Paint the world’s most vibrant places
The art of collage, colour and texture
The natural world
How to paint it in watercolour
TO BE WON!
£10,000 PRIZES WORTH OVER WITH THE BRITISH ART PRIZE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Eclectic exhibitions
From the Royal Academy’s annual show to Banksy
This artist paints seascapes inspired by her childhood in Malta and from an array of photographs taken during various trips to the British coastline. Ramsha Vistro delves deeper ▸
SUPPORTED BY
Artists & Illustrators is delighted to be back with The British Art Prize 2023 and we’re super excited to have Adobe as this year’s partner. Enter now and you could win some fantastic prizes, have your artwork displayed at a prestigious London gallery and also have your art featured in this magazine
We’re excited to host the annual British Art Prize once again this year, sponsored by digital giant Adobe. A signi cant national art competition, The British Art Prize will provide winning artists of all levels with a broad platform for achieving bene cial exposure and recognition for their artwork.
KIRSTEN TODD
GARY ARMER
ANNA REED
Open to everyone, whether you’re a novice, an up-and-coming artist, or a seasoned painter, all genres, media and methods will be taken into consideration.
The British Art Prize provides artists with the possibility to sell their creations to a combined audience of around one million art enthusiasts and collectors, as well as a rst-of-its-kind amount of national exposure across four major magazine brands. Additionally, there is an enormous prize fund including cash awards, art gift cards and the opportunity to be featured in an exhibition at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024. A spectacular, private opening evening ceremony with artists, collectors and other VIP visitors will be held for the shortlisted artists. Each and every entry will also come with a plus-one admission to the exclusive event.
This year, all 50 shortlisted artists of The British Art Prize will each receive at least one award. The prize fund totals over £10,000, including cash prizes from Adobe, plus valuable coverage in Artists & Illustrators, and inclusion in a popular central London exhibition at gallery@oxo
FIRST PRIZE
The overall winner of T he British Art Prize will receive a £2,500 cash prize courtesy of Adobe, a £500 Royal Talens gift voucher, a six-page feature in a future issue of Artists & Illustrators and the winning painting will be shownat the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024. adobe.com, royaltalens.com
SECOND PRIZE
A £1,000 cash prize from Adobe and a £500 Derwent gift voucher to polish your skills. Inclusion in the Artists & Illustrators British Art Prize winners’ special issue, where a branded 10-page editorial will include images of all the shortlists and winners. The winning painting will be shown at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024 derwentart.com
THIRD PRIZE
A £500 Pegasus Art Supplies gift voucher and inclusion in The British Art Prize winners’ special issue where a branded 10-page editorial will include images of all the shortlist and winners. The winning painting will be shown at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024 pegususart.co.uk
A £1,000 Atlantis Art Materials voucher and a feature in the March 2024 issue of Artists & Illustrators. The winning painting will be shown at the esteemed gallery@oxo in early 2024
Atlantis will also be providing a £50 art materials voucher for each of the 50 shortlisted artists. atlantisart.co.uk
Entering The British Art Prize couldn’t be easier. Visit artistsandillustrators.co.uk/ britishartprize and simply ll out the online form. Attach digital photographs of your artwork when requested and click the submit button to complete your entry. The entry fee for the rst artwork is £17 and £14 for any additional artwork.
Submissions close at 5 pm on 28 September 2023. Judging will close on 24 November 2023. Our panel of judges will select a shortlist of 50 artworks, including the three top prize winners.
The British Art Prize 2023 shortlist and winners will be announced online and in the February 2024 issue of Artists & Illustrators, which goes on sale on 22 December 2023. If you’ve entered, visit artistsandillustrators.co.uk after that date to see if your work has been shortlisted. Readers will also be able to vote for their favourite shortlisted artwork at artistsandillustrators.co.uk/britishartprize The People’s Choice Award will be decided by a public vote and announced in the March ‘24 issue of Artists & Illustrators and on our website on 19 January 2024.
The British Art Club members can enter The British Art Prize 2023 free of charge. The British Art Club is an exciting online community that allows you to share, showcase and sell your artwork for as little as £2.49 per month. As well as free entry into The British Art Prize, other membership bene ts include:
• Sell your artwork commission free to an active audience of more than 100,000 monthly visitors
• Access exclusive competitions, opportunities and o ers
• Appear in Artists & Illustrators, social media, newsletters and more!
