Hints & tips for entering the Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance "Art of nurture" competition.

Hey everyone, as the new Art of Nurture competition is coming up, I thought I might as well throw around a few tips and suggestions for artists who are thinking about entering.

Now I certainly don't claim that I'm an expert in this area as my submission wasn't successful last year and I'm also not one of the judges. However, I believe I have a relatively well informed view as to what entries seem to be successful. In addition to this I have picked up and learned a few interesting things that may prove useful to others

This first statement may seem a little strange, but I would suggest that you do not try to conform to what you think the judges want to see. Of course you want to create something that will appeal to the judges and follow the brief however, what you shouldn't do is force yourself into a "style" or methodology that is not true to yourself.

I believe this was the mistake I made when submitting last year. I produced a very formal image that was completely different to what I would normally create. The main issue was that it lacked the obliqueness and quirky sense of humour that my successful 2009 piece had. Humour is often at the heart of my images and by molding my work into something completely different was to a degree, not being true to myself.

So the message is; “Don’t force it” instead let this competition tailor around your natural qualities. At the end of the day we are all here to represent ourselves and our abilities and of course we want to surprise the judges. We are entertainers!

Another interesting point to flag is that your images shouldn't be too small.
During the competition, when it comes to viewing your work at the exhibition the smaller images tend to get lost alongside the larger ones. This is just my opinion and it should not change whether your piece is successful or not, but this is just an observation worth noting having attended some of the exhibitions.

Choosing a well proportioned format is also worth bearing in mind. One of my submissions was an incredibly long panel, while the judges liked the image they did not know how they could use it in their marketing campaigns and it was a difficult shape to work with.

I hope someone finds these little bits of information useful, not just when applied to this competition but with other day to day situations. To me the most valuable thing about entering these competitions is that you learn from them. You can gain experiences from the most unexpected of places.

Good luck everyone!

Rich