What began over two months ago has less than 3 days of daylight remaining - my adventure to win the Archibald Prize!

Here are 3 snippets of my gigantic 3.3 metre by 1.4 metre paper artwork.

Will it stand out? Probably. Paper as a material has not won before so I'm against (or making) history.

What's been the most rugged challenge? (Thanks for asking by the way!)

Working with a giant piece of paper that dwarfs my giant oak table has been difficult. Likewise sketching and painting large feels like an ant carrying a biscuit (a little awkward).

It's also a battle of self-doubt perhaps like any unknown considering my approach has been rebellious (Google 'Archibald painting' and you'll see oceans of sumptuously painted oils bursting with colour). When you see my subject in a few days it might surprise and baffle but it will be different. And being noticed is the first step to being considered by the judges.

Thanks for your support, and as always if you'd like to write I'd love to hear from you.

P.S - If you'd like an original print of my Archibald journey for just $20 just go here!

Picasso had one so too Vincent van Gogh and Damien Hirst. What they had was benefactor.  

An artist is like a band no one likes or knows about until they have a hit. When that happens everyone recalls that they 'knew there was something special' about them.

A benefactor supports the artist no one knows or likes so they can continue to create lest they stop and turns to an accounting career (it pays better) or they die in obscurity.

Today we call it sponsorship and it has the ring of tainted commercialism about it but Picasso was supported early in his career by art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein, Vincent van Gogh by his brother Theo and Damien Hirst - the most opulent of all - by Charles Saatchi.

This is where I offer you a chance to support my bid to win the Archibald Prize by becoming a small benefactor. Not to support my life but to support my painting which is surprisingly expensive. Paper doesn't just grow on trees (okay, sort of, but not high quality hot pressed watercolour paper), nor ink nor paint nor the $50 entry fee.

What do you get in return? The warm inner glow of knowing you supported art (and maybe history). But if that's not enough an original print of my Archibald journey here AND I'll write your name in tiny letters on my Archibald painting. Yes. True.

I've now finished my Archibald piece so sadly can no longer write your name on my piece but you can still purchase an original print of my Archibald journey!

Immortality awaits you here.

This morning I began in earnest to win the Archibald Prize. I've only 16 days to go before it's due and a bunch of creating to do.

If you'd like to read how I got to this point (a gigantic piece of watercolour paper over 3 metres high and 1.4 metres wide scribbled with pencils - and soon, ink) here is where my journey began. Here are the final #5 ideas I settled on. This is number #4.

Paper, ink and imagination are my confidants and the Art Gallery of NSW walls are 3.4 metres high so it's sure to make an impression. My challenge is to make the right impression which is a fine balance between abstraction, curiosity and storytelling.  Who will I paint? Keep watching to see my gigantic work and subject taking shape. 

Of course time is now of the essence, but that's the life of any creative. 

Long early morning await me as a give birth.  Below is quite possibly the largest paper you've ever seen. It's an artwork to win the Archibald Prize but not as you know it. Oh, and hidden in plain sight is also a second artwork. 

Can you see it? 

If you'd like to follow my adventures I'd love to keep you updated on my latest work by going here.

Ah, here we are…the destination the road has brought us to and the endgame that all the calculating and ideas have birthed.

First, a quick recap.

We've looked at what has a winning track record of winning the Archibald Portrait Prize and alternatively how to be a radical rebel (like William Dobell in 1943 and Brett Whiteley in 1976), how to get noticed and how to avoid the folly of trying to beat a strongman with strength (or Monet with Impressionist oil painting for example).

I'm acutely surprised at where the road has taken us, but perhaps that's the point after all?

Remember of course that art is not about painting but about sharing an idea or feeling or story (otherwise a photograph might suffice). But the idea needs a nurturing father to become inviting lest it become a lecture or predictable romantic comedy.

Through these final #5 ideas I hope to activate the imagination - the vast oceanic expanse of the viewers mind which makes 'the' idea, the viewer's idea. I’ve noted each with comments and how it meets the radical rebel criteria and it's advantages.

1. The bookshelf of art, arts, music & culture 
The bookshelf allows much room for pop and art culture references (previous winners for example) which makes it relatable with a sense of irony as well as a portrait of anyone fitting this criteria (in addition to a sneaky self-portrait)  It's also gigantically wide so stands out.

2. The Artwork Without Any Pictures 
In the realm of Radical Rebels this might be the boldest in history. The challenge however is to find a way to win the judges and viewers over without alienating them with escoteric abstract ponderings.