Sign up to The British Art Club at britishartclub.co.uk
When a lucky break after college leads to an internship with the illustrator Milton Glaser – best known for his now iconic I ♥ NY logo – then you know you’re o to a good start. It was an opportunity that opened doors Carrie Megan didn’t even know existed. It meant she was able to land her rst job as an Art Director for a private label paper goods company, where she learned how to design packaging, work with illustrators and photographers and supervise print runs. Over the years, she worked for several branding and packaging design rms, working on a diverse range of consumer products from Bacardi to Proctor & Gamble, Lever Bros and Nestles, to name just a few. No two projects were the same and in the pre-Mac era, creative development involved research, sketching and creating nely crafted prototypes. She may have continued to work in this eld in New York for the
rest of her career but she met her husband – and life changed dramatically.
A Bostonian, her husband has strong family ties in the area. When he oated the idea of Carrie relocating, he was shocked when she said yes. Gillette o ered her a position as a Design Manager for their writing instruments and, although at rst ambivalent about working on a limited product line, she ended up loving the work. The company was incredibly accommodating and after having three children, including twins – in just 14 months! – they o ered her a two-day work week. But, alas, it was still too much to juggle and after a couple of years, she resigned. Over the years, she undertook various freelance and pro bono design jobsand started a business creating art and decor for children’s’ rooms. But with three young children, homelife was hectic. And then she discovered botanical art – and her life did an about turn once again ▸
After many years working exclusively as a botanical artist, capturing the minute details and ephemeral beauty of plant life in growth and decay, CARRIE MEGAN expanded her focus to take in the broad vistas of nature. It’s a process she’s still learning, she tells Niki Browes
Once the rst couple of layers of gold and patterns are built up and masked out, I move on to the geisha herself. For the background colours of her dress, I use a mix of Vermillion, Scarlet Lake, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Carmine Violet and my secret weapons Opera Rose and Quinacridone Red. I use a mix of browns, greens and blues on the background. I use Naples Yellow, Scarlet Lake and a wash of Ultramarine on her face and a mix of Indigo, Perylene Maroon, Paynes Grey, Burnt Umber and Neutral tint for her hair.
The painting needs to be completely dry before this is attempted. I carefully rub areas with my nger and the painting is revealed underneath. Try not to get too despondent by the result; the painting is only half nished and can look rather rough. Now I need to assess what needs to be done next: more washes, more masking, more challenges.
It would be easy to try and paint her and cheat a little to make her show up more, though this could make her look less of a three-dimensional doll and more of a cartoon character. I wanted the patterns to be loose and not over-painted. Here, I start to add layers and shading over the unmasked areas. This will blend any rough edges. It’s also now time for delicate brushwork; I usually use a No 1 or 2 size brush for this. This is the stage where you really need to consider each move. Too much detail can undo all of the lovely loose paint work whilst too little work can make the painting look rough and un nished. My tip is to take your time and do a little bit a day.
5 6 7 8
Using an opaque White Gouache with a ne brush can enhance little areas of sunshine and make sense of the elaborate gold embroidery, the light in the bubbles on the paperweight, the refraction on the glass and the sparkle of the candle and the gold. Then leave your painting for a day or two. Sometimes we hate our work when we nish it, but a few days later it can be viewed in an encouraging new light. ▫
INFILL THE LOWER CLAW
ADD SHADOW
Switch to the RGM 41 and use the same colour combination.
Use the knives that feel most comfortable for working in a particular area. In this instance, I’m using the RGM 41.
For the ne antennae, use the RGM Pastrello and add a little pouring medium to aid ow when producing thinner lines.
7 9 11
ADD HIGHLIGHTS ONTO THE LEGS
Use the side of the same knife and a mix of Cadmium Orange and Titanium White.
Darken some shadow areas by mixing in a little Burnt Umber. 6 8 10
For the trickier areas, use the tip of the bull nose, then allow it to thoroughly dry. The now-dried crackle paste has taken on the texture of a sandy surface and sits well against the lobster’s legs and the collage. ▸
