The Gordon Harris Online Watercolour Competition 2018

This is our annual online competition. Members email a digital image of a painting done during the last year.

42 works were submitted in all manner of subjects and styles. The images were sent
to the judges who then conferred by email and phone. They selected these winning paintings:

1st place: 'Auckland Viaduct, Studio Greys' by Amanda Brett
2nd place: 'Waikato river' by Bernadette Parsons
3rd place: 'Parnell at Twilight' by Ginette Wang

The Online Competition Peoples Choice Award

For the first time we have run an online voting system for a Peoples Choice Award sponsored by Gordon
Harris Ltd. Voting was open to members, friends and family and anyone interested in watercolour paintings.

518 people took the opportunity to study the entries, discuss them and cast their vote. The new online aspect appealed to young artists.

The first and second placings are young mothers grabbing moments to paint while tending to children. Both are in small towns Otorohanga and Oamaru.

The sponsors, Gordon Harris Ltd are delighted with the response for this new award.

1st place: 'Tonis Fur Babies' by Rebecca Ngapo of Otorohanga
2nd place: 'Eager Eye' by Tracey Vickers of Oamaru
3rd place: 'Auckland Viaduct studio greys' by Amanda Brett



Winner of the Gordon Harris Online Watercolour Competition 2018

"Auckland Viaduct, Studio Greys" by Amanda Brett

Judges comments : Rigging and ironwork combine to form an interesting arrangement of shapes on the
paper against a backdrop of soft greys. Its a clever demonstration of how the use of imagination can turn an unlikely subject into a good picture.

Amanda: I started with a thumbnail value drawing,
then applied a simplified sketch to my watercolour
paper.

Painting in en plein air style i.e. top down,
I started with mixes of greys (phthalocyanine blue,
alizarin crimson and burnt sienna), warmer hues gradating
into cooler and sometimes painting with clean
water, all this around planned whites.

Once the shine had left the paper I splashed in some light value spatter and continued to paint stronger washes. For parts of the office and fishing boat I used colour straight from the tube. I painted in some dark figures and scrubbed out some lighter value shapes.

While the paper was still damp I had the freedom of soft edges and more spatter.
I started to add accents of raw sienna, cerulean blue and
splashes of white gouache.

When it was close to dry, I made some final hard edges and added calligraphy marks to seal the deal.