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The RP Award

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  • Winner of The RP Award 2020

    Dickinson-Phoebe-Alethea

  • James Hague 'Tom' (WORK IN PROGRESS) Winner of The RP Award (on the theme of 'Skin')

    James Hague ‘Tom’ (WORK IN PROGRESS)

The £2,000 RP Award is made to the artist whose work best represents the year’s chosen theme 

The 2020 winner was Stephen Leho

This year’s theme is ”Childhood’ and the winner is Phoebe Dickinson for her portrait ‘Alethea’

 

Category: Prizes
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A reminder that the theme for one of next year's p A reminder that the theme for one of next year's prizes at our Annual Exhibition will be 'Self'. In our most recent exhibition, this self-portrait by @frances_bell_paintings won The William Lock Portrait Prize of £20,000. You can watch a short video of Frances talking about her winning self-portrait on the website. So spread the word: tag your artist friends in the comments, re-post to your stories and get the word out about the theme and the chance to win one of a number of prizes at our Annual Exhibition. Most importantly, get painting!
We spoke to Robin-Lee Hall about her portrait ‘S We spoke to Robin-Lee Hall about her portrait ‘Sadie in her Parka’: “It’s a WIP. I stopped painting it when we had the first lockdown in 2020. It’s of fellow artist Sadie Lee in her retro parka from the 1970’s. We worked together at the National Portrait Gallery and she would often arrive at the gallery wearing it with the hood up and the ragged fake fur framing her beautiful face. I wanted to finish it, and will, when Covid is over and I can see her again” We love hearing your lockdown painting stories!
Martin Brooks exhibited this portrait of his young Martin Brooks exhibited this portrait of his youngest son at this years Annual exhibition. Here is what Martin says about his approach to painting: "I have no fixed approach and often wipe-out or restart part or all of a painting as I go along. If all goes well studies can be made in a matter of hours or revisited over a period of weeks. Oiling out gives the painting the appearance of being completed in one session (wet-into-wet) as sections of the image are stitched together or the whole reworked. I stop the painting when I find the balance of suggestion and realisation pleases me and try to retain an awareness of abstraction in the overall design. Overworking a painting deadens my interest and I often feel the need to simplify - I believe this intensifies the emotion and mood of the painting."
The #portraitsfornhsheroes is such an important mo The #portraitsfornhsheroes is such an important movement. It is inspiring to see so many artists involve themselves. We see portrait painters from all over the world come together to document healthcare workers from afar – often depicting sitters who they have never met in person, using photographs sent by social media. @alastairadamsportraits wrote this about his portrait of Hannah Jenkins: “My good friend is a single mother of 2 young children, only 29yrs old herself and has found herself selflessly giving as a Sister running the CV19 ITU ward in a large general hospital near Cambridge. She recently moved back to the NHS to undertake a new roll running a clinic for patients when the pandemic started. Due to her years of ITU experience when she was a general ward nurse in her early 20s, she was immediately asked to close her clinic and step into the breach. Her commitment to 12hr shifts, looking after the harrowing cases of ITU, not just for CV19, but all the other cases that a large city needs for ITU is unwavering. The selflessness she gives to the hospital, whilst facing the constant love and care as a single mother for her two young children was brought home when she had to drive 800miles round trip to take her children to relatives for Easter holiday care whilst she stayed fighting on the front line. 2 weeks later, she repeated the journey to collect her children, the very next day going straight back to the fight. She is so humble, so dedicated to her children, her patients, to all those around her, except herself I feel it would be such an honour to be able to give something back that can remind her of this time, of her selflessness.” That’s what portraits are all about.
Kate Newington created her collage portrait of Ama Kate Newington created her collage portrait of Amanda, a phlebotomist on the frontline at South Tyneside District Hospital, after her daughter Holly asked for a portrait of her mum as a surprise. Newington worked from a selection of photos. "I enjoyed making several versions," she said. "This is possibly the only portrait I will ever make of someone wearing a mask and a helmet... It is really a portrait of a pair of eyes - the eyes needed to express as much as possible about the whole person. It was a tall order and a unique challenge."
@melissa.scottmiller is another RP member who cont @melissa.scottmiller is another RP member who contributed to #portraitsfornhsheroes. Her portrait of NHS doctor Rich outside the Nightingale Hospital featured in our Annual Exhibition this year. The BBC commented that "Pictures of NHS "heroes" are to be the highlight of The Royal Society of Portrait Painters' annual exhibition." We certainly agree and were thrilled to be able to feature so many NHS portraits at the exhibition. Melissa Scott-Miller told BBC News her painting came about because "like so many people, I was so moved by the bravery and selflessness of anyone involved in the medical profession helping save lives and felt so powerless, just painting away in my flat/studio". Her painting, which she hopes will be seen as a "token of our gratitude", is of a doctor called Rich, who sent her a photo of himself in scrubs and PPE. "He was actually just between incredibly gruelling shifts at the Nightingale Hospital. He had volunteered to help there immediately the call came out," Scott-Miller said. "I thought he had such a lovely face I chose to paint him without the mask, etc," she says. "I think it worked out well, I tried really hard to capture him from the photos, although of course I hadn't met him."
