International Artist August - September 2019/ No.128

Accidental Magic Sometimes things happen by accident. Such was the case when I was sitting at the lunch table at the Liliedahl studios when John Pototschnik was there to shoot his first video, a little over a year ago. John said, “Want to see what I’m working on? It’s my life’s work.” Then he pulled out a stack of about 60 small paintings of a house. Each painting was the same scene, yet every scene looked completely different. Artists Struggle with Color Unnecessarily When I asked what I was seeing, he said, “Color is what every artist struggles with, and there are all these theories about color harmony and how to use color to make your painting better. But it tends to confuse most artists, and there are lots of…

As publisher of International Artist my regular to trips to the Portrait Society of America’s annual conferences were always something I looked forward to. Traveling from Australia meant I could visit our offices in America and, while there, go on to the conference venue. The conference in 2000 was in Reston, just outside of Washington, D.C., and the weekend turned out to be one of the highlights of my life because it was on this particular visit that Everett Raymond Kinstler asked me to sit for him as the subject of his portrait demo in front of the audience assembled in the huge hall. Having one’s portrait painted by the artist who has painted so many presidential portraits and famous people is like winning the lottery. It is an experience…

Lesley Thiel North Carolina, USA, Honey, oil, 36 x 25" (91 x 63½ cm) Grand Prize is a four-page editorial feature in American Art Collector magazine Natural Connections Self-taught painter Lesley Thiel has had a wide-reaching career in art, where she first began as an equine painter and turned to the more classical figurative works after eight years. Her paintings can be described as contemporary realism with elements of magical realism. Thiel says her style is realistic, but it cannot be identified as hyperrealism or photorealism. “My style is quite tight and I work with a relatively limited palette, which I find helps create color harmony,” she says. “I work with small sable brushes and sable blenders to create an almost brushstroke free surface, especially on the skin. The most…

FULL COLOR DIGITAL PRINT-OUTS Use the Official Entry Form over the page ONLINE Visit our website to upload digital files of the images you want to enter and pay for them using our secure server. www.internationalartist.com To upload your entries you need to prepare your image files to be at least 400 pixels at the shortest edge. Once you are in the Official Online Entry page simply select which challenge you wish to enter then follow the prompts and finally pay the entry fee via our secure server. There you can also see other entries received along with past winners of our competitions. HINTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR ARTWORK • Set your camera to the highest quality available. • Shoot your paintings dead square on and fill the frame as much…

ENTER OUR NEW ART COMPETITION CHALLENGE No. 114 People & Figures See your work published in International Artist magazine and also receive a 4-page Editorial Feature in American Art Collector, the prestigious magazine read by collectors and galleries looking for new art work in the world’s biggest art market. Winners and Finalists in our competitions don’t just win awards to hang on their walls. The real value of entering and being one of the winners is that your work will not only be seen by hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide but also by leading galleries and collectors in America, the biggest art market of all. Our Grand Prize Winners receive a 2-page spread in International Artist magazine and a 4-page Editorial Feature in American Art Collector. Publicity at this…

THREE INTERNATIONAL ENTRY POINTS For your convenience there are three International Entry Points. You can pay your Entry Fee by Visa or MasterCard. 1 USA / CANADA THE AMERICAS Send your entry and payment of US $9 per entry/picture to: International Artist magazine Challenge No. 114: People & Figures 7530 East Main Street, Suite 105 Scottsdale, AZ 85251, USA Enter your Credit Card details on the Entry Form below or include a Check/Money Order made payable to International Artist. (Checks must be in US Dollars and drawn on a US bank) 2 UNITED KINGDOM / EUROPE AFRICA 2 UNITED KINGDOM / EUROPE AFRICA Send your entry and payment of £5 (or _8) per entry/picture to: International Artist magazine Challenge No. 114: People & Figures 7530 East Main Street, Suite 105…