Draw-a-Dog!

In celebration of the launch of The Dog Show  by Catherine Rayner, we announced the art competition ‘Draw-a-Dog’, inviting children across Oxfordshire to have a go at drawing their own doggy character, be it real, imaginary or even a favourite toy! Children had the chance to win some fantastic prizes, including a virtual reading session for two winners and their whole class at school.

The drawings were judged by Catherine Rayner herself; by Allyson Austin, a practicing artist and director of Sunningwell School of Art, and by Mychael Barratt, an artist and printmaker – who happens to be very well-known for his series on artists’ dogs. Mychael is also formerly the president of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers.

Overall, we received over two hundred drawings from children across Oxfordshire; After a lengthy discussion on Zoom, the judges selected two winners, four runners-up and an additional three ‘highly commended’ drawings, with each judge selecting one drawing as their personal favourite.

All agreed that all the drawings we received were all of an exceptional standard.

Here at Sarah Wiseman Gallery, Draw-a-Dog has been one of our favourite projects to date. Each day we opened the Draw-a-Dog inbox it brought a smile - we were so impressed, and in some instances, deeply moved by the children’s drawings; we’ve also received messages from parents about how excited their children were to take part. Thanks to all who took the time to send us a drawing; we hope that you’ll be feeling inspired to keep making art – the world needs young artists more than ever! 

So, without further ado, here are the winning entries:

Winner 4-7 Age category: Zitong Zhang

Winner 8-11 Age Category: Joseph Hill

Runners up 4-7 Age Category Beatrice Barradell Smith and Oskar Nyström 

Runners up 8-11 Age category: Taliyah Igweh and Sophia Stewart

Highly commended:

Victoria Krebs (Chosen by Allyson Pullen)

Katherine Li (Chosen by Mychael Barratt)

Otto Parker (Chosen by Catherine Rayner)

 Congratulations to all of you!

All nine children came along to the launch day of The Dog Show with their families and were presented with prizes by Catherine Rayner. It was a lovely afternoon and such a joy to see such excited faces. All the winners’ drawings have been framed and installed in the gallery as part of the exhibition – we hope you’ll come along and see them!

 Finally, our sincere thanks to our judges: Allyson Austin, Mychael Barratt and Catherine Rayner for doing such a sterling job choosing our winners. It was not an easy task, involving a near-four hour discussion on Zoom whilst viewing the entries. Thank you all for your time, generosity and expertise.