Pastel 100 Art Competition
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26th Annual Pastel 100 Art Competition
Pastel Journal and Artists Network are pleased to present our 26th Annual Pastel 100 art competition! Don’t miss the opportunity to win cash prizes, premium art materials from our amazing sponsors, and publication in a magazine with a worldwide audience of passionate artists and pastel enthusiasts. Enter today for your chance to step into the pastel limelight!
ENTRY FEES ARE DUE WITH ENTRIES. YOUR RECORD OF THE CREDIT CARD OR PAYPAL CHARGE WILL BE YOUR RECEIPT.
Super Early Bird Deadline – June 18, 2024
Artists Network Members: $15 and Non-Members: $25
Early Bird Deadline – July 30, 2024
Artists Network Members: $25 and Non-Members: $35
EXTENDED Final Deadline – September 17, 2024
Artists Network Members: $30 and Non-Members: $40
If you’d like to take advantage of membership pricing, become an Artists Network member today!
THIS IS NOT A GAME OF CHANCE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
- To enter, visit our online entry portal to log in or register for a free account.
- You can save your progress as you go and return anytime to make edits to your entries.
- This art contest is open to all artists around the world age 18 years or older.
- If you are a member, you will be asked to provide the email address associated with your Artists Network membership. Sign up today to save on entry fees!
- Upload your entry details and image(s). There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit. You are able to edit your entries until the final deadline.
5 CATEGORIES
5 GRAND WINNERS
First Place
$3000
Pastel Journal‘s Founder’s Award in Honor of Maggie Price
Second Place
$2000
Pastel Journal Award of Excellence
Third Place
$1500
Gold Award Winner
Fourth Place
$1000
Silver Award Winner
Fifth Place
$750
Bronze Award Winner
CATEGORY WINNERS
5 First Place Category Winners
$500 worth of Terry Ludwig Pastels
Five First Place Winners, one in each category, will receive $500 worth of Terry Ludwig products to be redeemed as a digital gift card on TerryLudwig.com.
5 Second Place Category Winners
$200 worth of Sennelier Pastels
Five Second Place Winners, one in each category, will receive $200 worth of Sennelier Pastels sponsored by MacPherson’s Art. The set offers 36 full-size soft pastels in a beautiful walnut wood box.
5 Third Place Category Winners
$175 worth of Holbein Pastels
Five Third Place Winners, one in each category, will receive $150 worth of Holbein Pastels sponsored by Holbein.
5 Fourth Place Category Winners
$125 worth of PanPastels
Five Fourth Place Winners, one in each category, will receive $125 worth of PanPastels sponsored by Golden Paints. Winners will receive a certificate, which they may redeem for either a “Choice of 15 Colors Gift Certificate” or for a PanPastel 20 Color box set.
OTHER PRIZES & AWARDS
70 Honorable Mention Winners
One-Year ArtistsNetwork.com Membership
All Grand Prize winners, Category winners PLUS seventy (70) Honorable Mention winners will each receive a one-year Artists Network Membership ($99.99 value).
All Award Winners
Publication in Pastel Journal
All Grand Prize winners, Category winners and Honorable Mention winners will have their names and winning artwork featured in the Spring 2025 issue of Pastel Journal and on ArtistsNetwork.com, and receive a digital award-winner badge.
THE JURY
Brenda Boylan
Landscape + Interior
Brenda Boylan is a West Coast native and graduate of California Polytechnic State in Applied Art and Design. She began her creative career as a sportswear graphic designer for NIKE. Unfulfilled by this path, she launched into fine art painting and never looked back. Boylan’s color-filled pastels have earned her Master recognition with the Pastel Society of America, Master Circle status in the International Association of Pastel Societies, and Signature membership in the American Impressionist Society and the Northwest Pastel Society. She has served as a featured pastel instructor for the Plein Air Convention and Expos, and her work has been featured in a variety of art publications, including a cover story in Pastel Journal.
Ilene Gienger-Stanfield
Portrait + Figure
Ilene Gienger-Stanfield is an award-winning painter well known for her figurative compositions that are powerful in design with rich passages of color. Most recently she was awarded Best of Show in the Northwest Pastel Society’s 37th International Open Show. Gienger-Stanfield has earned Signature status in the Pastel Society of America, American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of America and Northwest Pastel Society, and Master Signature membership in Women Artists of the West. She’s currently represented by JGO Gallery, in Bainbridge Island, Washington; McBride Gallery, in Annapolis, Maryland; and Favell Museum, in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Daniel J. Keys
Still Life + Floral
Artist Daniel J. Keys started painting at the age of 11 and was largely self-trained until eventually enjoying the mentorship of the late Richard Schmid. After working in oils for many years and earning numerous awards, including the Portrait Society of America’s Draper Grand Prize Award in 2018, Keys took up pastel painting and now alternates between the two media. He established himself quickly in the world of pastel with a successful one-man show and a feature in Pastel Journal (Fall 2022) as well as awards in juried exhibitions with the International Association of Pastel Societies and the Pastel Society of America. His work has appeared in numerous art publications and is part of prominent collections throughout North America, Europe and Russia.
