Chatterton feedback

I have spent the last few weeks working on the Thomas Chatterton Memorial painting and sent it to the judges before varnishing in case any changes needed to be made. I was optimistic at this point as I feel it's technically one of my best pieces, and by far superior to the digital rough.

Sadly they were not entirely satisfied with my rendition from digital to large acrylic painting, which is understandable as it isn't an exact copy of the mock-up and expectations can be hard to predict. I also think I am somewhat hampered by everything being on screen at the moment, as the judges cannot see the physical difference between this and a rough digital sketch.

I have a list of changes which I will make over the coming week, and will then report back to the judges with my progress. I am sure expectations can be met with a few rounds of changes.

Chatterton Memorial Win!

I am extremely excited to be told that I have won the Chatterton Memorial Prize Competition I entered last month. On top of that, the judges comments were overwhelming in their positivity - leaving me with the rather daunting task of producing the finished acrylic artwork by the end of January. The Judges comments are below:

Thomas Chatterton Memorial Prize Art Competition

Comments on the artwork of Tin K. Stanton

Judge 1

This is a strikingly original and powerful response to the Henry Wallis painting by substituting a female for a male, a young black woman instead of a young white man and a living person instead of a cadaver. It speaks to where we are today in Bristol with the advent of Black Lives Matter and the toppling of the Colston statue. The picture has an intimacy as if we are peering into the room. I welcome the suggestion by the artist that the student who is depicted should be studying books relating to Chatterton. I am impressed by the quality of the design and paintwork and feel that this is a very worthy winner.

Judge 2

I love this! It’s an imaginative reinvention of the scene from Chatterton’s window but this time Redcliffe church in the background. It’s transposed to a young girl of today who is also a dreamer wishing to escape the constraints of her social circumstances. I think will speak to younger generations about what Chatterton’s imaginative vision might mean for them. The fact the young woman pictured might herself be descended from those enslaved by Bristol merchants connects up well with current preoccupations about Bristol’s history It’s also well executed and I love the colours. The contestant articulated their own rationale well. For me, this is the winner!

Judge 3

This is a really effective and actually rather touching play on the Wallis painting of Chatterton which, as T. Stanton says in an excellent text, brings the image into the present “to tell a story beyond his lifetime; of continued romanticism and inclusive opportunities”.

It really works, conceptually - bringing an optimistic young woman of colour into the context of a famous painting of Chatterton’s tragic death to make a totally different point that reverberates back to Chatterton’s own life and political investments Stylistically, the image itself is also most effective as it is, capturing a light modern, touch, so different from the heavy, ‘realist’ detail of Wallis’s style. This conveys the sense of a more open and better future which we are aiming for and which meets the brief. I would advise against working it up much at all and maybe keeping it smaller than the 1 meter suggested.

Well done – it’s a lovely piece of work.

'Wings' book cover painting finished

This acrylic painting on canvas (90cmx60cm) took a week or so to get to a stage where the client could see its progress and comment on changes. Communication throughout the process isn't always possible, but it does help to keep the painting on track.

As you can see the painting retains the original elements from the digital mock-up but with more detail and richness.