Art competition to find movie star painting

In an unusual twist for an art event, One Big Mop Film Productions and South West Art Workshops are coordinating a competition to create a painting to feature in the upcoming film The Darkness Of The Moor. The competition will also raise funds for The Prince’s Trust.

The Darkness of the Moor is written and directed by James Everett and produced by Paul Olavesen-Stabb. The three-stage project includes a 13-minute film followed by two feature film productions. The film will be shot on Dartmoor in Devon during spring / summer 2016 and the world premiere is expected to be in the UK at the end of 2016.

The film follows Oliver, who has taken his six-year-old daughter Heather to the moors to experience a May Day celebration. However when Heather disappears, Oliver embarks on a journey that leaves him unable to discern whether he is relapsing into mental illness or whether the devil has actually taken her.

With Dartmoor’s iconic and infamous figure of the Huntsman at the centre of this world, along with the pagan-like rituals of its inhabitants, The Darkness of the Moor is based on Dartmoor’s iconic and infamous figure of the Huntsman meeting between two worlds of past and present.

The painting will be of The Great Storm of Widecombe-in-the-Moor and will feature in the first scene in the film which marks a pivotal moment in the story. The painting prompts the explanatory background that establishes the antagonist of the film, and helps the audience to know the significance of the huntsman as the story unfolds. The artist can use a certain amount of artistic license and their own interpretation of these folklore events.

The competition is open to artists and students under the age of 30 from the South West and the winning painting will be selected at a fundraising event at Dartington Hall in Totnes, Devon on the evening of 29th April 2016. The painting will thereafter be exhibited at the Dartmoor National Park Tourism Centre in Princetown, Devon for 7-8 months prior to being be sold for auction at the film premiere. The funds raised will be donated to The Prince’s Trust.

Said film producer Paul Olavesen-Stabb; ”We are in a unique position at being able to provide an opportunity for a artist to create a work that will be so highly publicised. The painting may be as much a star in the film as the lead character!”.

Said Katherine Bryan-Merrett, Director at  South West Art Workshops: ”We have been supported by The Prince’s Trust and have greatly benefited from their Business Enterprise Course, and we would therefore like to help other artists to do the same”.

The competition officially opened on 1st February 2016 with entries accepted up to 15th April 2016.