with some experience wishing to develop their expertise. It deals with the practicalities of botanical art and the related botany of the subject and covers the following topics:

• the history of botanical illustration,
  
• the botany of plants and flowers,
  
• materials and equipment,
  
• preparation of plant material,
  
• observation techniques,
  
• starting to draw,
  
• developing tonal studies,
  
• preparing to paint,
  
• colour theory,
  
• painting techniques,
  
• what to paint and how to paint,
  
• alternative media including coloured pencil techniques,
  
• correcting mistakes and
  
• finishing touches
• photography and computers.
  

If you're interested I'd recommend you take a peek inside the book by using the Search Inside facility on the Amazon website.

It is also very well illustrated with over two hundred colour illustrations by over fifty artists, including a full page illustration of Carlina involucrata by UKCPS member Eleni Mcloughlin and coloured pencil drawings by Susan Christopher Coulson, Vivienne Brown, Jane Cowan, Helena Anderson and, of course, Valerie herself!

Coloured pencil matters and techniques which are covered include dry and water resistant coloured pencil techniques, pen with coloured pencil (and Eleni's illustration), Papers, Drafting Film, Erasers, Pencil Sharpeners, Blenders, Indenters, Embossers and colours that resist, removing coloured pigment, use of the grisaille approach and dealing with wax bloom. There is an eight point suggested "working method" and finally a bit about fixative and storage and a mention of water soluble pencils.

You can also find out more details about Valerie's workshops on the Workshops page of the UKCPS website. This also provides details of courses run by all other UKCPS members who teach - or at least the ones UKCPS has been told about! ;)

Book Details: Botanical Illustration, The Crowood Press, (September 2008) ISBN 978-1-84797-051-0

CPSA invite contributions to Explore This! 5

Entry to the CPSA Explore This! 5 exhibition in 2009 is open to all living artists over the age of 18 regardless of geographical location.

Coloured pencil artists are likely to be interested in changes that CPSA have introduced to their Explore This! exhibition, which encourages artists to explore the use of coloured pencil in combination with a range of materials. You can read more about these in:

• Invitation for Explore This! 5 now available on the CPSA's new blog Colored Pencil Society of America News (see link in right hand column)
• the prospectus for the exhibition on the CPSA website
  

Key points are that:

• as announced on this blog at the end of August (CPSA Blog plus changes to CPSA Exhibitions) the Explore This! exhibition will in future be annual and online only
• all entries must be digital images submitted via the CaFE website
  
• all entries must have some element which breaks the rules of the CPSA International Exhibition
• acceptance into three shows within a 10 year period will earn a new signature designation, called CPX, for a CPSA member/artist
  
• the top three winners in Explore This! 5 will be invited to ship their work to the 17th Annual CPSA International Exhibition for display

All questions relating to the exhibition should be addressed to Paula Parks, CPSA Exhibition Director. Deadline for entries is November 15th 2008.

A new blogmaster for the UKCPS Blog

As Bob indicated in his post on Friday, sadly he's stepping down from running the UKCPS blog, just as he indicated at the end of August that he has already retired from membership of the UKCPS Executive.

I've known Bob for quite some time now. I'm sure that very many people will agree that UKCPS without Bob being around will feel like a very different place. He will, of course, continue to be a member and will always be greatly esteemed as the Founder of UKCPS.

A new blogmaster: In future, I'm going to be the new person posting news about UKCPS and its members on this blog. My name is Katherine Tyrrell.

I've been blogging since the end of 2005 and at the AGM last year I suggested that UKCPS should consider creating a blog. I then helped Bob to set up this blog nearly a year ago. I think it's been very successful at improving online communication with members. Even CPSA have decided to get a blog now! ;)

Different roles: Many of you may already know me from one or other (or both!) of my personal blogs Making A Mark or Travels with a Sketchbook in....... (the latter having sketches in CP). What I want to do in this post about the transition is highlight the difference between the role I'll be playing on this blog and how that will be different to the person I am when creating posts on my own blogs. Not least because I still want to be able to be me on my own blogs! If I ever do feel the need to express an opinion on this blog - which won't be often - I'll indicate clearly that it's my own view and not that of the Executive or the Society as a whole.

Here are the differences.........

UKCPS Blog	My Blogs
Purpose: News about UKCPS its interests its members any thing else relevant to UKCPS	Purpose: Posts about my drawings my interests my observations my opinions
Role: Blogging is impersonal - representing UKCPS	Role: Blogging is personal - I'm me

UKCPS blogmaster: For this reason in future, I thought it best for the person running the blog to be known as the UKCPS blogmaster, rather than by name, to avoid any confusion. So that's what you'll see when I create a post or whenever I respond to a comment.

Contact me: If you want to contact me at any time, you can see the email address which relates to my role on this blog in the image at the top of this post (done like that so as to avoid spam!). So if you want to contact me that's the way to do it.

For those of you not familiar with this way of writing an email address all you need to do is substitute the @ symbol for [at] and put in a full stop where it says [dot].

Blog Housekeeping: As Bob has not been well of late, I've started to do the blogger version of a little bit of housekeeping on this blog. You'll notice a few changes in the right hand column as recent innovations by Blogger are introduced to the blog. I might even have a go at trying to get the blog to look a bit more like the website!

Blog Content: As a blogger I learned very early on that if blogs are going to be any good it's because of their content. So I'll also be talking with the Executive and interested members of UKCPS in the near future about how we can best continue to develop and improve this blog and its content.

You can comment too: You can of course tell us all what you think about UKCPS news or changes by commenting below.

This blog welcomes comments because comments are what makes this a blog rather than a noticeboard. Anybody can comment - you don't need to have a blog or a Blogger Account. (If you've got any queries please let me know)

All comments are moderated by me to make sure they are civilised and haven't wandered too far off topic - which means they may not be published straight away if I'm out or in the middle of doing something else. Spam is never published.

I've greatly enjoyed blogging since 2005 and I feel very privileged now to have been able to become the new UKCPS blogmaster. I'm looking forward to hearing your views and hope that together we can all build on the excellent foundations laid by Bob and help the UKCPS blog to continue to grow and develop to meet the needs of the society and its members.

PS If you'd like to say goodbye to Bob Ebdon as he takes leave of an active role as an officer within UKCPS why not let leave a comment on his post So Long, Been good to know ya... ?

test post

This is a test blog post. We're just checking that everything is working OK in transferring the running of this blog!