Welcome to Women in Watercolor’s blog newsletter, Women in Watercolor Working Together!
Monthly Featured Members
Instead of featuring just one member this month, we are going to feature a few!
The WIW Members Only Exhibition is open for entry RIGHT NOW and here is a sneak peak of a few of the amazing entries from our members.
Remember
- The 1st Annual Women in Watercolor Members Only Online International Exhibition 2024 is OPEN FOR ENTRY NOW through January 8, 2024.
- Any Women in Watercolor Member is welcome to enter the Members Only Exhibition. This is a non-juried online only show.
- Don’t forget to join our WIW membership before you enter the show.
- Please Note: The entry rules for our Members Only Non-Juried Exhibition are different than those of our International Juried Competition. Please read the FULL prospectus on the website carefully before entering.
- Major Differences: Painting must be painted PRIMARILY with watercolor. (You can use other mediums as well.) You DO NOT have to paint from your own reference photo.
Become a WIW Member NOW so you don’t miss out!
See More Information on the website: https://womeninwatercolor.com/
Members Exhibition Sneak Peek
Randy Globus
“Remembrance“
United States
Nicole Deibert
“Cecil“
Canada
Lisa Argentieri
“The Kiss“
United States
Barbara Bodenhausen
“Entre-Lacs“
Switzerland
Mei Kuen Shirley Ng
“City“
Hong Kong
I hope you enjoyed this Sneak Peek of some of the gorgeous work that has been entered so far!
One month left to enter! Full prospectus is on the website.
Enter the Exhibition NOW!
WIW News
Don’t miss out on everything coming up!
WIW Members Only Exhibition
You do not want to miss our FIRST Annual Members Only Exhibition!
This is a non-juried online only members show.
The Prospectus is up on the website!
Join the MAILING LIST at the bottom to get updates!
Entry is OPEN NOW. Entry closes January 8, 2025
Remember to become a WIW Member before you enter!
Tips From the Top
Lynn D. Pratt
How to Crop Your image for the WIW Members Only Exhibition (and other shows)
When you enter an art competition online, most of them have rules for how you need to crop your image and what type of file extension (jpg, png, gif) you have to save it as before you can upload it. I will give you a brief explanation of how to do that. Remember, many people are using different programs to crop images, so some of the steps might be slightly different, but the basic concept is the same. Also, many show rules are different, but most of these conditions apply for all shows.
To enter the WIW Members Only Exhibition, the rules for your uploaded image are:
- Image must be correctly oriented when submitted (vertical or horizontal).
- Show only the image, no frame, mat or border. No people in the image and no watermark on the image. Image must be cropped to show painting only.
No matter what show you enter, you want to make sure the photo of your painting you are submitting does not have any border or frame shown. No person holding the painting up or fingers on the side. You should always photograph your work before you frame it behind glass to get the best image quality and no reflections.
Your image also has to be in the correct orientation. For example, if it’s a vertical painting, make sure the file is saved that way so when someone views the image, they are looking at it correctly.
There should never be a watermark on an image that you are submitting to a show. Watermarks are great for when you post an image online so no one can copy it or repost without giving you credit. This should never be on an image submitted for a show. Your signature that you have painted on the painting is fine, but no editing the image to add something later.
- No digital enhancement is allowed.
No digital enhancement means you can not edit your photograph to make your painting look different than it does in person. Sometimes you have to adjust the contrast or brightness of the photograph you take to make it look like the painting, but don’t edit it to look different than the original. If you have access to a good scanner, it makes it easier so you don’t have much or any editing to do once you capture the image. If that is not an option, do your best to get good even lighting or take it outside on an overcast day, never in direct sunlight.
- Digital Image must be under 1mb in size.
- Allowed file extensions .png, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg.
Image size can be different for many shows. It is very important to get your image to the right size. Too big and it won’t upload; too small, and it uploads, but you submit a grainy image that does not look good. To make sure your image is under 1MB in size (for WIW), you need to crop your image to: 1200 pixels maximum on the longest side. Resolution can be: 72 pixels/inch. This makes your image the perfect size to display on websites and the internet without overloading the site. It makes it clear to view, but not large enough to reproduce if someone copies it off the page. If you are entering another show with a different image size requirement, just make this size larger or smaller, save it, and then look at the saved file to make sure it’s the right size.
If you have photoshop you do this under “Image Size”. Other programs might call it “Resize”. Most basic photo editing software should give you the option of how to save your file and change the size. Make sure you always choose to “Maintain Aspect Ratio” so you do not change the W x H ratio and stretch or distort the image.
Once you make your changes, always choose “Save As”. This way once you make changes to the file, it does not overwrite your initial saved image that is full size on your computer. You will be asked to give it a new name and you can choose where you want it saved on your computer so you can find it. Some shows have strict rules on what to name file; example Last Name_First Name_ Title.jpg. WIW does not have you name the file anything specific to enter, but make sure you check the prospectus you are entering for each show carefully.
I hope this helps give you the basic understanding of how to get your image ready to enter an online show or competition. Good luck!
See more about Lynn D. Pratt and follow her on Social Media!
Meet More Members
Here are a few more members we would like to introduce you to this month! Click on their social media links to see more of their work.
Don’t forget to check out our Members Gallery to see work from ALL of our amazing members. If you are not a member yet, and would like to join us, CLICK HERE for more info!
Eileen Hennemann
Canada
Linda Renaud
USA
Silvia Trad
Brazil
Don’t Miss Out
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Edited by Lynn D. Pratt
Women in Watercolor was created to help encourage, support, and promote the outstanding women that are working in this medium on an international level.
Through online competitions, and in-person events we will work together to build each other up, learn from each other and increase our individual and overall success.
Thank you for supporting the Women in Watercolor!
Lynn D. Pratt
