WORLD’S BEST GRAPHITE ARTISTS: UNKHOFF, ZHOU, TSEKOURAS, SCHMITT, JIE, QIANGJIE, XUE AND ADAM
Charcoal, ink and pencil artists from Germany, China and Iraq take top wins in Category 4 of the 2018 AMERICAN ART AWARDS.
This year the American Art Awards (www.AmericanArtAwards.com), juried by the 25 Best Galleries & Museums In America (listed below), had online art images in 50 categories submitted from artists in 59 countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Haiti, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, UK, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela.
The 1st Place to 6th Place winners in all 50 categories will be revealed in the news about a category a day — stretching into November, making this one of the longest winner announcements of any art competition in the world.
Unkhoff was born 11.11.1982 in Koblenz, Germany.
The interior design student and self-taught artist discovered photorealism in 2014. “ I want to breathe life into my drawings. The focus is on the eyes and facial expression.
“I would like to convey the respective emotional state of the drawn persons to the observer as well as possible. In 2015, I started drawing my series Worldwide Characters, which I finished this year. Last weekend I had my first exhibition in my hometown Koblenz.
“In 2017, I was fortunate enough to finish second in the “Portrait of Someone Not Famous” category at the American Art Awards. The first place is my personal highlight 2018.”
Zhou Hui is an artist born and raised in Qingdao, China. A graduate of Jinan College of Arts, Zhou has been active in the art scene of Shandong province for decades. His publications have been well received at home and abroad. His preferred medium for artistic expression is pen and pencil on paper.
As an artist living in the former German concession of Qingdao (also spelled as Tsingtao), Zhou has trained his eye and his talent by drawing some of the turn of the century buildings that remain in his hometown. He has published a series of books that profile the international architectural styles in Qingdao.
One of the highlights of Zhou Hui’s career has been the opportunity to present the former Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder with a set of portraits of the ex-Chancellor and his wife. This came about after Zhou served as a cultural representative of Qingdao’s municipal government delegation on trips to Germany and Italy. It was during these trips abroad that he became well acquainted with European architecture and started to focus his work on new subjects from diverse cultures of the world.
Currently working on personal projects in Qingdao, Zhou is available for commissions and cooperation with people from around the globe. Please get in touch with him on the contact page link above.
CATEGORY 4. CHARCOAL/INK/PENCIL — HUMAN FIGURE
1ST PLACE-TIE RAMONA UNKHOFF GERMANY www.ramona-unkhoff.de “Memories” 297x420mm Polychromos pencil on paper.
1ST PLACE-TIE HUI ZHOU CHINA https://www.artistzhouhui.com “Pock Marked Face Old Man” 22x31" Pencil on paper.
2ND PLACE-TIE TAKIS TSEKOURAS GREECE takistsekour@gmail.com “Old Woman” 37.4x27.4" Pencil and charcoal on paper.
2ND PLACE-TIE SILVIA SCHMITT GERMANY www.Topenga-Art.com “Man With Sunglasses” 21x29.7cm Pencil on drawing board.
3RD PLACE YAN JIE CHINA 228744937@qq.com “A Faraway Monk” 45x55cm Drawing.
4TH PLACE WU QIANGJIE CHINA 2369183428@qq.com “Year-Month-Hour” 230x100cm Signature pen on paper.
5TH PLACE-TIE XU XUE CHINA shanxue2006@163.com “Painting Artist At Charles Bridge” 76x53cm Pen and ink on paper.
5TH PLACE-TIE KHAIRY ADAM IRAQ Www.khairyadam.com “Dreaming” 24x18" Charcoal on paper.
6TH PLACE YAN JIE CHINA 228744937@qq.com “A Lost Childhood” 45x45cm Drawing.
This year’s 25 Best Galleries & Museums asked to vote on art were:
BEST IN ALABAMA — ALABAMA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER
BEST IN ARKANSAS — FORT SMITH REGIONAL ART MUSEUM
BEST IN CALIFORNIA — REVOLVER GALLERY
BEST IN COLORADO — COLORADO FINE ARTS CENTER AT COLORADO COLLEGE
BEST IN FLORIDA — LIK FINE ART MIAMI + LIK FINE ART KEY WEST
BEST IN ILLINOIS — TRICKSTER ART GALLERY
BEST IN KANSAS — BIRGER SANDZEN MEMORIAL GALLERY
BEST IN KENTUCKY — E&S GALLERY
BEST IN LOUISIANA — NEWCOMB ART MUSEUM
BEST IN MASSACHUSETTS — BOSTON SCULPTORS GALLERY
BEST IN MISSISSIPPI — THE OHR-O’KEEFE MUSEUM OF ART
BEST IN MISSOURI — UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI MUSEUM OF ART AND ARCHEOLOGY
BEST IN NEBRASKA — KIECHEL FINE ART
BEST IN NEVADA — THE METROPOLITAN GALLERY OF LAS VEGAS ART MUSEUM
BEST IN OHIO — LEE HAYDEN GALLERY
BEST IN OKLAHOMA — JOSEPH GIEREK FINE ART
BEST IN OREGON — JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM of ART
BEST IN PENNSYLVANIA — JAMES A. MICHENER ART MUSEUM
BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA — MARY MARTIN GALLERY OF FINE ART
BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA — SOUTH DAKOTA ART MUSEUM
BEST IN TEXAS — ART ON 5TH
BEST IN UTAH — THE LEONARDO
BEST IN WASHINGTON — MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART
BEST IN WEST VIRGINIA — WEST VIRGINIA STATE MUSEUM
BEST IN WISCONSIN — MUSEUM OF WISCONSIN ART
Enter art at www.AmericanArtAwards.com