@tomcroftartist pioneered the portraits for NHS he @tomcroftartist pioneered the portraits for NHS heroes initiative whereby he offered to paint a free portrait to the first NHS Key Worker to contact him. He suggested that other portrait artists offer one too. Artists were asked to post their portraits under the hashtag #portraitsfornhsheroes so everyone could be seen online in a virtual exhibition. We caught up with Tom to talk about how the project came about and what it has taught him about portraiture: “I am dyslexic and terrifyingly disorganised so the idea that I would even attempt a project like this, where thousands of artists and NHS staff were messaging me about getting involved – all of which I had to reply to – whilst getting the message across clearly and effectively of how the project works, is frankly ludicrous, but when you feel strongly about something you don’t worry about that. Clapping on our doorsteps was nice but I wanted to offer something more personal. Overall the project has been hugely moving. I think one of the unexpected things I’ve learnt is about the nature of social media as a force for doing something positive. Social media is often perceived as being quite a vile and toxic environment and I think on certain platforms it is, but I posted this initial offer on Instagram and got an immediate and overwhelmingly positive response back. I wasn’t surprised by how empathetic the art community, or more specifically the portrait artist community is; people were desperate to help and be involved and that was a lovely thing to see; all these artists were thinking in the same way, and offering their time and skills for free. The initiative felt very direct; each portrait would at least make one person’s day a little better, hopefully. Through this project I’ve also definitely rediscovered the value of portraiture and by that I mean the documenting or recording of somebody. There is something about the physicality of a portrait, you walk into a room and you see it on the wall and you see the light reflecting off it and it’s like somebody is actually there.” You can read the full article written by @ellielachs_ on our website.
We spoke to Tom Croft, one of this year’s invite We spoke to Tom Croft, one of this year’s invited artists, about his portrait of Tia, which featured in our annual exhibition. There is a lot more to this piece than initially appears, which is testament to Tom’s empathetic and astute eye. Tom told us of the piece: ‘Every year I open my studio up to the public for Oxfordshire Artweeks. The week is a chance to raise awareness of artists who are working in Oxfordshire. Tia was one of the visitors who came to see my work. Amazingly I make my living painting people by commission, but I am also always on the lookout for people to paint who interest me for whatever reason and Tia was one of them. When we first met they were wearing a black roll neck jumper, but at the sitting Tia was wearing a different outfit, which revealed these beautiful tattoo artworks on their shoulder, back and neck. From a painters point of view this was a fantastic challenge. I had never painted tattoos before so I had to think about whether to paint the skin first and the tattoos on top, or whether to draw the outline of the tattoos first, then drop in the segments of skin like a sort of mosaic. I counterintuitively and probably stupidly opted for the latter. I never pre mix my colours and always mix fresh for each mark. The challenge was to give the illusion of the form turning convincingly into the light on the shoulder without making the skin look patchy. When painting portraits, you want to make it look like your subject, but you also want to capture whatever you can about them as a person. I initially started painting Tia with a cream background, as that was the wall colour of the studio, but it looked boring and lacked energy, which to my eye didn’t reflect Tia correctly. I got a palette knife and a piece of card to move the paint around and break up the texture, I also went in with this zingy turquoise blue which in turn meant I could reflect purple back into their skin. It is that puzzle that you have to figure out, how to describe your subject to someone who has never met them before, beyond just the way they look at that moment. Article by @ellielachs_
Last week, @benjaminsullivanrp tested out @jackson Last week, @benjaminsullivanrp tested out @jacksons_art new range of artist's watercolours. We loved what he had to say about it and wanted to share it with you. Head over to stories to see the process shots behind this final image. "I squeeze the paints into a Jacksons’ 19 well porcelain palette (these are wonderful), the night before so that the colours are semi-hard when I come to use them. The colours themselves are a good consistency with an even buttery look that one would expect. I’m using my normal colour range which seem okay although the Alizarin and Sap green look on the light side and the cerulean blue looks a tad dark to my mind. I use masking fluid and a homemade solution of gum Arabic dissolved in water to reserve areas of white paper. I used Jacksons’ masking fluid initially but found it hard to control with my mapping pen so returned to my usual brand, Pebeo. I use Jacksons’ Hake brushes and pure squirrel Mops for the initial washes. The latter are simply wonderful brushes that I use regularly. Next, I add some definition to the face. I mix a number of thin glazes but find I struggle to achieve many of