Julie Freeman
Animal + Wildlife
Julie Freeman is a self-taught artist from New Zealand with a passion for realism, using a combination of soft pastels and pastel pencils. The award-winning artist is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Artists of New Zealand and the Pastel Society of Australia, a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, and a Master Circle artist in the International Association of Pastel Societies. Freeman paints a variety of subject matter, including the natural flora of New Zealand, as well as coastal and nautical themes. More recently, she has been exploring still life, but her favorite subject will always be animals and wildlife.
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Diana Sanford
Abstract + Non-Objective
Diana Sanford is a Signature member of the Northwest Pastel Society and the Pastel Society of America, who has won honors in four Pastel 100 competitions over the years, including the Pastel Silver Award in 2011, and the Pastel Bronze in 2016. She has a B.A. in Painting and an M.S. in Clinical Psychology. For 32 years she maintained a practice in psychotherapy, retiring in 2020, while also maintaining an art practice, painting in both oil and pastel. Combining her interests in neurobiology and art has led to Sanford’s unique workshop, JAM Session!, which focuses on the process and experience of painting. A handbook for the workshop is now available on her website.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Founder’s Award in Memory of Maggie Price
New Human
By Jia Wei
Jia Wei commingles imagination, technology and a mastery of traditional techniques in New Human (pastel on Pastelmat, 39½ x27½ ) — selected by the Pastel journal editorial team for the Founder’s Award.
Award of Excellence
Retrospect
By Sara Gallagher
Sara Gallagher plumbs the depths of a woman’s fragmented memories and inner landscape in this winning, contemplative portrait (graphite and PanPastel on paper, 28×28).
Gold Award
Plaster Room
By Yang Zhao
Yang Zhao strays from his usual bright hues and figural subjects to create an award-winning interior shrouded in nuance (pastel on paper, 40×32).
Silver Award
Hong Kong Boats
By Andrew McDermott
In a piece offering a visual symphony of color, light and meticulous brushwork, Andrew McDermott invites us into an enchanting world with his award-winning waterside scene (pastel on paper, 15×23).
Bronze Award
Jim Scott’s Garden
By Nancy King Mertz
This garden scene by Nancie King Mertz captures timeless serenity set amidst lush flora and foliage (pastel on paper, 23×15).
FAQs
QImportant notice about our NEW online entry system:
As of March 2024, we have transitioned to a new online entry system for all Artists Network competitions. We will no longer be using Submittable to manage our contests.
If you’ve previously entered an Artists Network competition via Submittable, you will still have access to your account and entry records when you log in to the Submittable platform.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at [email protected].
QWhat types of artwork are acceptable?
The contest is open to artists working in a variety of pastel. Work must be at least 80% soft pastel; no oil pastel. Nupastels and other “harder” pastels are considered soft pastels.
Photography, except for minor elements incorporated in a collage, will NOT be considered. Sculpture will NOT be considered. Digital art will NOT be considered. Entries are limited to two-dimensional artwork. Two-dimensional means that a mixed media cannot exceed one inch in depth.
QOriginal artwork and Artificial Intelligence (AI) guidelines:
All works must be original. “Original” means that the work must be from the hand of a single artist; pieces that originate from a workshop or a class under the direction of a teacher are not eligible. For works based on reference photographs, eligibility requires that the artist must have taken the photographs or have obtained written permission from the photographer to create the work and to enter it in the Contest. Compositions based on published material or other artists’ work are NOT considered original and are not eligible.
Artwork or reference imagery generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will NOT be considered.
QWhy is my entry still “In Progress”?
In order to officially enter your image into the jurying pool, you must hit “Submit Entry” during the entry process. This will place your image in the cart so that you may pay and complete your entry.
QWhat do I do if I make a mistake in my entry?
You may edit your entries up until the closing deadline of a contest.
OUR PARTNERS & SPONSORS
Click here for the official Rules and Eligibility details for the 26th Annual Pastel 100.