3. The ABC's of the Archibald
A gigantic nod to the history of the Archibald Prize and any one of twenty six things that begin with a letter of the alphabet. Treading the fine line of high art and amateur childishness is the challenge but pulling it off would well and truly change Archibald history.

4. The happenings of George Street
This is one of my haunts so a very personal piece which tells the story of unnoticed strangers on the busy George Street – highly relatable to Sydney siders (and possibly judges). The gigantic size and shape of the work (tall and skinny) is sure to stand out in portraying the giant space of the cityscape with a strategically placed unusually undersized portrait near the Queen Victoria Building.

5. The intimacy of a foldout notebook

Yes, it’s a painting but not as you know it. The notebook is the most intimate and personal of treasures and might invite the audience to feel intimacy unmatched by a giant and unapproachable canvas. What’s in the foldout notebook? If it happens, wait and see (I’m open to suggestions) but it would be the smallest winner in history … by a long way!

Of course there is a big difference between saying it and making it. That's to where I now turn...

If you want to beat a strongman you can’t do it with strength. You’re likely to be pulverised. Instead you need to outwit him (say, a rubik's cube for example).

This brings us tantalisingly close to to our next and quite possibly most underestimated principle of ‘How to win the Archibald Prize’: don’t try to outdo a renaissance master with oils, you’ll fail. Instead use your distinctiveness.

Picasso did it with cubes, Damien Hirst did it with formaldehyde and a tigershark and Tracey Emin did it with an unmade bed.

In my case that might be:

• simple black ink lines
• vibrant colours
• words
• unnoticed people or things
• perhaps in a city

In such a contest I might stand a fighting chance.

This principle, combined with the previously discussed importance of standing out amongst the rows and rows of canvases, might just be my secret weapon.  Or foolish. After all, who ever heard of simple line drawings, vibrant colours and words winning the Archibald? Preposterous. The same might have been said about William Dobell in 1943...

Next is a little matter often overlooked.

Tiny is intimate and gargantuan is imposing and emotionally dominating. So size does matter for an Archibald winner because size impacts the viewer and more importantly the judges.

3.5 metres is the average winning size of recent years although there has been a 6 metre giant.

But the real reason size matters in the first instances is to be noticed. Imagine a room with 900 hundred paintings of various sizes and shapes, dominated by standard portrait, landscapes and the occasional square. What would draw your attention?Dirt is a sprung escapee on a white wall but unnoticed on a mahogany wall. For the same reason size and shape matters because of its context.

Suggestions? A circle? An elongated portrait or landscape (think 30cm high and 2 metres wide or the reverse)? Or five square cm.

Just to twist the already winding road further, what material should I paint on? Canvas is the staid and predictable choice but also think hardboard, paper or even balsa wood.

Just remember we don’t want to be noticed but dismissed as eccentric or pretentious. Its a delicate touch!

Next is how to beat the heavyweight giants of the Australian art world...

Ah, we’ve now come to this, the most serious of our decisions...the subject!

The ‘who do I paint?’ answer is a code word that tells the inner-circle of the Archibald Prize whether you’re a 'somebody' and worth taking note of.

Why?

Each painting has 5 seconds to grab the judge’s attention as they sweep past 900 other hopefuls. If the subject is unrecognised we’ve lost half our chance, and as they say the one thing worse than being despised is being unnoticed. Sure we could make up for it by being noticed in another way but things just get a bit tougher.

We’ve spoken about the occupation 'artist' carrying the weight of winning history (more than a third) but if we want to be radically rebellious we could pick any number of occupations unloved by Archibald history.

A banker, a rabbi, a sportsman, a mining magnate and journalist have each won a single time. Never a blogger, businessman, model or pastor.

But remember that radical rebels can be burnt by their own hubris so let’s consider wisely if we want to paint an artist (30 times), author (9 times), actor (8 times) or an Archibald Prize judge!

Here are some options already suggested.

• Shane Warne (genius sportsman)
• Ben Quilty (Archibald winning artist)
• David Marr (famed journalist)
• Roy Williams (public intellectual)
• Michael Jensen (Christian pastor)
• Dan Brettig (cricket writer)
• Unnoticed busdriver
• David Walsh (founder of MONA)
• Anonymous
• Peter FitzSimmons (ex-rugby player, author)
• Self-portrait 

Who is the most famous person you know? Can you tell them of our quest?

The complete series 'How to win the Archibald Prize'

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