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Last year, BBC Wildlife launched a new competition for natural history artists, with breathtaking results. This year, we're hoping to do even better.
Last year's launch of the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year Award met with a wonderful response. More than 700 artists entered their work, from as far away as Japan and Canada - and the standard was amazing.
Our judges had a tough job on their hands. In the first round, Pip McGarry (from Marwell International Wildlife
Art Society), Chris Breen (director of Worldwide Wildlife, who donated the fabulous holiday prize) and Sophie Stafford (BBC Wildlife editor) had to whittle all the entries down to just 120.
Then, the artists were invited to bring their artwork to Marwell for the final round of judging. On a hot Sunday in June, Chris Rose (from the Society of Wildlife Artists) and Brandon Lindberg (head of Sporting and Wildlife Art at Christie's auction house) joined the rest of the judges to pick the winners.
There were 14 categories and so plenty of opportunities to shine. As the artworks in each category were mounted on easels, we were astonished by the creativity, style and skill on show and, most importantly, by everyone's evident passion for their subject.
 We finally had 14 awesome winners from which we chose the overall winner (right). Neil Allen's Bee Orchid was intimately observed and immaculately painted, and proof that you don't have to travel to exotic places to find great natural history subjects. It won Neil the title 'BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year 2009' and a place on the 2010 Festival of Wildlife in Brazil, and was displayed at both the exhibition of the Marwell International Wildlife Art Society and that of the Society of Wildlife Artists.
THE CATEGORIES
» British mammals (behaviour and portraits)
» British birds (behaviour and portraits)
» All other wildlife (behaviour and portraits, in the UK & worldwide)
» The wonder of plants (British and worldwide)
» Beneath the water (marine and freshwater)
» Animals in their environment (British and worldwide)
» World mammals (behaviour and portraits)
» World birds (behaviour and portraits)
» Black and white nature (pencil, lino cuts, etchings, wood block etc)
» Visions of nature (innovative, creative impressions of wildlife)
» Frozen planet (please note, entries must feature animal life)
» Endangered species (entries must feature species listed by the IUCN as 'Endangered' or 'Critically Endangered')
» International artists - a new category judged purely on digital imagery, exclusively for artists outside of the UK. This is to save our international entrants the great costs of sending artwork to the UK.
The competition is now closed.
THE JUDGES
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Pip McGarry
The founder and chairman of the Marwell International Wildlife Art Society (MIWAS), Pip has been a highly successful professional wildlife artist for many years. |
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Sophie Stafford
Sophie is the Editor
of BBC Wildlife and works closely with many artists and illustrators. "I wanted to take all of last year's winning artwork home with me," she says. |
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Chris Breen
Chris founded and now manages Wildlife Worldwide. Conservation is one of its top priorities, and Chris says that "working with wildlife artists helps us to achieve this goal." |
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Chris Rose
An internationally acclaimed wildlife artist, Chris is best known for his bird paintings. He is a leading member and secretary of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA). |
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Brandon Lindberg
Brandon has worked at Christie's auction house for 16 years.
He specialises in 19th and 20th century British art and has a passion for wildlife, so was thrilled to be a judge last year. |
THE PRIZES
» Join the Festival of Wildlife 2011 in Baja California
In 2011, the overall winner will join the 8th Annual Festival of Wildlife in Baja California, Mexico, in search of whales and other marine life. Baja California is world-renowned as the place to watch whales and also offers fantastic birdwatching and beautiful scenery.
You'll be accompanied by a variety of wildlife experts and celebrities, who will help you to see, and be inspired by, these majestic mammals. At the Festival, you'll also learn about local conservation projects, and improve your photographic and artistry skills. More details: 0845 130 6982; www.festivalofwildlife.com
» See your art exhibited at marwell international art society
The overall and category winners will have their work exhibited at the prestigious annual exhibition of the Marwell International Wildlife Art Society (MIWAS) in August 2010, in a special display alongside 200 other artists and sculptors. The award ceremony will take place on the opening night of the exhibition. www.miwas.co.uk
» The overall winner will also be displayed alongside some of the world's finest wildlife art at the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London, from 21 September to 2 October 2010. The winner will be able to meet fellow artists at the private view. www.swla.co.uk
» Have your art published in BBC Wildlife magazine
All the category winners will be published in a beautiful feature in the August 2010 issue of BBC Wildlife (on sale 8 July). Since we're always looking for new talent, some of the winners may even be offered
a commission in the magazine.
