So this
year I entered the 2012 BP Portrait Award, I have visited the exhibition of
finalists in the National Portrait Gallery a few times and have always been
impressed by the talent on show. I had
been meaning to have a go myself for the last few years and finally got around
to it this year. Although I had no illusions
as to winning, I thought I might get in the top 50, I mean, how many portrait
painters can there really be out there?
The logistics of entering were a bit complicated, I had to leave the
painting with my parents in London while I was visiting them and my dad kindly
took the painting along to one of the submission days. What with the entry fee
and the price for the framing of the piece coming to just under a hundred
pounds it wasn’t cheap on my measly teacher’s wage, I liked the portrait and
although it was simple and had no background I was feeling lucky. It is of a student of mine here in Salamanca,
Juan Blanco Blanco, a guy I respect not only for being a spine surgeon and
researcher into non-embryonic stem cells, but also for being a person of strong
religious faith in these secular times.
It turned
out that there are far more than 50 portrait painters interested in having
their work on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery, and no, I didn’t get
picked. The rejection letter goes as
follows:
Thank you very much for entering this year's competition. The judges have now made their final decision and I am afraid that on this occasion your entry was not selected for exhibition. This year there were approximately 2,200 entries and only 55 were selected for exhibition, including the four shortlisted for prizes, so the competition was very strong. We wish you the very best with your continued practice and hope that you will consider applying to the competition again in the future.
So my dad
had to go back into central London to pick the painting up, and I was left
contemplating why mine wasn’t good enough, and whether I should give up on
entering competitions completely and save my money. Upon reflection and after having looked at the
BP Portrait Award website I have come to the conclusion that I should have
tried harder, maybe painted some more of the body, and included a luscious background
to boot. I won’t give up yet, but 2,200
entries is a lot to beat and I shouldn’t be so complacent next time. At least I can reuse the frame…
