Voters flock to hyper-real sheep drawings
FROM far away they look like a black and white photo of two sheep or could even be mistaken for the real animal.
But they are actually a life-sized pencil drawing of prize-winning Welsh Mountain sheep.
The two unframed drawings by Robert Davies, from Tre-Taliesin in Ceredigion, were voted for by members of the public at the National Eisteddfod in Abergavenny this week.
Every year the Josef Herman prize of £500 is awarded to the artwork which gains the highest public vote throughout the week.
More than a thousand people cast their vote and Robert Davies’ work was said to be a clear winner.
The featured sheep won a prize at the Royal Welsh Show three years ago and the two drawings took a total of 350 hours to make.
Chair of the Josef Herman Foundation, Carolyn Davies, who announced the winner, said: “It is fabulously executed. There are millions of marks and it is technically brilliant.
“The draughtsmanship is excellent and the different types of marks he uses gives the effect of wool.
“I thought it was a photograph rather than a drawing and I had to look carefully.
“He has used a smooth drawing paper and the sheep are really brought to life, especially because of their size.”
Carolyn added: “The drawings of the two sheep is a very worthy winner.
“The fact the public had the chance to vote for their favourite work is a great way of engaging people with the arts and making them actively in- volved in the process.
“Josef Herman would have been intrigued by what people are looking at and enjoying and this is a fantastic winner for the prize.”