the subtle colours I would expect. The yellows are okay but the many delicate pinks and magentas aren’t apparent. The problem seems to be with the Alizarin which appears muddy but the cad red also loses its character. I am also finding problems with dark washes too. For shadows, I use Alizarin with Viridian or Sap Green, but these tend to mix into a muddy brown whereas they normally keep their nature. At his stage, I find much of the colouring to be unsatisfactory, so move on to some large washes on the rest of the painting. These go on fairly well but not with the consistency that I would like As a comparison, I use my normal set of paints (W&N, Schmincke and Daniel Smith), to start adding some definition to the hands. The difference is immediately apparent with many beautiful pinks, yellows and greens and no unwanted muddiness. I decide to complete the work using my own paints for obvious reasons. I remove the masked areas and add many of the delicate tones to the face that were missing, before finishing off the rest."
To conclude her article, Ellie and Warren spoke ab To conclude her article, Ellie and Warren spoke about 'Cataloguing and Framing' 'Once all the works have been delivered, catalogued, and catagorised, the tech team will meet with the curating team to discuss the order in which the pieces will be arranged on the walls ahead of ‘Hanging Day’. Hanging is overseen by the hanging committee for the exhibition. This is made up of Member artists and assisted by the Mall Galleries’ technicians, many of whom are themselves artists. Warren adds that strong communication skills and teamwork are important for a successful hanging day; he noted that the team has to be quick, but not rush: ‘we each have a lot of experience hanging art and we work hard under pressure, there has to be a fast turn around. Curation is very much an act of trial and error, though more trial than error, but it does take a lot of patience. You have to build up the exhibition slowly.’ We hope you have enjoyed this week's feature 'Behind the Exhibition' and the selection of photograph's taken from this year's Annual Exhibition which accompanied the text. Read the full article at https://therp.co.uk/behind-the-exhibition-an-interview-with-warren-grant/.
Following on from yesterday's post we delve even f Following on from yesterday's post we delve even further into Ellie Lachs @ellielachs_ interesting article. Today we look at what Warren Grant, our Head Technician, says about 'The Back of the Painting': 'THE BACK OF A PAINTING IS MORE RELEVENT TO US THAN THE FRONT OF IT When organising the artworks that are delivered on ‘Receiving Day’, the tech team might catagorise works according to their medium, size, the art society that it is linked to, the artists’ names or frames, and so on. During this process, the tech team is, however, less interested in what the front of the piece looks like, and more interested in the back of the piece and the frame in which it sits. Warren explained that organising artwork inevitably requires pieces to be stacked against others throughout the process. As such, it is essential that the frames used will stack against other frames without damaging any of the pieces within. If the back of a frame has hooks, bumps or an uneven surface, it will damage the art that it is stacked against. On top of this, Warren notes, the heavier a piece of work is, the more likely it is that it will get damaged, or damage other pieces of work. As such, you want your frame to be light, and for its back to be as smooth as possible.' Read the full article at https://therp.co.uk/behind-the-exhibition-an-interview-with-warren-grant/ and follow for more tips on exhibition to do's. Following our announcement about one of next years theme's at our Annual Exhibition as 'Self', this is a particularly good moment to get thinking about what preparation goes into a submission beyond painting. Artists... take note!
Following on from yesterday's post we delve even f Following on from yesterday's post we delve even further into Ellie Lachs @ellielachs_ interesting article. Today we look at what Warren Grant, our Head Technician, says about 'Receiving Day': An exhibition that is showing more than one artist’s work such as an open show will have an assigned ‘Receiving Day’; it is essential that artists diarise delivery and collection dates to ensure that this runs according to schedule. On this day, all the exhibiting artists who are available to visit the gallery in person—we will get to those who cannot visit in person shortly—will drop their work off. Warren noted that there can be up to 200 pieces delivered in one day and the technician team is responsible for organising all of these works. Read the full article at https://therp.co.uk/behind-the-exhibition-an-interview-with-warren-grant/ and follow for more tips on exhibition to do's. Following our announcement about one of next years theme's at our Annual Exhibition as 'Self', this is a particularly good moment to get thinking about what preparation goes into a submission beyond painting. Artists... take note!
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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

10 hours ago

Royal Society of Portrait Painters
A reminder that the theme for one of next year's prizes at our Annual Exhibition will be 'Self'. In our most recent exhibition, this self-portrait by @frances_bell_paintings won The William Lock Portrait Prize of £20,000. You can watch a short video of Frances talking about her winning self-portrait on the website.So spread the word: tag your artist friends in the comments, re-post to your stories and get the word out about the theme and the chance to win one of a number of prizes at our Annual Exhibition. Most importantly, get painting! ... See MoreSee Less

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