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The Rules
1 Entries The competition is open to all artists aged 18 or over, amateur or professional, other than employees of
BBC Worldwide, Bristol Magazines Ltd
and Wildlife Worldwide, and their immediate families.
2 Maximum five entries per person.
3 No artwork may be entered in more than one category.
4 The artwork must not have won any prize in any other competition anywhere in the world, or been previously published.
5 The artwork must have been created in the past year and be your original work.
6 You must be the sole author and owner of the copyright of all artwork entered,
OR if your work is copied from a photograph(s) that is/are not your own, you must have sole permission in writing from the copyright owner to use his/her work. Copies of published photographs or paintings are not eligible. Source material or proof of permission to use must be made available on request by the judges. BBC Wildlife does not accept any
liability in the publication of unlawfully
reproduced art.
7 Artwork must feature wildlife - birds, mammals, waterlife, invertebrates and wildflowers - in a natural environment.
8 Computer generated artworks will not be accepted.
9 The artwork must be two-dimensional only. Diptychs, triptychs and box canvases are not admissible.
10 The unframed artwork must not exceed 40x40 inches in size for exhibiting at Marwell.
11 To enter, the artwork must be uploaded to our website at www.bbcwildlifemagazine.com by the closing date of 28 February 2010.
Artwork should be submitted as jpgs. Each jpg should be a 300dpi, 1MB file with the category, your name and the subject in the title (in this order). All entries must be accompanied by an online entry form.
12 No allowances will be made for poorly scanned entries. BBC Worldwide takes no responsibility for corrupted or late entries. Scans of artwork will not be returned.
13 Email addresses may be used by
BBC Worldwide for marketing, unless
you opt out. For conditions, see p117.
14 Copyright The entry of any artwork
to the competition constitutes a grant to BBC Worldwide of the non-exclusive right to reproduce it for any purpose in connection with the competition at any time in any media.
15 The winners consent to the use of their artwork, name and/or photograph in any publicity carried out by BBC Worldwide, without further compensation.
16 The judging The artwork will be judged by an independent panel appointed by
BBC Wildlife. We reserve the right to change the advertised judges.
17 The judges' decision on all matters relating to the competition is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
18 BBC Wildlife reserves the right to withhold prizes if, in the opinion of the judges, the quality of entries falls below the standard required.
19 The first round of judging will take place in March. The best images in each category will be shortlisted for the final round of judging in May. Successful entrants will be notified by 30 April 2010. Artwork must be framed and delivered to Marwell Hall for final judging. The category winners and overall winner will be selected from this shortlist.
20 Category winners may be stored at Marwell until exhibited; unsuccessful entrants will need to remove their art.
21 The prizes The category winners will be published in the August 2010 issue of
BBC Wildlife (on sale 8 July) and displayed at the Marwell International Wildlife Art Society exhibition in August 2010.
22 Category winners can sell their artwork at the Marwell exhibition at a standard commission rate of 27%.
23 Following exhibition, category winners will be responsible for ensuring that any unsold artwork is collected from Marwell Hall on a date to be confirmed.
24 The overall 'BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year' wins a place for one person on the 8th Annual Festival of Wildlife in Baja California, which will take place in 2011 (dates to be confirmed), run by Wildlife Worldwide. There are no holiday or cash alternatives. The prize cannot be transferred.
25 Wildlife Worldwide (tel: 0845 130 6982) reserves the right to substitute another holiday in the event of unavailability, for whatever reason, of the advertised trip.
26 The overall winning picture will be displayed at the Society of Wildlife Artists annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London, 21 September-2 October 2010. The work must be framed and delivered to the Mall Galleries 13-18 September 2010, and can be sold at a standard commission rate of 40%. If unsold it should be collected on 7 October 2010. |
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 COMPETITIONS |
| Win Royal Society stamps We have 15 packs of Royal Society Special Stamps (worth £7 each) to give away, courtesy of Royal Mail. Enter here |
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