That's Nice, What is it?

Having taught children art, the ‘’That’s nice, what is it?'' question saved me a lot of tears and tantrums! 

There’s nothing worse than telling a wee Monet what a lovely elephant and they say but it’s a table! That’s nice, what is it however can also land you in trouble…. when the mini Monet answers with well what do you think it is? Maybe a '' That’s great, tell me about it'', is the best solution, so I will.

This is part of a drawing of old vines that I'm doing (possibly) for a competition. Won’t go into more detail because the competition is later in the year and the works shouldn’t be made public beforehand.

Competition? Kerry what is wrong with you? You always said art isn’t an Olympic discipline, your competition is only with yourself and can you compare a Monet with a Van Gogh and say which is better? 

Yes, and I still believe that but this art competition is in my area and I hope maybe to make some contacts if my work is selected for the exhibition of works.

I completely haven’t changed my mind about art competitions or ''juried shows'', the pastel world is full of them and they just don’t float my boat, why? Here’s a couple of reasons; firstly usually the competitions are abroad, so there is the cost of framing and shipping (believe me it costs an arm and a leg.), then there is the cost of entry fees. Personally, my only interest in taking part in a contest would be to sell, possible buyers see your work and buy, the crunch comes if you don’t sell, you have the cost of return shipping too. Of course, virtual art competitions and exhibitions also are a possibility but I'm not sure how many people peruse online exhibits looking to buy.

Next point in case, I don’t believe you can compare works in different styles and say which is better, obviously there is crap art, no question but when selected for shows usually you’re dealing with a certain level of work, so what makes ''a jury'' select work A or B and not X, Y or Z, the decision must really be subjective; personal taste, at least with a jury you get a the opinions of a couple of people but with a single juror selecting the category''florals'' for example, it is the decision of one person and in many of the pastel competitions the same names come up every year both as artists and jurors. For those wishing to enter, a tip would be to check out who is on the jury and see what their personal work is like and what they have selected in the past. 

One final point is, having checked out what made the cut …. do you aim to paint something specific just for the competition or do you select something from your existing (but not old and seen) work. 

So obviously, I'm not a fan and never will be but my motivation is twofold, as I said maybe make some contacts if selected and secondly, I wanted to explore the flora of my new home and doing some detailed work will help in the long run. It was also a chance to get out these bad boys! Large chunky graphite sticks and 9B pencils … it’s a large work …. 55cm x 60cm and a great feeling of getting back to large, loose drawing on my easel.

As I'm in the mood for giving tips; the best piece of art equipment you can buy is a pencil (or three HB, 2B and a 6B)! Hours of inexpensive fun, easy to transport and so unbelievably versatile, you can also enter your pencil drawings for competitions!