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To all who sent entries for Splash 12:



I would like to personally thank all of you for making Splash into a wonderful forum for the community of watercolorists. This especially includes those of you whose work was not selected for this edition, as well as those of you who were included. It takes, as they say, a village. I am continually amazed at the quality of work of so many of our entries. There is obviously a passion for watercolor that is strong and sustained. It is always a very difficult task to choose from among so many good paintings, especially when I can tell how much heart has gone into nearly all of them.



Our judging process goes something like this: The editorial staff at North Light Books views all of the entries and narrows down the number to a mere several hundred for me. I then view the ones that are left — this year about 400–500 out of over 1600. The images come to me in one of three format: online, on disc or on good old 35mm slides.



I select images I really like to make a list of semi-finalists. My criteria include basics such as good drawing skills, composition and color handling, as well as the very important element of originality. This is hard to describe, but easy to spot. Sometimes it could be a different point of view or unusual subject. Other times a common subject like a close-up flower portrait just looks fresh.



Once I have the semi-finalists narrowed down, I go through them many times again selecting the “must haves” and eliminating those that don’t hold up to multiple viewings. At this stage of the process, I am looking for those that will complement the book’s theme and each other, as well as the aforementioned criteria. I want a variety of subjects and a variety of styles. Occasionally, I find a new artist (new to Splash, that is) whose work really excites me and I may select several by the same artist, but this is unusual. Generally, I like to include as many artists as possible for variety. The last several decisions are definitely the hardest.



So that’s the basic rundown of how the selection process works. If you have any questions, please direct them to the comments section. Thank you again for your continued interest and generosity in the Splash series. Watercolorists are some of the nicest and most colorful people I know! (That should be a bumper sticker!) For now it’s back to work on Splash 12.



Best Wishes,



Rachel Rubin Wolf



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Six documents were emailed out to each of the Splash 12 winners last night. Please check your email and let me know if you have trouble opening any of the files. A few of you can expect the information in the mail next week.



Have a great weekend everybody!



Sarah

Dear Splash 12 Winners,



Just a quick heads up. We have made the decision to email the winner information this year instead of snail mail. You can expect the info (about six documents) to be sent out in the next couple of days. I’ll also let you know which of your work(s) we accepted. There are a few of you without email addresses, so you’ll receive the info via the USPS.



Thanks for cooperating with our efforts to save paper! If you have any trouble opening any of the forms, please let me know.



Best,



Sarah



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Splash 11 is now available for pre-order on northlightshop.com for $22.99! Free shipping on orders over $25.







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Congratulations to the 100 artists selected to appear in Splash 12: Celebrating Artistic Vision! As always, the judging committee had a big pair of boots to fill in narrowing down the field from thousands of excellent entries. A sincere thank you to all who submitted artwork for this year’s contest.



Cindy Agan

Gloria Ainsworth Mout

Kathleen Alexander

Ruth Arthur

Frances Ashley

Linda Baker

Sally Baker

Deena S. Ball

Susan Baresel

Cindy Bernhard

Sandra Blair

Anne van Blarcom Kurowski

Rached Bohsali

Francesca Brayton

Josy Britton

Naomi Campbell

Kara Catro

Anne Chaddock

Marguerite Chadwick-Juner

Cheryl Chalmers

Chow Chin Chuan

Kathy Collins

Susan Crouch

Ric Dentinger

Oscar R Dizon

Richard H. Dutton

Sy Ellens

Lynn Ferris

Diane Forest

Nancy Fortunato

Barbara Fox

Dana Fox Jenkins

Jane Freeman

Diane Fujimoto

Henry Fukuhara

Janice Hall

Scott Hartley

Verna Hendricks

Joyce Hicks

Terri Hill

Catherine Hillis

Mary Hopf

Lynn Hosegood

Anne Hudec

Carla Gauthier

Kathie George

Stuart Givot

Ken Goldman

Elizabeth Groves

Lynn Hosegood

Cary Hunkel

Russell Jewell

Bev Jozwiak

Jean Kalin

George Kocar

Andrew Kusmin

Frank Lalumia

Heidi Lang Parrinello

Fealing Lin

Geoffrey McCormack
Laurin McCracken
Michael Allen McGuire

Geraldine McKeown

Trish McKinney

Claudia McKinstry

Jenny Medved

David Milton

Gina Mitchell

Judy Morris

Torgesen Murdock

Lael Nelson

Will Nelson

Ruth Newquist

Ted Nuttall

Sandra L. O’Connor

Karen Oreck

Donald Patterson

Sandrine Pelissier

Ann Pember

Jaun Peña

Kris Preslan

Sharon Rajnus

Michael Reardon

John Salminen

Tim Saternow

Ron Schloyer

Patricia Schmidt

Lynn Slade

Dean Sladek

Siv Spurgeon

Brenda Swenson

Zhou Tianya

James Toogood

Sharon Towle

Rosa Vera

Myrna Wacknov

Soon Warren

Steve Wilda

Laura Wilk

Christopher Wynn

Dale Ziegler






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North Light is currently accepting entries for the latest in our Best of Drawing series, Strokes of Genius 3: Fresh Perspectives. Please click Enter Your Art for more info.



And coming next month is the latest volume Splash 11: New Directions. Pre-order your copy today!










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