CONSERVATION STAMPS - ART COMPETITION RULES
 
 

Wildlife Habitat Canada typically hosts an Art Competition in the fall of each year to select the image for the Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp for the following year.

Wildlife Habitat Canada (WHC) held an art competition in mid-October 2007 to select the image that will be used for the 2008 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print program. WHC is currently discussing with Environment Canada the details of a new contribution agreement and arrangements for the stamp program beyond the 2007/08 fiscal year. Information on the holding of an art competition in 2008 for the 2009 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp will be based on the resulting stamp contribution agreement and program arrangements (information will be available on this web page when the stamp contribution agreement and program arrangements are finalized).

For any questions regarding the art competition, please contact Pauline Fitchett.

Art Competition Rules

Participation in the art competition is by invitation only. Canadian artists who are interested in participating in the art competition must provide WHC with samples of their artwork. Artwork samples should be digital colour images that depict birds in their natural habitats and should be emailed to Pauline Fitchett or available for viewing on artists’ websites. A panel of judges will review the artwork samples to determine artists’ eligibility to participate in the art competition. Information regarding the deadline for artists to submit an art competition painting to WHC for the 2009 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print program will be available once the stamp contribution agreement and program arrangements are finalized.

Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print Competition Rules for Artists

1. Artist Eligibility

Canadian citizens and landed immigrants are eligible to participate at the invitation of Wildlife Habitat Canada. Persons who have won the competition, or those who were commissioned to produce a conservation stamp painting during the preceding three (3) years, are ineligible to submit an entry in the current year's competition.

Members of the competition judging panel, employees and members of the Board of Directors of Wildlife Habitat Canada, employees of the Federal Department of the Environment or Members of Parliament and their immediate families and relatives are ineligible to submit an entry.

2. Subject Matter of Submissions

The painting must portray one (1) waterfowl species in its breeding plumage and natural habitat, that is commonly found in Canada. The species that have not been featured in our program to date and that are the only eligible birds for the art competition for the 2009 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print program are:

Common merganser
American wigeon
Barrow's goldeneye
Black scoter
American woodcock
American coot
Red-breasted merganser
Green-wing teal
Greater scaup
Surf scoter
Blue-wing teal
Lesser scaup
Oldsquaw
White-winged scoter
White-fronted goose.

The species previously featured in our program and not eligible for the art competition for the 2009 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print program are:

Mallard (1985, 2004)
Canvasback (1986)
Canada goose (1987)
Pintail (1988)
Snow goose (1989)
Wood duck (1990)
Black duck (1991)
Common eider (1992)
Hooded merganser (1993)
Ross' geese (1994)
Redhead (1995)
Common goldeneye (1996)
Gadwall (1997)
Ringnecked duck (1998)
Bufflehead (1999)
Sandhill crane (2000)
Harlequin (2001, 2005)
King eider (2002)
Northern shoveler (2003)
Brant goose (2006)
Wilson's snipe (2007)
Ruddy duck (2008).

As this is a Wildlife Habitat Conservation Program, habitat must be clearly defined. A landscape design must be incorporated into the painting along with the traditional image of the waterfowl in its breeding plumage. Depending on the composition of the winning painting, the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp could be designed in one of two formats. The entire painting may be used to create the stamp, or the waterfowl may be cropped from the painting image to create the stamp. If the entire painting is used, the waterfowl should be well enough defined that the detail will not be lost upon miniaturization. If the waterfowl are cropped from the entire image to create the stamp there still should be some element of habitat clearly visible in the cropped portion. With either stamp format, the Limited Edition Prints will be created from the entire painting image. The species (1) selected by the artist MUST BE painted in accurate anatomical proportions and detail.

As the primary purpose of the painting is the production of the Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp, the painting must be painted in such a way that the painting (or the cropped portion of the painting) can effectively be reduced to stamp size (see size below). This is the most common reason for elimination of a painting from the competition by the judges. Submissions that are dark, busy, or have low contrast, will not reduce effectively to stamp size as they can lose their clarity and detail when reduced.

