Art & Biology Team Up for Competition

The Nancy Rothwell Competition is an art-biology competition that celebrates specimen drawing and is open to entrants aged 7 - 18. The Royal Society of Biology runs the external competition, so PGS held its own internal competition to run alongside it. The winners were announced in the month of March and all pupils who participated were awarded a chocolate easter egg.

The winners for the school’s internal competition were Sabiha Sabikunnaher (1st place), Jiali Hicks (2nd place), and Siha Hoque (3rd place). The judges were Mr Peebles and Miss Poole. Everyone who participated should feel very proud of their pieces and deserve a massive congratulations. We hope all entrants enjoyed the experience and wish to see them take part again next year!

Sabiha Sabikkhuner, Year 9

I chose the mandarin fish because I was intrigued by the variety of vibrant colours, so it was a challenge to draw, though very fun. Overall, I spent around 12 hours drawing it through wavering commitment, contemplating my life choices but in the end, it was worth it. The black background was a back-up plan but in the end I liked the contrast between it and the artwork. For the prize, I received a pack of watercolours, a concertina sketchbook, ‘Art forms in Nature’ by Ernst Haeckel, a pencil and brush and an easter egg - it was devoured within the next hour.

Jiali Hicks, Year 9

I wanted to draw something colourful and striking (two things which I am not), and chose a mantis shrimp. I also have vivid memories of watching a video about them in PRS last year that said they had the strongest punch and could tear your skin and flesh clean off.. I was terrified, so I decided to dedicate this project to them. I think I spent around 10 hours in total hunched over my desk drawing this thing. But hey, a book, a sketchbook and an easter egg is worth all those arm cramps. I completed my Nancy Rothwell Competition entry on a frog as I wanted to study a common amphibian - they seemed interesting to me because of the way they were adapted to survive in semi-aquatic habitats. This meant the anatomy would have many different aspects to it. I also wanted to look at the ways frogs metamorphose during their lives.

Cleo Curtis, Year 7

Sanuli Weganthale Epita Athauda Gedara, Year 7

Rowan Reddy, Year 9

I chose the blue dragon sea slug for a number of reasons - because I’m very interested in sea slugs, because I liked the colours of the slug, and because I thought it had a unique shape to it. Sea slugs are my favourite creature, and I have always loved their vibrant colours and extravagant antennae. A close contender for the creature I was going to draw, though, was Yi Qi - a small dinosaur with a feathery crest and bat-like wings. However, I have already drawn this dinosaur multiple times, and I wanted to branch out and draw something I never had before. The drawing took me about four hours, and I did it on an app called Procreate.

Daragh Walker, Year 9

Life as an Art Scholar

This year in Art Scholars, we did a variety of different things and experimented with new areas of art that we haven’t had much practice with before. Mrs Williams’ plan at first was to cover different mediums of paint over the course of the year, moving from watercolour to acrylic to oil. But because of the lockdown during Easter, we veered off that track. Instead, we learnt about perspective, how to draw from life and the basics of animation. The lockdown started in February and we were restricted to Google Meets and discordant audio. The first thing we did was perspective; we covered one-point, two-point and threepoint perspectives. Afterwards, we had to create a piece of artwork that used perspective as a starting point. Next, we looked at life drawing and finally, animation.

The first thing we did was create Christmas cards. This year’s theme was silver. Elsa Davies won with her beautiful landscape of the Spinnaker tower in the evening.

Before lockdown, we were focusing on watercolours. I was really excited to try it out since I watched a lot of videos online on how to paint faces with watercolour. I thought it would be quite easy because I knew all the steps, but it was more difficult than I had expected. The colours all bled into each other and I couldn’t match the shades I wanted; it was a mess. But, nonetheless, I really enjoyed the process. After returning to school, we were given a choice of what we wanted to work on. I was really inspired by this artist called Tahlia Stanton and decided to create an acrylic painting adopting her style. It was a fun process but I was always scared of messing up. I haven’t had much experience with acrylic but was able to use this opportunity to develop my skills and challenge myself.

All in all, it was a really fun year and I can’t wait to know what we’ll be doing next year.

Jiali Hicks