Spring-time at the marsh - Green-winged Teal

By Pierre Girard

Wildlife Habitat Canada held an art competition in the fall of 2009 to choose the image that will be used for the 2011 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print.  An announcement will be made regarding the winner at a future date.

An art competition will be held in the fall of 2010 to select the image to be used on the 2012 Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print. The eligible migratory bird for the 2012 Art Competition will be the Blue-winged Teal. Although the art competition is by invitation only, Wildlife Habitat Canada welcomes new artists that may be interested in competing. For new artists wishing to participate in the competition, please contact our Stamp & Print Product Coordinator.

Art Competition Rules

Participation in the art competition is by invitation only. Artwork samples should be digital colour images that depict birds in their natural habitats and should be emailed to our Stamp & Print Product Coordinator, or be 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.

Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print Competition Rules for Artists

1. Artist Eligibility

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

Members of the art 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 eligible species for the 2012 Art Competition is the Blue-winged Teal.

The species that have been previously featured in the 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)
• Lesser Scaup (2009)
• Green-winged Teal (2010)

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 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 section 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

Size
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 Wildlife Habitat 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 an original multi-coloured painting in the artist's choice of medium (no reproductions).

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, Wildlife Habitat Canada will provide the appropriate display format.

4. Entry Fee

The entry fee for the art competition is to be determined.

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 of:

• anatomical and habitat accuracy as depicted in breeding plumage and season;
• artistic composition;
• originality; and
• technical suitability for reproduction as a Wildlife Habitat 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; and technical suitability for reproduction as a stamp and a lithograph print. Those entries deemed acceptable will move on to the Second Stage. Details will be sought from the judges pertaining to the unsuitability of the image for the Stamp for those entries that are deemed to be unacceptable, for the provision of feedback to the artists.

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 (3 points maximum)

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

Artistic Criteria (4 points maximum)

1. does the painting present a fresh perspective?
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 (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 165.1 mm high x 228.6 mm wide (6 1/2" high x 9" wide) Print and to the 30 mm high x 48 mm wide (1 1/4" high x 2" wide) 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. The highest and the lowest scores for each entry will be eliminated, and the remaining scores will be totaled to indicate the score for that entry. Entries receiving the four highest total scores will then advance to the final round of judging. Again, details will be sought from the judges for those entries that do not proceed to the final round, for the provision of feedback to the artists.

Third Stage:

In the Third Stage of judging, the judges will openly discuss and debate the merits of each of the paintings that have advanced from the Second Stage. The judges will then come to a consensus on the best painting for the Wildlife Habitat Conservation 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 as the image of the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp and Print Program, Wildlife Habitat Canada reserves the right to commission an artist of its choice.

For more information about the art competition, please contact our Stamp & Print Product Coordinator.