3. Technical Requirements for Invited Submissions

The painting must be a horizontal design. The acceptable size is 400 mm high x 600 mm wide (16" high x 24" wide). As mentioned above, there can be two formats for the Conservation Stamp. Either the whole painting may be used for the image of the stamp or a portion of the complete painting, which includes the waterfowl component of the entire painting, will be cropped, and will become the Conservation Stamp. The entire painting will become the Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Print. If appropriate, submissions will allow for typography in English and French to be incorporated as part of the image. Submissions must be properly proportioned to accommodate the following reproduction sizes:

    • Limited Edition Print: 165.1 mm high x 228.6 mm wide (6 1/2" high x 9" wide)
    • Conservation Stamp: 30 mm high x 48 mm wide (1 1/4" high x 2" wide)

Medium
Entries must be multi-coloured and may be painted in the artist's choice of medium.

Identification
NO signature, date or initials may appear on the face of the painting. A number assigned by Wildlife Habitat Canada will identify each entry. The winning submission will be returned to the winning artist immediately following the Competition to be signed and returned to Wildlife Habitat Canada.

Framing
Artists are requested to submit their paintings UNFRAMED. In the event of a public exhibit of the competition entries, WHC will provide the appropriate display format.

4. Entry Fee

There is no entry fee for the art competition for the 2009 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print program.

5. Competition Judging

A minimum of five independent judges, one of which will be an ornithologist, will be selected by Wildlife Habitat Canada and Environment Canada to serve without compensation except for reasonable transportation and accommodation expenses.

Entries will be judged on the basis

  • anatomical and habitat accuracy as depicted in breeding plumage and season;
  • artistic composition;
  • originality; and
  • technical suitability for reproduction as a Conservation stamp and a lithograph print.

There will be three scoring stages:

First Stage:
Judges will view each entry, one at a time, to determine those which meet the basic requirements of: anatomic and habitat accuracy; artistic composition; originality; technical suitability for reproduction as a stamp and a lithograph print. Those entries deemed acceptable will be moved to the second stage. Those entries deemed unacceptable will require details pertaining to the unsuitability of the image for the stamp.

Second Stage:
Each painting found acceptable in the First Stage of judging will be displayed, one at a time, for the judges. Judges may discuss aspects of each painting using the following Rating Criteria and Point Allocations:

Biological Criteria/rule (3 points maximum)

      1. accuracy of species' anatomy
      2. accuracy of habitat component

Artistic Criteria/rule (4 points maximum)

      1. does the painting present
      2. rate the use of light, colour, technique and form
      3. rate how realistically the painting presents the subject
      4. is the level of detail appropriate and consistent?
 

Appeal Criteria/rule (3 points maximum)

  1. will the subsequent print appeal to a wide audience including hunters and wildlife art collectors?
  2. will the painting itself reproduce well to the 6 1/2" x 9" print and to the 1 1/4" x 2" conservation stamp, bearing in mind that the stamp could feature a section of the painting only?
         

    Each judge will vote, scoring each entry from 0 to 10. One highest and one lowest score for each entry will be eliminated and the remaining scores will be totalled to indicate the score for that entry. Entries receiving the four highest scores will then advance to the final round of judging.

       

    Third Stage:

    In the Third Stage of judging the judges will openly discuss and debate the merits of each of the paintings that advanced from the Second Stage. The judges will then come to a consensus on the best painting for the stamp and print program.

    If the judges cannot come to a consensus, all judges will vote on the deadlocked entries using one vote each for the entries believed to be the most qualified to win. At their discretion, the judges may choose up to three runners-up. The Judges' decisions will be final. In the event that the judges, in their collective opinion, do not find a submission suitable for selection, Wildlife Habitat Canada reserves the right to commission an artist of its choice.

For more information about the art competition, please contact Pauline Fitchett.