Yes. I heard your cries! Yes, I’ll be your radical rebel. I drew a simple diagram to explain what winners have done before (an artist, oil on canvas, portrait shape etc.) and what would be unusual. By my count a rebel would pick one or two unusual things. A radical rebel might pick three or four..?

So now I need your help deciding which parts of my work should be radically rebellious?

• In subject
• In shape & size
• In colours
• In materials
• In style

The complete series 'How to win the Archibald Prize'

Sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of this page to follow my adventures (and for your chance to win my original art on a t-shirt or original print)

Follow me on facebook

Here’s my next question. Should my painting be 1) conventional 2) rebel 3) radical rebel?

(Please write your suggestion in the comments below)

I’ve shared what previous victors did to win the Archibald (basically a very large oil painting of an artist in a colourful in a realistic or expressionist style).

Art, however is for the rulebreakers. Think Monet with his dabs of paint and Picasso with his square shapes that changed what people thought was ‘good’. So too the Archibald has had its renegades. William Dobell in 1943 won with a famous caricature that broke convention.  Brett Whiteley in 1976 shocked with his self portrait (a reflection in a hand mirror in his studio surrounded by personal objects).

So what should my approach be?

And in which trait? a) materials b) subject c) size/shape d) colour e) style

The complete series 'How to win the Archibald Prize'

Sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of this page to follow my adventures (and for your chance to win my original art on a t-shirt or original print)

Follow me on facebook

Okay, so I'm going to paint an entry for the Archibald Prize in just 52 days time. Seems simple? You’d be surprised. And that's just the start. But as they say, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

Here are 5 important choices we need to make to begin eating our elephant:

• What materials to use?
• Who to paint?
• What size and shape (think square, portrait, landscape...or something else)
• What colours to use?
• What style to paint in?

What do most winners do?

Here’s a little background.

Medium: Oil on canvas is the dominant choice of Archibald winners with it being used more than ¾ of the time, acrylic is a poor cousin (last year’s winner used them and 5 before that) while watercolour has won a single time. Yes, history is written by the oil painters.

Subject: Since 1921 artists have been the subject ⅓ of the time, a bunch have been authors, actors and politicians. On the other hand there has been a single sportsman, rabbi or banker.

Size: Size is kind of a big deal for winners over the past twenty years with an average of 3.5 square metres. The 2010 winner however was 60 x 38 cm. Maybe it was noticed because of its petiteness?

Colour:  It captures the eye and attention. Moody brown and dark tones were the zeitgeist of the early decades but now bold, vibrant colours dominate.

Style: Ah, what’s in a style? Your answer to the question ‘Was Picasso any good?’ will determine your style preference. Realism has been a dominant style because it replicates what we see with the naked eye. Expressionist works, expressing emotion or meaning rather rather physical reality but impressionist pieces have been quite prominent with their emphasis on mood and light. Poor old surrealism and post-modernism with just 7 wins between them. Pop art, art deco, cubism or stuckism, superflat, super stroke, alter modernism are all zero.

So there they are. The 5 choices we need to make first.

Let me know your thoughts. Next we have a twist.

The complete series 'How to win the Archibald Prize'

Sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of this page to follow my adventures (and for your chance to win my original art on a t-shirt or original print)

Follow me on facebook

Dear lovely person reading this now,

I need YOUR help today. Yes, you. The one with the dreamy eyes reading this…(here’s a clue: we might change a small part of history together).

Here’s why. The Archibald prize is the most famous art award in the Australian art world. But it’s ways are mysterious. Like a furious tempest that dances to its own tune, who wins the Archibald prize and how they win is a maze surrounded by a labyrinth within a giant puzzle.  Or is it?

Today I embark on a 2 month journey (with my long time collaborator, fellow artist Grant Burrow) to find out how to win the Archibald Portrait Prize. With each tick of the watch face (or sundial if that’s your thing) YOU and I are a moment closer to June 26.

But why is it such a mystery? With so many choices to make (think style, subject, colours, size, medium and approach) it’s daunting, which is why I need your help.

Over coming days you’re going to help me decide each step of the way (like a fly on the wall or HG Wells’ invisible man) the sort of painting I will create and why.

But to start, let’s take a closer look at the interesting history of the Archibald Prize.

The award started in 1921 for the best portrait ‘...preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia during the 12 months preceding...' and quickly became coveted by artists not only for the money but the exposure it could bring. In its early years the winners were characterised by realistic portraits in brown tones of prominent social figures. All very staid and predictable of course, until William Dobell in 1943 won by painting a caricature of fellow artist Joshua Smith - a rebellious departure.

Through the controversy William defended himself by explaining he was ‘trying to create something, instead of copying something’.

That might have been an epoch as artists continued to push conventional boundaries right to this day where expression of the subject’s ‘inner self’ is foremost.

But why why does it pickpocket the key to the public’s imagination each year? Famous people or controversy maybe. But maybe you have a different idea?

In the next few days YOU and I have some choices to make together.  In the meantime I have a small favour.  I would be so grateful it you shared this link your most loved friends, family, Prime Minister / President or billionaire moguls.  You can also stay in the loop of my adventure by subscribing to my Newsletter below.

Next I’ll talk to you about the 6 choices we have to make. Stay tuned.

The complete series 'How to win the Archibald Prize'

Sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of this page to follow my adventures (and for your chance to win my original art on a t-shirt or original print)

Follow me on facebook