By Ron Cowie, Senior Education Officer in Express Arts at Education Scotland.
Ever dreamed of yourself as Britain’s next great artist? Well, now is your chance to put your artistic skills to the test.
Well-known artist and playwright, John Byrne, is inviting children and young people in schools across Scotland, from P4 – S3, to take part in the first annual John Byrne Drawing Competition, which was officially launched on Friday 5 December 2014.
The aim of the competition is to encourage children and young people from P4 – S3 to increase the amount of time they spend drawing in school and at home. The competition also aims to encourage you to be imaginative and creative and really enjoy drawing!
You don’t have to follow a particular theme but John has suggested ‘A day in my life’ as a possible theme for those who want some inspiration. The drawing can be of any size but you might want to consider the size and weight if your school is going to send it in the post. You can use any kind of drawing materials but an important requirement is that your work can clearly be identified as a drawing, as this is the basis on which your work will be judged.
John Byrne was born and raised in Paisley, attending St Mirin’s Academy before becoming a student at the Glasgow School of Art. He began his career designing covers for Penguin books before moving on to designing sets for his plays and then record covers for the likes of The Beatles. An exhibition of John’s work was recently held at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
If you are lucky enough to be one of the three winners, you will receive one of the following prizes, as well as having your drawing included in an exhibition at Paisley Museum, alongside artwork by John, from the museum’s collection.
- 1st prize – Limited edition full colour print “Moonstruck” by John Byrne and £100 voucher for art materials.
- 2nd prize- Limited edition black and white print ‘Lost and Hungry’ by John Byrne and a £50 book token.
- 3rd prize – £50 voucher for art materials.
- 30 runners-up will receive a certificate specially designed by John.
Entries must be received by Friday 6th March 2015 before 4pm. All entries should be posted or handed in to Education Scotland at either their Glasgow or Dundee office. Entries must be submitted through your school, with only one piece of work per pupil. On the back of the drawing you should include your name, class, teacher, school address and phone number to be eligible to win. If you’d like your entry returned, please include a stamped addressed envelope with your entry.
The winners will be decided by a judging panel including John Byrne himself. The winning entries will be announced on Education Scotland’s learning blog by 5pm on Friday 27th March 2015.
Further information and details of the terms & conditions for the competition are available here.
