Derwent Art Prize

This year marks the second opportunity for pencil artists to compete for the Derwent Art Prize. Artists over the age of 18 from all over the world are invited to submit pieces done in pencil, pastel, graphite, charcoal or colored pencil. The grand prize is £6,000, and there are several other cash prizes up for grabs as well. Shortlisted works will be displayed in an exhibition in London in September. Artists can submit up to six recent (within the past three years) works for consideration. The cost for entry is £15 for the first piece submitted and £5 for each additional piece. For the full conditions of entry, please see this page. The contest closes at 12:00pm GMT on June 9, 2014, so enter now!

Whew! Now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s look at last year’s winners!

Chrys Allen and her winning piece

Last year’s first-place winner was Chrys Allen, of The Jam Factory in London. Her winning piece Walk in Progress: Koli is graphite on a 10m-long scroll, which she drew as an artist-in-residence in Koli, Finland.

Paul Hiles and his view of London

Second prize went to Paul Hiles with an extremely detailed aerial representation of London, punctuated by red double-decker buses traversing the streets. Hiles is a man of many talents, having taught art as well as produced it, and has been commissioned to create drawings of several London landmarks.

  Yi Lin Juliana Ong and her “maps”

Third place went to Yi Lin Juliana Ong, of ohnicegreat.com. She describes her unique winning piece and the others in this series as maps of a subconscious mind.

The team at Pencils.com would like to wish all of our readers who are planning to compete in this year’s Derwent Art Prize competition the best of luck! Don’t forget to submit your entry by the June 9th deadline, and share your experience with us in the comments.