As ever, the 28th annual Sunday Times Watercolour Competition was a mix of surprising novelties and persistent trends. For every sudden flourish of conceptualism, there was a solid body of landscapes, seascapes, birds and children, holiday views and glimpses of home. Refining entries down to just 90 works for exhibition was tough, but the judges had no doubt in awarding first prize to Akash Bhatt, for his beautiful portrait of his mother. Joining me as judges of the competition were the artists Sara Dudman and Lucy Willis, Desmond Shawe-Taylor LVO, surveyor of the Queen’s pictures, and Josh Spero, editor of Spear’s magazine.
That the watercolour can interact with, even thrive in, the digital age was clear from a painting that just missed out on a prize. The Selfie-Conscious 1, by Juliet Benini, shows the artist doing what just about everybody seems to do these days — snapping herself with a camera phone. Benini’s picture is a gem, showing that this is still a medium with plenty to say in 2015. See for yourself when our show runs at the Mall Galleries, London SW1, September 14-19, before heading out on tour. Visit sundaytimeswatercolour.org for more details.
1ST PLACE
AKASH BHATT
BLUE ROOM
Congratulations to Akash Bhatt, this year’s overall winner of the competition; he receives a cheque for £10,000. Born in Leicester and now based in Wembley, northwest London, he triumphed with this simple but arresting portrait of his mother. She is not a new subject for him: this picture is part of a suite of likenesses, and throughout his life, the artist has regularly drawn and painted both his parents. (His father passed away a few years ago.) It started off as a practical thing — “They were available when I was a kid” — then became something more imbued with meaning. “It was more about documenting their lives and having a record for myself,” he says.
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Bhatt insists that using his parents as models doesn’t complicate the act of painting. “It simplifies it, if anything. I find it difficult to paint people I don’t know well. If I’m more familiar with the person, I’m more relaxed, because the act of painting can be quite a highly strung activity.” Not that his mother seems to feel the same: she is “a committed and dedicated sitter”. Mrs Bhatt’s contribution to this picture is both her patience and the vivid orange sari she wears — one of a large collection. “That, if nothing else, is a reason for making a series,” her son says.
The judges knew none of this when awarding the painting first prize. They were simply won over by its technical assurance and composition; everything stripped back to accentuate that beautiful contrast of orange and blue. There are plenty more pictures of Mrs Bhatt to come. Apparently, she is happy to remind her son if he has left any unfinished.
2ND PLACE
MICHAEL WILLIAMS
LAND, SEA, ISLAND
The island you see far ahead in our second-place painting (he wins £6,000) is Skomer, off the southwest corner of Pembrokeshire, a nature reserve barely inhabited at all — unless you are canny and book a holiday cottage in advance. Michael Williams, who lives in Gloucestershire, has known the island for decades, but still hasn’t reached it; and it’s this sense of it being a paradise “out there” that inspired him. He impressed the judges with his portrayal of the earth, water and sky, each section nuanced in its own way. Then there are those intriguing white lines weaving through the picture: “striations”, as Williams calls them, “threads of light” made from bands of underpainting. It’s a technique he has been developing for a few years: “I’m never sure if the lines go across the landscape, like the direction of light, or whether they follow the geology of the landscape or the currents of water. All of those are possibilities.” A picture of many layers, in many senses.
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CITYSCAPE PRIZE
LEO DAVEY
DRIP... REGENT’S CANAL — LONDON
Leo Davey was visiting the capital from his home in Minehead, Somerset, to see an exhibition by his mother (also an artist) when he decided to walk along the Regent’s Canal, the discreet gem that meanders all the way from Little Venice, in northwest London, to Limehouse, far out east. On his way, somewhere near Camden Lock, he took a photo; and that picture inspired this painting, the winner of this year’s Smith & Williamson Cityscape Prize, which rewards a particularly fine urban view to the tune of £1,500. It’s a slight departure, as Davey specialises in landscapes, but he says he takes pleasure in entering the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition because it encourages him to tackle something a bit more ambitious. In this case, he has produced a painting that rewards repeated viewing, a still and elegant view of modern urban life.