Making A Mark

It’s not just me! Facebook is really down - having been loopy for days of staring at really slow loads of FB pages.

Did Mark forget to pay “the lecky”?

(Ask a northerner)

Mundane and ordinary can look great when a good artist has a mind to make it so

What a fabulous opening to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition yesterday!
A wonderful array of the best contemporary portraiture on show, including some great invited artists.
And we had the incomparable Simon Schama presenting the opening speech!
Opens today 8 - 17 May
Mall Galleries

Inside the Sketchbook of James Hobbs See inside the sketchbooks of London-based artist and author James Hobbs, a prolific drawer with over 200 sketchbooks.

I’ve written about me and my sketchbooks for the Jackson’s Art Supplies blog as part of its Inside the Sketchbook series. Find it here: www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2025/05... #Sketchbooks

If you want to avoid the result just remove the parameter you need to count!

#heathens

The BBC is so heathen!
No mention of the arts or culture - creates a big gap in the cultural education of a nation!

Why does music get a mention and art does not?

#drawtheline This is the “Draw the Line” comic recently created by Nick Sousanis who is an Eisner winning #comics artist and educator. He's also a Professor who drew & wrote the thesis for his doctorate in #comic book form.

Download a pdf version for free on spinweaveandcut.com/draw-the-line/

Why does a bigger open #artexhibition mean fewer sales of #artworks?
Why do #artists selected from the #openentry sell more #art than members of the #RBA?
Is there a price ceiling on spontaneous art purchases?
Check the chart!
+ Check out my latest blog post makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/04/rba-...

Review: Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 10) - St Pancras Basin Critique of Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 at St Pancras Basin. Synopsis about artists; analysis of themes plus tips for artists.

Forgot to post my review of Episode 4 of Landscape Artist of the Year. I wasn't a fan
makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/02/revi...
Profiles of place & artists + "themes of the day" tips from me & a round up of what got shortlisted and who won
#artistoftheyear #makingamark #artcompetition #landscapeart

Analysis of Sales at The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2025 This post analyses sales of artwork - by members and non-members - achieved in each price band at the 2025 annual exhibition of The Pastel Society

SALES METRICS - The Pastel Society: After my review of the annual exhibition comes my sales metrics post!
makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/02/anal...
83% of sales were priced under £1,000 and Open artists sold more artwork than members!

#exhibitionmetrics #artsales #pastel #makingamark #pastelsociety

My review of Episode 3 of #landscapeartistoftheyear - including profile of pod artists and shortlisted artist and winner. Plus critique of the location and overall approach to this #artcompetition
makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/02/revi...
#laoty #landscapeart #landscapeartists #landscapepainting

Call for Entries - Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 (Series 11) How to apply to be a pod artist in June 2025 for Series 11 of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year (to be broadcast in early 2026)

This is my annual post about how to enter Landscape Artist of the Year. Series 11 will be filmed in June and July 2025 and broadcast early in 2026.
#laoty #landscape
DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES is Friday 2nd May 2025
Series 10 will start being televised next week.
makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/01/call...

My Composition and Design project About a perenially popular subject "Composition and Design" and about project I did back in 2008 which you can access in my archives.

This year I'm going to remind people about what I've got in the archives of Making a Mark. I'm going to start with my Composition and Design Project which I started in January 2008
makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/01/my-c...
The future may be at the end......
#composition #design #art

The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2025 is now ONLINE. VIEW in person at the Mall Galleries 22 January - 8 February (10-5 daily)
buyart.mallgalleries.org.uk/ps-2025/
#art #pastels #pastelsociety #annualexhibition #mallgalleries #London #openexhibition #stilllife #interiors #artsociety

Reflecting back on 18 years ago when I did studies of the Iznik ceramics - much loved by William Morris - at the V&A
what I did in makingamark.blogspot.com/2007/01/plan... and image produced below
#iznik #victoriaandalbert #colouredpencils #botanicalmotifs

What's happening to the valuable #fineart because of the #wildfires in art galleries and museums, archives, artists' homes & homes of the wealthy (with art inside) in Los Angeles, California?
makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/01/fire...
This is the shocking size of the Palisades Fire

Making A Mark is 19 years old today! A top art blog for artists and art lovers: news about major art competitions and exhibitions, artists, techniques and tips for art and business

I first practiced blogging in December 2005, before going public 19 years ago today - which makes "Making A Mark" 19 years old!
makingamark.blogspot.com/2025/01/maki...
I've written and published 4,585 posts, had 6.3 million unique visitors and well over 22 million pageviews
#makingamark

Pricing your art for Open Exhibitions - a review of a sample of exhibition metrics for 2024 Review of sales of art by members & open artists and prices paid at different annual exhibitions of FBA Societies at the Mall Galleries in 2024

In this post makingamark.blogspot.com/2024/12/pric... you will find charts of sales at the 2024 annual #openartexhibitions of the various art societies who belong to the FBA based @mallgalleries - split between
* member artists and open entry artists &
* analysed by the different price ranges.

I’d share your post but I really hate websites which do not allow me to agree essential cookies ONLY!

Sort your cookie app out and I may be back……

i know - it’s so unfair!

OPEN EXHIBITION 2025 REMINDER #1: (Mall Galleries) Summaries of calls for entries for open annual exhibitions by national art societies based at the Mall Galleries re. exhibitions in Jan-June 2025

Check out my summary of the Calls for Entries for #OpenExhibitions held by national (FBA) art societies #RBA #RI #RP #NEAC at the Mall Galleries between January and June 2025
makingamark.blogspot.com/2024/12/open...
#callsforentries
#art #exhibitions #artsocieties

Another wintry view of back gardens and rooms lit up as dusk approaches - by Nessie Ramm.

Melissa Scott-Miller is such a very popular artist, she paints her community in her community. It's a good recipe!
#islington #melissascottmiller

Today's birthday boy from 1610, David Teniers is here (on left) w/ Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in the latter's world-class picture gallery, 1647. Happy to see a few of my own works among the masterpieces!

PAOTY Series 2024: Review of Final About the Final of Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 - plus commentary on the artists paintings and the outcome.

One minor computing disaster later, here's the first of my very delayed posts about the Final of Portrait Artist of the Year.
makingamark.blogspot.com/2024/12/paot...
Two more posts to go re. Commission & Series
#portrait #PAOTY #portraitartistoftheyear #artistoftheyear #artcompetition #makingamark

Call for Entries: Series 12 of Portrait Artist of the Year (2025) About how to enter Series 12 of Portrait Artist of the Year in 2025. Plus key considerations explained and LOTS OF TIPS relevant to how to do well.

The final of Portrait Artist of the Year starts in half an hour. However this is what you need to know if you'd like to enter the competition next year and participate in Series 12 of Portrait Artist of the Year in 2025
makingamark.blogspot.com/2024/12/call...

This is what the #vangogh #exhibition is like at 11.30am at the @nationalgalleryldn.bsky.social
But you can’t buy a ticket as it’s sold out to the end of its run.

The bonus of booking a 10am ticket for the (sold out) Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery in London

#vangogh #nationalgallery
#artexhibition
#blockbuster
#soldout

Such a shame that Smithfield is closing.

You need to make paintings of the markets that the City of London have just decided to close - Smithfield and Billingsgate.

Get the City of London to commission you!