It’s every artist’s dream for their work to be exhibited to the public. Leading fine art supplies company, Jackson’s Art Supplies, ran an international competition encouraging artists of all ages and abilities to paint, draw or print to their art’s content for the chance to win their share of £10,000 in prizes and the opportunity to exhibit their work at the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead in May. 

There were six categories under which artists could submit their entries: Animals; Landscape/Cityscape/Seascape; Non-representational/Abstract; Portrait/Figure; Scenes of Everyday Life and Still Life/Botanical. This gave artists working across a variety of media and styles the chance to display their unique works of art on an international scale. The finalists were judged by an exclusive panel of 6 leading figures in the art community from across the globe. 

This year 5,366 entries were submitted, and the People’s Choice Award went to Ali Bannister, 41, from Gloucestershire, for her piece entitled “The Spanish Horse”. 

Ali Bannister is a professional artist who specialises in commissioned portraits of animals – but also people. 

She described her winning piece ‘The Spanish Horse’, produced in pastel pencils: ‘There is a quote by Nuno Oliveira, ‘The horse is the best judge of a good rider, not the spectator. If the horse has a high opinion of the rider, he will let himself be guided, if not, he will resist.’

My aim was to produce a picture that showed a horse who has judged his rider and found him worthy of following. It’s a true partnership then; a relationship completely in harmony; two species in sync; speaking a language that both understand and respect. The horse willing to give whatever is asked and the rider wise enough and respectful enough to not ask too much.

The horse in the picture is ‘Karioko’. He belonged to the late Miguel Tovar who won many competitions with his Spanish horses. I saw the photo (of the full horse and rider) on Flickr and knew instantly that I wanted to draw from it. I contacted Diego López Rodríguez, who took the photograph, and he was kind enough to give me permission to draw from it.’

Ali also explained her inspirations and favourite artists ‘Susan Crawford and Claire Verity for their well observed and highly detailed, realistic drawings and paintings; and Christian Hook for his looser but brilliantly composed and balanced contemporary style.’

Since its inception, Jackson’s Open Painting Prize has grown immensely over the last few years and this year Jackson’s are proud to announce that they are offering the winners £10,000 in prizes, an online showcase and the incredible chance to exhibit their stellar works at the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead in May*. 

The panel of expert judges consisted of Andrew Bick (artist and curator), Kerry Ann Lee (artist, designer and educator), Tom Down (winner of Jackson’s Open Painting Prize 2018), Haidee-Jo Summers (artist and author), Yves Blais (curator and producer) and Jennifer Conner (director, curator and publisher). 

One of the expert judges, Tom Down from Birmingham, is last year’s competition winner. His work entitled, ‘frontier’, was chosen out of 3,327 international entries and made it through multiple rounds of judging by a panel of art experts. His success meant he received £5,000, a placement at the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead, a seat on the exhibition panel discussion and amazing exposure across social media sites, newsletters and more. His paintings are currently held in private collections across the UK and USA. 

The three overall winners can be seen here, and the six category prize-winning artworks can be seen here. 

“Jackson’s Open Painting Prize is an excellent opportunity for artists internationally to share their talents with the rest of the world,” says Gary Thompson Director of Jackson’s Art Supplies. “We are very pleased to see a wide variety of media used this year, as well artists of all ages and abilities submitting their pieces.” 

*Affordable Art Fair Hampstead: A selection of the winning pieces will be on display as part of the Jackson’s Open Painting Prize 2019 finalist’s exhibition at The Affordable Art Fair Hampstead. The Fair has something for everyone, exhibiting an expertly curated collection of contemporary artworks by new and established artists.